The unpredictablity of football for a manager

Thought today I would do a supplement instead of a ramble, hope you enjoy it just as much.

In football nothing goes to plan, form books are thrown out of the window on a very regular basis. That in a way is why thousands upon thousands of different generations of families follow their chosen team the length and breadth of the country.

At the end of the day, lets be fair about things, if football was easily predicted every man and his dog would be winning every week.
The likes of William Hill, Stan James and indeed Fred would not be the happy, rich gentlemen they are today.

The people responsible for the results, upsets or giant killings are the managers, what makes a good manger that is the question.
I personally think the once mighty Liverpool looked to have it sorted with their world renowned ‘boot room’ policy, the likes of Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans all had success through a policy that run for over 30 years. Their demise since Roy Evans tenure ended speaks volumes in the world of football.

On a lighter note some people will say your manager has to be perma tanned, or be capable of chewing gum at a rate of knots that makes it look like he’s actually chewing on a wasp. There are also fans who would say you make a good manager if you have two watches and a big influence at the FA (I choose not to go there if you don’t mind).
There’s also the question do coaches or physiotherapists make good managers (yes topical subject at the Proact at the minute with Tommy Wright in the hot seat).

Steve McLaren was a coach, his fans would say yes, to them i would say he had his success as Fergies number two and in Holland with FC Twente fair enough, my overriding image of the gentleman is the ‘wally in a brolly’ image and who could forget his TV interview with the strange accent (he sounded like the mad chef from the Muppets)

Nigel Adkins was the physiotherapist at Scunthorpe when Brian Laws was relieved of his duties, he stepped up like a duck to water, he’s now manager of Southampton in the Premier League after successive promotions, ok the team are struggling at the minute, but surely the guy deserves time, after all the roman empire wasn’t built in a day.
Some chairmen are very quick with the higher and fire switch, it’s their money and they want success almost immediately, like life football is never that easy.

Mark Robins allegedly scored the goal that saved Alex Ferguson his job at Manchester United, where would they be now if Mark had not scored that goal versus Nottingham Forest in a third round FA cup tie in 1990, the next 22 years speak for themselves.

Arsenal indeed deserve credit (hard to say with me being a Spurs fan) they seem to be 100% behind Arsene Wenger and why not, okay the league titles are not rolling in, but how much money has he actually made the club through finding unpolished gems ie Thierry Henry, Robin Van Persie and making them priceless gems and who can forget the ‘undefeatables’.

Indeed I think it’s very clear that success comes through stability and confidence in the management structure, no interfering chairman has ever come up smelling of roses, leave your manager to manage and you sit quietly in your chair and back your manager as far as is financially possible.

There’s also the big debate on the terraces week in week out on whether your club should have an English or foreign manager, to me success is all I yearn for my club, creed, colour or indeed nationality don’t come to mind to me, but I do feel it’s only right and honourable that international teams should be managed by someone from their own country (good luck Roy, do us proud).
Young or old is the other debate, I again believe the likes of Karl Robinson, Eddie Howe and Brendan Rodgers are closing the gap on the old brigade but they need to be given time.

I’ll finish off finally, by saying in my personal opinion Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest ever managers, his record, not my opinion speaks for itself, every country he’s managed in he’s won his team the League title ie Portugal, England, Italy and Spain. Okay his self-entitled ‘special one’ tag annoys a certain few, but Fergie constantly checking his watch annoys me, it’s all down to the character of the man.

A final question to end on, Brian Clough, a charismatic, outspoken individual, but boy his man management skills were second to none. Would England have won the World Cup for a second time if Brian had been given the job he so clearly yearned for, in my opinion for what it’s worth is YES.
Stu M.