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Moving quickly is something Clement has grown used to. In a varied coaching career, Ancelotti’s right hand man has amassed a wealth of coaching experience at different levels of the game.
“I did lots of football jobs in my early years. My first part time job in elite football was at Chelsea. I did 5 years part- time coaching alongside my teaching career and then I went to Fulham in 2000 for my first full-time role which was in education and welfare.”
Full-time roles at Craven Cottage as assistant academy director and youth team coach followed before returning to Stamford Bridge. It was here where his career rapidly accelerated. Clement went from Chelsea U16s coach to first team coach in four years.
It is an elevation he admits he never anticipated and one he didn’t necessarily plan for. Instead, dedication, perseverance and thousands of hours working on the training pitch have brought great career opportunities. Interestingly, when the offer to work with Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea’s first- team was first proposed, he declined.
“When Carlo came in [as manager in 2009] I was on a trial basis initially. I did two weeks with him and then I said I want to go back to the reserves. He declined and said to me ‘you will learn with me, I like what you’re doing, come and work with me and you’ll have a great experience’.”
True to his word, fantastic experiences have followed. In their first season together in 2009/10 the pair led the London club to a Premier League and FA Cup double, becoming the first team in the Premier League to score more than 100 goals in a season. The Anglo-Italian pairing
have been together ever since and Clement glows when he describes the working relationship.
“We complement each other well. I hear a lot about the good cop bad cop scenario and have been asked ‘who’s the good cop out of the two of you?’ the answer is neither of us are.
“Carlo’s not tried to make me something that I’m not. He’s always said you need to be yourself and express your own personality. I have a lot of respect for Carlo’s style, there’s no ego or flashness about him he just is who he is. He has a really good relationship with players and that helps me to be relaxed and comfortable in my own personality with players as well.”
In return, the former Parma, Juventus and AC Milan manager has described Clement as “the best assistant coach” he has ever worked with.
When the Italian was surprisingly sacked by Chelsea in May 2011, the pair had a temporary parting of ways– Clement had a brief spell as assistant head coach at Blackburn Rovers – before they were reunited when Ancelotti took over at Paris Saint Germain in December 2011. Stepping across the channel proved one of the biggest challenges of Clement’s career to date.
“France was a real challenge. PSG are a big club, and they are going to be a very big club, but a lot of the infrastructure they had in place wasn’t really to help with foreign coaches and foreign players coming in. When you’re trying to get the gas activated and set up the internet and a telephone and you have very little understanding of French, it’s a real challenge.
Carlo Ancelotti believes Paul Clement "is the best assistant coach" he has worked with in his career
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