Blackburn Rovers boss Steve Kean admits a spell in Portugal as a player helped his coaching development.
The former winger played for Academica Coimbra during his career.
Kean told the Lancashire Telegraph: "You take all your different experiences and the different managers you played under and learn from that.
"It was not usual for players to go abroad when I did. I did it a very long time ago. I went 23 years ago.
"It was great because it was a different type of football. It was a lot slower, which suited me.
"It was a lot more technical and you had double sessions in the afternoon because the weather permitted that.
"I learned a lot about the technical side of the game because they practice the base techniques a lot more."
