Matt Maher: Stuart Watkiss is getting a taste for life in Bangladesh
For a self-confessed fussy eater, there is perhaps an irony Stuart Watkiss has experienced a coaching career full of flavour.
You name it, the former Wolves and Walsall defender has pretty much been there, from the Premier League to the Football League, non-league and now the international arena, with Bangladesh.
Watkiss will spend the next week in Kathmandu, the heart of the Himalayas, where the team ranked 186th in the world, of which he is assistant boss, are playing in a tri-nations tournament also featuring Kyrgyzstan together with hosts Nepal.
“I’ve certainly gotten around a bit,” he chuckles down the line from Dhaka as the squad prepare to fly out. “The job has taken me to places I’d otherwise never have gone to – Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia.
“This will be the second time in Kathmandu. It’s at altitude, which makes things very tough for the players. It certainly requires some acclimatising.”
While Watkiss’ coaching journey has not always hit the heights, rarely has it been less than fulfilling. He has certainly got far more out of football than he could have imagined when in 1986, aged 20, he left Wolves having played only two matches for his boyhood club.
Seven years later his life was transformed in less a week, after catching the eye of then Walsall boss Kenny Hibbitt while playing for Rushall Olympic against the Saddlers in a pre-season friendly.
“I was working a day job behind the counter at Wolverhampton general post office, sorting tax returns, pensions and passports, things like that,” says Watkiss. “We played Walsall in a pre-season friendly on the Tuesday and on the Thursday I got a call asking if I could play for Walsall in a friendly at Telford on the Saturday.
“Straight after that game they whisked me back to Bescot and I agreed a two-year contract. I went to the post office on Monday morning and resigned. Luckily, they let me leave on the same day.”
Dean Smith was a team-mate at Walsall and later Hereford.
“You could tell back then Smudge would go into coaching or management,” reflects Watkiss. “It is fantastic to see him doing so well.”
After hanging up his boots in 1999, Watkiss’ career in the dugout started with a bang when he led Mansfield Town to promotion from Division Three.
A chaotic 18 months in charge of Kidderminster Harriers followed before a spell as assistant boss at Grimsby Town, first under Graham Rodger and later Saddlers legend Alan Buckley. Then came three years at Hull, initially as youth coach and later an assistant during the reigns of Phil Brown, Nigel Pearson and Nick Barmby.
Liam Cooper, Tom Cairney and Conor Townsend were among the youngsters whose development Watkiss helped oversee in East Yorkshire and the subsequent progress remains a source of pride.
“Ryan Bennett is another one,” he says. “We had him for three years at Grimsby between the ages of 16 and 19.
“Don’t get me wrong, these players all make it because of themselves. They take advice on and they have the right attitude. But it is always nice to think you might have helped them a bit on the way.
“I can’t help myself even now. If I am watching a game with someone I will tap them on the shoulder and say: ‘He is one of mine’. That is a great part of the job.”
It was in 2014, following a brief return to Grimsby, that Watkiss’ career took a distinct right turn when he accepted an offer to become head coach of Bharat FC, a newly-formed club in the I-League, the forerunner to the Indian Super League.
“India was a big leap of faith. Prior to then I had never been much of a traveller,” he says. “Anyone who knows me also knows I am the most boring eater. I don’t eat spices at all, they actually bring me out in a rash!
“So when I was telling people I was off to India, they were literally p*****g themselves. How are you going to survive? But I loved it. There is something magical about India.”
Though Bharat FC folded after just one season, the experience gained by Watkiss in southern Asia led to him receiving a call from Jamie Day in 2018, after the former Welling boss had agreed to take charge of Bangladesh.
“They wanted an assistant, someone who had worked in Asia, had that knowledge,” he explains. “After a couple of phone conversations I accepted. I didn’t even meet Jamie until we flew out from Heathrow but luckily we hit it off.”
While Bangladesh and India share a border, Watkiss quickly discovered the countries are very different. Dhaka, the nation’s capital, is among the most densely populated cities on earth. At this time of year temperatures soar well into the 40s.
“Dhaka is chaos,” says Watkiss. “The traffic alone is unbelievable. It isn’t the easiest place for westerners because the culture is very different. In terms of football, facilities are at a premium. There aren’t many parks where kids can play.
“But the people are fabulous and the real positive is working with the players. They are the nicest, most respectful bunch you could ever wish to meet. They leave nothing on the pitch. They want to improve and do their best.”
Developing those players is now the aim for Day and Watkiss, with this week’s tournament serving as preparation for when the World Cup qualifying campaign resumes in June.
Bangladesh, placed below the likes of Macau, Montserrat and Djibouti in the Fifa rankings, have fixtures against Afghanistan, Oman and India to come. A 1-1 draw with the latter, in front of 80,000 fans in Kolkata, is the stand-out result of Day and Watkiss’ reign to date.
“We are very much the San Marino of our group,” says Watkiss. “We had to win a qualifier just to reach the qualifying round. Bangladesh has never won a match at this stage of the tournament.
“The pandemic has hurt us. We were due to play Afghanistan at home this month and we viewed that as a good chance to get the win. But all the remaining matches will now be played in Qatar this summer, meaning we have lost our home advantage.
“Teams don’t want to come to Dhaka. The surface isn’t great but for us it is a leveller. The decision is the right one from a health perspective but it penalises us massively.”
While very much focused on the present Watkiss, admits to keeping one eye on the future.
“There is part of me that wants to return to the UK and have one more bash at managing,” he says. “But that will be tough because people might feel I have been out of the English game for too long. I’d disagree with that but I am realistic.”
At the age of just 55 and with a raft of experience both on and off the field, to some clubs Watkiss would surely be an asset. That’s as long as they aren’t expecting any culinary advice.
“I still don’t eat spicy food,” he laughs. “But I get by. Even in Bangladesh there is always coffee and cake.”
