The ex-Preston defender managing two national teams

BBC News

22-03-2025

International managers ordinarily have fewer games in which to prove themselves than coaches at club level, but a lack of matches is not a problem Scott Wiseman has to worry about.The 39-year-old has been in charge of the Gibraltar women's team since 2023 and recently oversaw the first competitive international fixtures in their history in the 2024-25 Nations League.Then, earlier this month, former Gibraltar defender was appointed interim manager of the men's side after his long-standing predecessor Julio Cesar Ribas stepped down because of personal reasons.Wiseman - who played for teams including Rochdale, Barnsley, Preston North End and Salford City before ending his career at Gibraltar club Lincoln Red Imps - now has to juggle the demands of the men's World Cup qualifying openers and the women's team's next set of Nations League group fixtures.The men begin their qualifying campaign for next summer's tournament with games against Montenegro and Czech Republic on 22 and 25 March, while the women face Slovakia and Faroe Islands on 4 and 8 April.Far from being overawed, however, the Hull-born coach is relishing the challenge."It's fantastic," the former right-back, whose 38 appearances for Gibraltar included their first game as a Uefa member, told BBC World Service. "It's a privilege to do one [job], let alone be given the opportunity to do two."It's no different than a coach who's working day in, day out in England. There are games on a Saturday and Tuesday sometimes, and the preparation for staff and coaches there is very difficult."This is no difference in my eyes, except it's two different national teams on different schedules."[My wife] was hoping for a bit more 'me time' after I retired. Fortunately, she's very understanding."
Wiseman started his coaching career with Gibraltar's elite development teams while still playing for Lincoln Red Imps and went on to coach the women's Under-19s as well as the men's Under-16, Under-17s and Under-19s.The majority of Wiseman's coaching team with the women's senior side - with whom he says he has a "good working relationship" - have joined him in his new role with the men's senior team.Preparations have been further simplified by promising displays by the women in their opening Nations League fixtures against Moldova and Faroe Islands last month.Both games ended in a 1-0 defeat, but Wiseman saw plenty of positives."We exceeded expectations massively," he addedd. "Yes, we lost both games, but the strides the women have made is fantastic."We left that on such a high, we have less work to do in our next [games], to a certain degree. We've managed to box a lot of that preparation off."As for the men, their reward for a second-place finish in League D of the Nations League is a two-legged play-off with Latvia in March next year, the winners of which will be promoted to League C.Wiseman, who was eligible to play for Gibraltar through his mother, says the upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign should be seen as a foundation and "bounce-board" for the ties with Latvia."The expectation for the next 12 months has to be leading towards the Nations League play-offs," he said. "We've picked a very young squad - one of the youngest squads I've been a part of."We've never had a point in Euro or World Cup qualification, so we could really use this campaign as a foundation for the younger boys coming through and get the international experience we're going to need."Wiseman is however not certain whether he will still be in charge for that play-off."I'm not sure," he said when asked about his future. "This is something we haven't discussed yet. [Ribas' resignation] was very close to this international window, so we had to be very reactive."It was an easy fit for the association. Past these games, we haven't discussed it."You can listen to the interview in its entirety in the next episode of Sports World on Sunday, 23 March.