The dark past of the next member of Ancelotti’s staff

He real Madrid will soon expand the coaching staff of Carlo Ancelotti with the inclusion of Andy Mangan (Liverpool, 1986) at the express request of the Italian coach. The Reggiolo coach has been asking for a new member in his work team for months and the white club has finally agreed to his request.

Chosen to join the staff was Andy Mangan, a former English footballer unknown in Spain who made a career as a forward in the minor divisions in England and was embroiled in a dark betting and match-fixing scandal. He was convicted of betting on a football match. League II between Accrinton and the bury debated on May 3, 2008 in which he participated.

Manganesethen a footballer burywas suspended for five months and fined £2,000 for betting £3,500 on his team’s victory (they won 2-0), something the FA forbids. The other four players involved in the match-fixing case are active in the ranks of the other team, the Accrinton. The four players of Accrington were accused of betting on their team to lose: the FA accused that David Mannix, Jay Harris, David Mannix and Peter Cavanagh bet between £4,000 and £1,000.

“The regulatory commission has serious concerns that the result of the match may have been fixed, although none of the players have been charged with these offences,” Nicholas Stewart, chairman of the FA’s regulatory commission, said at the time.

Years after his punishment, and now a Wrexham footballer, Mangan explained the reasons that led him to bet, citing the differences in pay between Premier League players and those in the lower divisions. “Young players see that rich people make more money and they think, ‘I wish I had more money,'” Mangan said in a 2011 report in the Independent.

“When you’re in that situation, you look at the magazines, all the newspapers, all the kids in the Premier League buying all those cars and you think, ‘I want to have this.’ but by the time they are not “They are at the highest level. You want it, so how do you get it?”

In addition, he offered to the Association of Professional Footballers to go to clubs to explain his betting experience. “I’ve told them that if they want me to go as someone who has experienced sanctions, I will,” Mangan said. “They can say, ‘This is Andy Mangan and he’s been banned for betting on football,’ which might make punters want to listen,” he said.

Little bench experience

Retired in 2019, Mangan has relatively limited experience on the bench. He started in 2019 as assistant to Joey Barton at Fleetwood Town (EFL League II) and, after his departure, joined him at Bristol Rovers (League One) in 2021. In October 2023, after Barton’s dismissal, took charge he is the team in southern England.

Mangan’s last experience before the call from Madrid was as assistant coach of Stockport County in Manchester, which he joined this same month of July.