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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