Question the tactics employed by John Beck as a manager, but not his ability or far sightedness as a coach.

That’s the view of Huddersfield’s Colin Alcide, who played under the 59-year-old at Lincoln and is intrigued at the controversy over his employment by the Football Association as a ‘coach educator’.

Beck, who gained a reputation as a long-ball merchant when taking Cambridge from the original Fourth Division to the brink of the top flight in the early nineties, now tutors coaches who are working towards their badges at the St George’s Park national football centre in Burton.

National newspaper stories over the weekend led the FA to defend the appointment, saying: “John’s philosophy around playing over 20 years ago bears no reflection on the competence of him as a coach educator at Level 2 and UEFA B.

“The FA employ John because of his understanding of coach education and of our playing and coaching philosophy, which he fully believes in.”

John Beck
John Beck

Alcide was given his break into League football in December 1995 by Beck, when he signed him for £15,000 from the original Emley. He had previously played for District League sides Britannia Sports and Brackenhall United as well as Altrincham in the Conference.

He spent four years at Sincil Bank, the first two of them under the management of Beck, who also bossed Preston and non-league sides Histon and Kettering.

Alcide, who is now 41 and has turned out for West Riding County Amateur League side Bay Athletic this season, said: “I’d lost track of what John was up to, and given his reputation, it was a surprise to hear what he is doing these days.

“But I certainly have no issues with him, and while he did have an unorthodox approach to management, I have to say his coaching ability was excellent and so were his man-management skills.”

Alcide – who later played for Hull, York, Cambridge (during Beck’s second spell as manager there), Exeter, Welsh side TNS, Gainsborough and Ashton United – added: “In many ways, he was ahead of his time.

“We were having ice baths before most other clubs, and he used performance analysis before most other people.

“His approach was base on studying the areas of the pitch where the majority of goals were scored, and where the assists were made from.

“Our aim was to get the ball into those areas, and the way we prepared for and played games meant that when the ball was in a certain area of the pitch, we knew where it would be delivered to, and therefore, the areas to move into.

“We played as a team, and John, who liked strong characters, was very keen we did everything as a team. We were allowed to go out for a drink a few days before a game – as long as we all did it, and John used to tell us that if one of the lads got into a disagreement or a fight, we all had to get into it.

“He was adaptable, because towards the end of his time at Lincoln (Beck controversially departed just weeks before the Imps won promotion to what is now League I in 1998) we had started to mix things up and sometimes play a much shorter passing game.

“The other interesting thing was that while his tactics might have been predominantly long passing, he had fantastic technical ability from his times as a player (with QPR, Coventry, Fulham, Bournemouth and Cambridge). Some of the things he could do were amazing.”