Can ‘needy’ Thierry Henry translate his talent on the pitch to success in the dugout?

Thierry Henry was one of the game’s finest players, but will he become one of its finest managers?

In terms of working with individuals, if you wanted a manager to mould a young player in their image, you would turn to Henry, who had a unique speedy grace to his play. But, as the former striker moves closer to taking his first job in charge, Henry will know there is infinitely more to management than that.

Great players do not often make great managers but Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola is a shining example that they can, also, make the best.

First steps

Bordeaux would be a great first step into the cruel, harsh management game. If Henry thought being a player flung him into a tough, ruthless environment, it is nothing compared to management, where the numbers of top jobs are fewer and the average spells in one place are short.

Even though he established himself as one of the world’s leading players in England and has maintained a public presence here on television as a Sky Sports pundit for Premier League matches, Henry has always kept a keen eye on the goings on back in France.

There would be no expectation at Bordeaux to compete with the huge spending power of Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco, but they have finished sixth in three of the past four seasons and an improvement would be a measure of success.

European shop window

They are a play-off against Belgian side Gent away from qualifying for the Europa League group stage which would be an ideal window in which Henry could show off his managerial talents. But, equally, an early management job in France would take him away from the feverish attention that would follow any move to an English club.

Should Henry’s appointment at Bordeaux go ahead — and there is still much to complicate matters with the club in the process of being sold to America investors — it will place him against former team-mate Patrick Vieira, who right now, in charge of Nice, looks more like a manager, with more experience and a solider persona.

Although Henry has not always had it his way since retiring from playing. He was rejected as a coach at Arsenal by former manager Arsene Wenger. Henry was offered a job coaching the Under 18s, but Wenger overruled the decision on the basis that it should be a full-time role and not combined with television duties.

‘Needy’ and intense

Privately, i has been told, towards the end of Wenger’s two decades in north London, Henry was vociferous that his former manager should go. The two are likely linked, but, equally, Wenger has championed his former star for the Bordeaux job, saying he “has the qualities” to succeed.

Henry has been described as “needy” by those who have worked with him and can come across as an intense figure. Those attributes could take him either way when he is the man in charge.

Lukaku endorsement

But his work on the training pitch and his credentials as a coach have received high praise. Romelu Lukaku has worked with Henry during meetings with the Belgian national team.

“Henry is the best thing that has happened to me because since I came to England aged 18 I have had the best mentors,” Lukaku told NBC Sport. “I have had possibly the five best strikers of the last ten years as mentors.

“I had Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Samuel Eto’o, Fernando Torres and now, Thierry Henry. That’s not bad, is it? ‘It is the best thing that could happen in my career because I am a young guy. Thierry for me is the best. Every day whether it is positive and negative I take it in my stride because I know what is expected from the top level.”

Whether Henry can handle the negative, as well as embracing the positive, will determine if he is anywhere near as good as a manager as he was a player.