John Herdman has had the small matter of preparing for Canada's first World Cup in 36 years, but the Consett man has always made sure he has had time to sit down with his son, Jay, and watch Newcastle United play from the other side of the world. Herdman may be a long way away from home these days, in Vancouver, but the Canada boss' love for the Magpies remains as strong as ever.
Just as Herdman has kept a close eye on Newcastle's remarkable turnaround under Eddie Howe, the club's head of recruitment, Steve Nickson, has also been monitoring some of his hottest talents. Lille striker Jonathan David, Club Brugge winger Tajon Buchanan and Porto midfielder Stephen Eustaquio are among those individuals who are part of an exciting generation of players who Newcastle are certainly already well-aware of ahead of sending talent spotters to the tournament in Qatar.
"I've had a few good conversations with the head of recruitment over the last two years around some of the Canadian players so they're on the radar," Herdman told ChronicleLive. "There's no doubt.
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"We had a good chat about some of the Canadian players. They're on board, they're aware, they're doing their homework. They're aware of some of those younger guys that are starting to emerge.
"David Edgar was the last for a while and I dare say this World Cup and the World Cup in 2026 is going to raise the stock of Canadian players. While I'm still manager, I'll be supporting my local club to have those conversations. There would be nothing better for me than to watch my top players playing on a Saturday at the club I want to watch them play for."
The World Cup is a fitting stage for these talents and talisman Alphonso Davies to shine and it is hard to put into words just how far the group and Canada, as a footballing nation, have come under Herdman. In his side's first World Cup qualifier, after all, Herdman felt as if there were almost as many blue Honduras shirts inside the stadium as there were red Canadian jerseys even though his side were at home. The team were even booed off the bus on their own turf by the Honduras fans who had gathered unopposed before the game at BMO Field last year.
Herdman knew his side had to 'win the trust' back of Canadians after years of disappointment - and they soon did. There were some big moments along the way in qualifying, whether it was coming from behind to hammer Panama or securing a draw away at the U.S, and attendances eventually doubled. To think you were once far more likely to see football fans in multicultural Toronto wearing Italy, Croatia and Germany shirts than the red of Canada.
Now, armed with flares, supporters have 'created an atmosphere like you're going to Galatasaray' in the words of Herdman. With that support behind them, Canada, remarkably, went on to top the Octagonal - finishing above Mexico, the U.S and Costa Rica - to qualify for the World Cup.
Herdman is the first to admit that 'we have surprised ourselves in how competitive we have become' and the Canada boss knows his side will be serious underdogs when they face '$400m-plus valuation teams with tier-one players in Belgium and Croatia' and, even, a talented Morocco outfit in Group F. However, rather than being daunted by that prospect, Herdman wants his players to be 'brave and try to play with no fear'.
"It's the first time in 36 years since this country had a chance to go into this arena," he said. "Just, generally, we're trying to embrace that opportunity and the excitement that it's going to have for the fans and, more importantly, for the players.
"It's a big moment. A lot of teams have been here before. They have experienced it, they have done it and probably don't have that sort of edge of it being like a football Christmas Day. We're going to make sure that these players really get to enjoy the experience. It will be a first time for many and they can soak it all in - and that's really important for this group."
It has been a long time coming. When Herdman took charge of a side ranked 94th in the world, in 2018, the Englishman made a commitment to qualify for this World Cup rather than looking at the qualifying campaign as simply a chance to blood players for when Canada co-hosts the next tournament in 2026. Herdman felt his side had to experience a World Cup before they can really compete in one - and they 'really need to compete in one' in four years' time.
Herdman already has big tournament experience - managing at five women's World Cups with Canada and New Zealand and leading the former to back-to-back bronze medals at the Olympics - but the 47-year-old admitted he will be 'pinching' himself when he follows in the footsteps of Jack Charlton and Sir Bobby Robson as North Easterners who have led their side out at a men's World Cup.
Herdman previously met Charlton and, although he never got the chance to speak to Sir Bobby, the Newcastle and England legend certainly left his mark.
"My coaching hero is Sir Bobby Robson," he said. "For me, the greatest World Cup was Italia 90 with [Paul] Gascoigne and Bobby Robson, and that memory will always stick with me. Just knowing how good a man manager he was in bringing that Geordie spirit and passion, and being real with people underpinned by a typical hard-working spirit.
"I have thought about him as a manager, for sure, and he influences elements of my own coaching. I've read the books, watched the documentaries and there's so much to love about him. He grew up just up the road from Consett so you do feel a bit of a kinship."
It was yet another reason why managing at St James' at the 2012 Olympic and standing in the same dugout as his idol once did was 'one of the best times' in Herdman's life to this point as his family watched on from the stands. It was the day the boyhood Newcastle fan 'returned to the cathedral where it all started' for Canada Women's game against Sweden.
It was in this very stadium that Herdman sat in the Gallowgate with his father many years previously and went on to 'fall in love' with Kevin Keegan's Entertainers and a 'level of football you had never seen before' in the mid-'90s. Herdman got the coaching bug and went on to work in Sunderland's academy. However, frustrated by a lack of opportunities, Herdman moved to New Zealand in 2001, making his name in the women's game, before emigrating, once more, to Canada a decade later and becoming the first manager to lead both a nation's women's and men's teams to a World Cup.
Herdman has now spent 21 years overseas but the Canada boss' North East accent is as strong as ever and, to this day, he still uses 'us' instead of 'me'. Herdman may be thousands miles from home, but those formative years have shaped him, whether it was playing at Consett Juniors, teaching at St Patrick's or running his Brazilian coaching academy at Moorside School.
"I managed to get back after the World Cup qualifying and touch base with some old friends and see family, and just enjoy being back in the countryside in Consett," he added. "You just don't realise how beautiful the dales are until you leave the place and then come back. It's just stunning.
"You always get that feeling and the memories of where you used to play football at night time, where you used to hang out with friends. I always take my kids to my old favourite places like the rivers we used to swim in.
"It's brilliant coming home. I love it and the people are always happy-go-lucky people. That's the North East. There's always good banter and football crack. You come home and you just feel like you're back to where it's real."
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