Are top profile managers just a sham?

[Assassin]

Me finx yes....

Just looking at the likes of Pep, Conte, The Bankrolled One. There is a common thread. They join a club and the club has to splurge multi millions on new players.

If these guys are all they are cracked up to be they should be able to make world beaters of the players they inherit

IMO basically any Joe Public could be a top profile manager with this type of backing.

[G]

I've just posted something similar just now but yes I agree. Of course they have qualities that motivate and improve their players, but they still solve most of their problems by buying the best players available and grouping them into a great team.

[redmike65]

The English game is really in thrall to the cult of the manager - it's great!

Obviously the big names maintain their aura by only working for the biggest clubs who have the biggest budgets within a given league so it can look like its a self-perpetuation machine. The number of risks taken with recruitment is very small which is what the clubs want of course, when they get it wrong it can have massive consequences - see this very club for that. Souness wasn't actually a bad manager he just wasn't good enough for Liverpool, but the board thought he'd translate Rangers to Anfield, likewise Man Utd thought (or was willing to believe with some prompting!) that Moyes would continue the success of Fergurson.

With the roll call of famous names now in the Prem (and Rafa!) it's going to be interesting to see who takes the biggest hit (not that it'll stop them getting another cushy number when they fail) because no matter how you slice it a couple of reputations will take a hit in the next year or two.

[Tee]

The best players want to play for the biggest clubs on the biggest stage....guess what? The biggest clubs, who incidentally also spend the most, hire the highest profile managers. There is a reason they are entrusted to spend the obscene amounts of money...they are expected to deliver. So I don't have an issue with it all....I just hope Klopp is given similar resources.

[BigChief]

Its the old Messi v Maradona argument but at managerial level. Was Maradona really thaaaaat good? Well he upped sticks and went to Napoli and proved it to the world hands down. Messi hasn't and has probably lost that opportunity now with his age.

Pep and Mourinho are obviously the Messi of managers. But are they Maradona? Don't think we'll ever know - and therefore the default answer is no. Klopp comes closest but needs to really prove it with big trophies either with us or the next project. He's made a good start with Dortmund.

Rafa I'm afraid is nowhere near the class of Messi or Maradona. Probably a Del Piero.

[Alex]

They are not a sham, as Tee mentioned. They are being trusted to steer the ship that is spending the money.

I think it takes a special personality to run a club that is a juggernaut both financially and on the pitch. Thats why these guys always bounce around the top clubs. The players love them, so do most of the fans.


Managers like Klopp are slightly different IMO. Him, Simeone and such are all managing teams very well without having the blank cheque. That's more impressive to me. But I am almost certainly biased there.

FWIW I think personality managers perform better overall. They get fans, players and press on side. It makes for a much easier ride.

[Buzzo]

Football is dead on the inside.

These guys are the ones leading the game towards the precipice. Until football stops being driven by corporate sponsorship and finance deals it will continue to develop into a sporting non entity.

I hate that everyone is enthralled by the cult of Real Madrid and Barcelona if clubs are financed to allow them to purchase the best players then of course they are going to deliver the best product. It's why everyone was so amazed by Leicester City, because the unspoken truth is that nearly every league in Europe is either a 1, 2 or 3 horse race. The common theme of the clubs at the top? History? Success? Loyal fan base? Supporters are hanging out for a billionaire as much as they are a top player. If that's not a sign that the game is being ruined then I don't know what else is?

Nope.

It's all about the £

[Irishnev]

Me finx yes....

Just looking at the likes of Pep, Conte, The Bankrolled One. There is a common thread. They join a club and the club has to splurge multi millions on new players.

If these guys are all they are cracked up to be they should be able to make world beaters of the players they inherit

IMO basically any Joe Public could be a top profile manager with this type of backing.

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned Ancelotti - he for me is the ultimate elite club manager, the one who takes them over the finishing line. He won the decima for Real after years of others not being able to do it, the double at Chelsea and was successful in Italy and France. He seems to be able to manage the expectations of boards, fans and also the 'fragile egos' of the superstar squads (). I am so glad that he didn't go to United.

Pep is the conundrum isn't he - we can see the sides he had at Barca & Bayern and it was hard not to win with them. City will be a test for him but he is supposed to be an absolute workaholic and he will certainly have a better eye for players than some of the dross they signed recently.

There are only a few really huge clubs with unlimited funds (PSG, City, United, Chelsea, Real & Barca) and they attract a certain type of manager because they demand success and working in those conditions and pressures must be pretty tough. Some revel in it (Ancelotti/Pep) & some it brings out the absolute worst in them (Mourinho).

You have the clubs under them that try to be more clever in the transfer market and have managers who can get more from less (Dortmund under Klopp/Tuchel, Simeone at Atletico, Juve under Conte/Allegri and hopefully us). The thing is some of these managers are not the right fit for the elite clubs - I couldn't see Klopp and Simeone thriving at PSG or Real for example.

I'm not sure the point I'm trying to make other than I don't think it is as cut and dried as we think....

[gratziani]

Football is dead on the inside.

These guys are the ones leading the game towards the precipice. Until football stops being driven by corporate sponsorship and finance deals it will continue to develop into a sporting non entity.

I hate that everyone is enthralled by the cult of Real Madrid and Barcelona if clubs are financed to allow them to purchase the best players then of course they are going to deliver the best product. It's why everyone was so amazed by Leicester City, because the unspoken truth is that nearly every league in Europe is either a 1, 2 or 3 horse race. The common theme of the clubs at the top? History? Success? Loyal fan base? Supporters are hanging out for a billionaire as much as they are a top player. If that's not a sign that the game is being ruined then I don't know what else is?

Nope.

It's all about the £

very well put

[Tatterdemalion]

I agree with the premise. Makes me sick seeing people fawning over Mourinho and Guardiola. I'm sure they aren't bad managers, but neither are prepared to take any risk with their reputation. I mean even I could recommend signing Pogba. Bailly perhaps not, but I don't follow football that hard. It's like they're playing real life Football Manager. For me Rafa is still top dog.

[Zapater]

I think that this season is probably the best selection of managers possibly excluding the a few Serie A seasons. 99/00 in Serie A where it had Trapattoni, Lippi, Prandelli, Spalletti, Ancelotti, Sven, Zaccheroni and Cappello. There were also a selection of other good managers too.

Clearly good managers help, but having the capacity to spend a lot of money on the right players is an equally as big advantage.