Michael Skubala could be forgiven for experiencing a few sleepless nights lately. The Leeds United U21s boss was thrown well and truly into the deep end at Thorp Arch this week when he was asked to take over first-team duties following the dismissal of Jesse Marsch.
The former school teacher has little to no experience of coaching at a first-team level and he certainly wasn’t equipped or prepared to take on the role of a Premier League manager when he sat down with Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear on Monday afternoon. Just 24 hours after being handed the reins, alongside Chris Armas and Paco Gallardo, Skubala was taking his first press conference as a co-caretaker manager.
He was the man asked to field questions from the national and worldwide media and he was the man providing the club’s voice as the search for a new manager got underway. Skubala took the responsibility in his stride, though, and he did the same when he took the Whites to Manchester United on Wednesday night.
Standing on the Old Trafford touchline in front of 73,456, it would have been easy to succumb to pressure of the occasion, but he stood there, alongside Erik ten Hag, boldly barking instructions to his players. The Whites stunned their bitter rivals by going two goals up and although they couldn’t hold onto that lead, they did have enough to bring an end to the Red Devils’ 13-game winning streak on home soil.
It was a result very few saw coming, with Leeds being huge underdogs going into the contest, but the level-headed Skubala managed to guide Leeds to claim just their sixth point on the road all season
“Everyone's asked me that,” Skubala said when asked how he prepared himself for being thrust into the limelight in such a way. “I think I've been preparing for 20 years, coaching is coaching.
“I didn't take any other angle to it than that. If I can set the team up and the team can perform that was my priority.”
Asked whether he’d enjoyed the exposure, a grin crept across Skubala’s face: “Loved it. Is that allowed?”
Skubala has never entertained the idea of taking on the role on a permanent basis, stressing every time the subject comes up that he will return to his position with the Under-21s when a permanent head coach is found. That doesn’t necessarily mean he doesn’t have ambitions to make the leap down the line, though.
The interim manager hasn’t taken what would probably be deemed to be a traditional route to where he is today, having previously worked as a teacher. However, he has made his way up the coaching ranks, working in the academies at Coventry City and Nottingham Forest before eventually joining the FA and coaching the national futsal team.
He was appointed in his current Under-21s role at Elland Road in summer, taking over from Mark Jackson, who incidentally is now in charge of MK Dons, and he has helped the club’s youngsters to second in the Premier League 2 Division 2 table as they look to bounce back to English youth football’s top flight at the first time of asking. That’s a job he is relishing and that’s all he’ll be focused on when he eventually steps back down.
“I was asked that a lot of times,” he said when the idea of becoming a manager was put to him. “I've always had the philosophy of look after today and tomorrow looks after itself.
“I just want to do the best job I can do in the moment. Through my career that's all I've ever done and hopefully people that have worked with me or people that have led me will say good things and that's what's most important.”
“The coach needs to match the project in my opinion. I'm really happy where I'm at, let me be clear, like I said before, I've always been happy in the roles I've done and I've always been happy with my own personal journey to learn. If I'm learning and I'm developing, no problem.”
Learning and developing is exactly what Skubala is doing at the moment as he continues to handle himself on the biggest stage. He’ll be the man in charge of the Whites once more on Sunday afternoon for the return fixture against Man United and he’ll be busy plotting how his side can go one better and beat the Champions League hopefuls, who travel to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Skubala will attempt to remain unfazed by the situation and despite being inundated with the unfamiliar daily tasks of a manager, he’ll hope to get his messages across in training from both tactical and psychological point of view.
“I think that is coaching if I’m honest,” he added. “I think the part of a head coach is to lead a group of players and a staff team to coach on and off the pitch, to get players into a good place to go and perform.
“For me, it's all about the players and how we get them into a place to perform. So I think coaching is creating players not robots and I want them to be players.
On his footballing philosophy, he added: “I enjoy winning and I enjoy scoring goals. Hopefully you can see that and to be brave and to be aggressive and take the game to the opposition without giving too much tactical philosophy away, I think you can see that.
“I think I am a strong decision maker. So shouting and being aggressive, I don't think it means that approach. It's more about making strong decisions at the right time.”
Strong decisions will have to be made this weekend when it comes to his selection and game plan and despite the stakes being so high, it's seems he’ll enjoy making them. There aren’t many bigger games in Leeds United’s season than this weekend’s, but Skubala will continue to take everything in his stride until he can return to his role with the youth team.
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