The Daily Telegraph - 07.08.2019

ike lava

lamps or

Francis

Fukuyama’s

The End of

History thesis, football’s

player-manager role was

thought to be a relic of

the Nineties.

Whether you

witnessed football during

this period or acquainted

yourself with it by

watching Premier League

Years, memories abound

of Glenn Hoddle and

Gianluca Vialli at Chelsea

or Bryan Robson at

Middlesbrough,

following earlier

successes in the dual role

by Kenny Dalglish at

Liverpool and Graeme

Souness at Rangers.

With Wayne Rooney

now installed as player-

coach at Derby County

and Anderlecht’s

returning prince, Vincent

Kompany, juggling

defending with picking

the team, might this

The gaffer

in boots is

back but

this time

he has help

A new generation

of player-coaches

has much better

support than the

pioneers, writes

Daniel Zeqiri

novices Ole Gunnar

Solskjaer and Frank

Lampard – and the return

of Edu and Patrick

Kluivert to Arsenal and

Barcelona in technical

roles – there is certainly a

frisson of sentimentality

sweeping the game.

A resistant strain of

amateurism has run

through English football

since its foundational

Victorian period,

including the belief that

sufficient gravitas and a

minimum of expertise

can transform player to

manager.

Much nepotism and

suffocating incuriosity

resulted, as club after

club went weak at the

knees for the romance of

a returning player in the

dugout, failing to learn

that it was outsiders who

often created dynasties.

None of Herbert

Chapman, Sir Matt

Busby, Bill Shankly, Brian

Clough or Sir Alex

Ferguson had a playing

association with the clubs

they forged as managers,

although Bob Paisley and

Jock Stein did.

Those titans exercised

near total control and had

a vast portfolio of

responsibilities across the

club, one reason why the

first wave of player-

managers sometimes

struggled.

With more clubs

operating with a stratified

continental model

however, this is a less

daunting task for today’s

players-turned-coaches

and why we might be

seeing an uptick in these

appointments.

Dozens of data analysts

and medical experts

stand behind them and a

director of football looks

after the club’s long-term

future, so they can devote

their attentions to the

training ground. Players

no longer bang on their

door asking for a pay rise,

they go directly to the

club, who also have some

risk mitigated by limiting

the coach’s remit.

English football’s

relationship with its

continental neighbours is

complex, borrowing and

reflecting different ideas

at different times.

Earlier in the new

century, Premier League

clubs wanted their own

Arsene Wenger, Rafael

Benitez or Jose Mourinho

• new “outsiders” with
  untapped knowledge of
  diet, tactics or
  periodisation. The
  occasional Jacques
  Santini or Alain Perrin
  was deemed a price
  worth paying.
  At the same time
  however, there is
  reverence for the role

former players –

“insiders” – fulfil at

Bayern Munich, Ajax and

Barcelona, typified by

Pep Guardiola’s ascent.

Cultivating a strong

identity while staying

open to fresh ideas brings

a tension, and one

suspects the two schools

of thought may have a

cyclical relationship.

Former players or

player-coaches also bring

a level of empathy to

their dealings with

players in an age when

the sergeant-major

approach proves futile.

“One of the things I

always hear on TV now

is, ‘You can’t shout at

players like you used to’.

Well, don’t shout at them

then,” new Derby coach

Liam Rosenior told The

Times. “There’s a

different way of thinking

and coaching now.”

Clubs are wary of

costly mistakes in an

overheated transfer

market and so are

deciding to fill their

squad with academy

talent who require a

more paternal approach.

What is undoubtedly

true is that former

players benefit from a

stronger emotional bond

with a club’s fans,

offering rare patience

and acceptance of

mistakes.

Whether running a

club based on the

emotional reflexes of

supporters is wise is

another debate. If one

wished to be cynical, the

appointment of a

legendary player could

be seen as a convenient

opiate – compensation

for the financial disparity

between the fans and

their heroes and a

distraction from costly

ticket prices, broadcast

subscriptions, sky-high

train fares and other

forms of economic

gouging which

supporters endure.

Unrestrained nostalgia

at the expense of

competence? Decide for

yourself, but we have not

seen the last of popular

player appointments.

Until Lampard and

Solskjaer are sacked

perhaps, then the cycle

will start again.

Hero: Kenny Dalglish celebrates the 1990 title with Ronnie Moran (left) and Roy Evans (right)

L

If one wished

to be cynical,

appointing a

legend could

be seen as

an opiate

In tomorrow’s Sport section

Deadline day

Jason Burt on the

climax to football’s

transfer window

strange job description

be on the cusp of a

comeback?

It would be hasty to

proclaim so, but in the

context of Manchester

United and Chelsea’s

appointment of relative

Final whistle

20 ** Wednesday 7 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph

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