“Getting to know, and then understanding, the population’s customs and culture was essential to allow me to adapt my management style and practices to get the results I needed. I learned this very quickly!”


and they have all, genuinely, out- performed my expectations. As I write, we are constructing a further two match pitches (SIS being our main contractors) and, by mid August, the first team will be playing all their home matches on natural grass; a first in their seven year history. We will have a total of forty days to


produce a match pitch from sowing seed, and all staff are looking forward to the challenge. On the new pitches, I will be incorporating about a tonne of calcium sulphate into the rootzone at construction stage, to see if we can make nutrients a little more available due to the pH issues we have.


In Azerbaijan, August brings with it near 40O


C temperatures coupled with


high humidity. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that our management plan works as we hope. The grasses we are maintaining here are Lolium perenne and Poa pratensis.


A side effect of the work we are


producing is that the pitches are seen as something of a novelty in the country. We have frequent visits from the national press and TV, who all take an active


interest in what we are doing, and all visitors to the club will, at some point, be found down by the training pitches looking at them and discussing what they see. I have no idea what they are talking about actually! I can only assume! My Azeri - a language made up of Turkish, Russian and local Azerbaijani - is enough to get by, but it is a country mile away from being fluent! What we do here in Azerbaijan will never be a mirror image of the practices we use in the UK. There are some things that will always remain the same and no level of management will change them - and rightly so! Being productive and effecting change is very much a case of being flexible, open-minded and finding solutions that fit everyone’s needs, wants and desires. Getting to know, and then understanding, the population’s customs and culture was essential to allow me to adapt my management style and practices to get the results I needed. I learned this very quickly! The role continues to bring new challenges every day, and the experience has forced me to think laterally on many


levels. One thing I am sure of is, having worked in the US, mainland Europe and now Azerbaijan, the bug for working abroad is now firmly ingrained in my spirit and I look forward to what the future holds. I really don’t think there is a better way to test your resolve! Thanks for taking the time to read this and I wish you luck with your turf, wherever you may be. Cheers. Phil Sharples, Stadium & Surfaces Director, Gabala FC


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