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October 2008

As seasons all over Europe are well under way I find myself in Cyprus looking for the next challenge which hopefully is just around the corner.
After conducting courses in Iran and Swaziland with a seminar in Madrid in between I am at last spending some quality time with my wife and three little girls which after the last couple of years has not been enough to be honest so enjoying taking the girls to school and helping with the homework and of course walking the dog!

Going to Iran for the third time was again an experience and it was really good to see and meet old friends again, the people in Iran are very passionate about their football and really do enjoy the game, they have some very good players and have to be one if the favourites to qualify for 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The seminar in Spain was also a fantastic experience and we stayed and trained in their magnificent Complex called Ciudad De Football….what a place. We also had a presentation by the Spanish Youth Academy Director Mr Himenez and how the Spanish train their youth and the whole process in developing the players and of course producing top quality players for the National Teams. Swaziland is a beautiful place and I really enjoyed meeting coaches from all over Southern Africa. I even got to see Lions out in the bush and that was a really amazing thing to see, they look a lot bigger in real life than they do on the television I can tell you! The course was also very successful and again it is always good to develop coaches and help to improve them so that they can take on the role of instructors in there own countries and is FIFA's aim.

As far as I am concerned I have decided to stay in Cyprus for the time being and look for a club here and try and stay with the family. Of course I can’t afford not to be working for too long and well if I get the call to go abroad before an offer comes from Cyprus then I will of course have to look at the offer and make a decision.

Football in Cyprus has come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years and you need look no further then Anorthosis Famagusta amazing run of success and who have qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history in fact it’s the first time any side from Cyprus has done so and it is a really major achievement as I write this they sit behind Inter Milan in the group stages and who would bet against them qualifying from the group stages!! Not bad going in their first attempt. They are exciting times here in Cyprus and I look forward to continuing my career here given the opportunity. I look forward to telling you about my new job sooner rather then later………………

Stephen