The Manager by Sundeep Bhui

themanager

themanager The magazine of the League Managers Association

Issue 6: Autumn 2010

leaders and leadership DARE TO DIFFER

“It’s easy to say the right thing, but it’s difficult to consistently do the right thing” roy hodgson

Finding your own route to successful management

LOOKING GOOD?

Because you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression

Issue 6: Autumn 2010

Managing upwards Roy Hodgson on life, Liverpool and looking to the future

Howard Wilkinson Venetia Williams Paul Sturrock Steve McClaren Danny Wilson Stan Cullis Martin Allen

SPONSORED BY

The League Managers Association, The Camkin Suite, 1 Pegasus House, Tachbrook Park, Warwick CV34 6LW Tel: 01926 831556 Email: lma@lmasecure.com www.leaguemanagers.com

Editor’s letter Just like starting over...

It doesn’t matter who you support, the weeks leading up to the start of a new season are pretty much the same for all football fans – days spent scanning the media for rumours of new signings, half an eye on pre-season friendly results (which only count if you win... otherwise they’re meaningless) and a growing impatience for the first kick-off. It’s a little different for managers, of course, especially for those who’ve taken the helm at a new club since the close of the previous season. In this issue we talk to two of the highest-profile ‘new’ managers as they prepare for season 2010/11 – Roy Hodgson and Steve McClaren. The two men are facing very different challenges, but both are working from a platform of recent success and are clearly relishing what lies ahead. If Hodgson and McClaren (and all of their peers and rivals) are going to succeed over the next 10 months and beyond, they are going to have to make the most of the talent at their disposal – something which we examine in some detail on page 34. We also look at how setting yourself apart from the pack can bring dividends (page 38) and ask if it’s worth spending time and effort developing your public image (page 42). But the best thing about this time of year – apart from the prospect of still being able to wear that new, shiny replica shirt to matches without running the risk of getting frostbite – is that whatever hopes and expectations fans have for their team for the coming season, they are probably still intact.

The Manager is supported by

Ciarán Brennan

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RANkINgS RECOgNITION ‘UP FOR gRAbS’ The Premier League team of last season, according to the Rankings, unsurprisingly featured five players from champions Chelsea, four players from runners-up Manchester United, one from third place Arsenal and then, perhaps surprisingly, Marcus Hahnemann from Wolves, who saved an impressive 78.4 % of shots on target, which was the best ratio amongst goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues who made at least 100 saves.

With their minds focussed back on domestic challenges, this is a time in the season when all honours are possible for the stars of the Barclays Premier League. Along with the Premier League title, FA Cup, Carling Cup and European trophies, this also includes recognition by the Castrol Rankings, the world’s first player ranking system based on the actual performances and objective analysis of every footballer across Europe’s top five leagues over the last 12 months.

Castrol has used the same expertise it applies to the development of its oils to create the Rankings, which measure every pass, every tackle and every single move of over 2,000 players from club games in the English Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, the German Bundesliga, France’s Ligue Une and the UEFA Champions League.

Last term, the leading Premier League star in the Castrol Rankings was Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who finished third overall on a list topped by Lionel Messi and then Christiano Ronaldo. Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney was fourth.

THE PREMIER LEAgUE TEAM OF THE SEASON

For the full Castrol Rankings of over 2,000 players, please go to www.castrolfootball.com

1 Marcus

HAHNEMANN

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

2 Branislav

John

Nemanja

Patrice

IVANOVIC

TERRY CHELSEA

MANCHESTER UNITED

CHELSEA

Antonio

VALENCIA

MANCHESTER UNITED

Frank

VIDIC

Cesc

LAMPARD

FABREGAS

CHELSEA

Wayne

ROONEY

MANCHESTER UNITED

CASTROL – OFFICIAL PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF THE LMA

ARSENAL

Didier

DROGBA CHELSEA

EVRA

Florent

MALOUDA CHELSEA

— welcome —

TOUCHLINE

50 The Outsider

Top horse trainer Venetia Williams reveals how she gets the best from her four-legged athletes

52 The technical area

In the first of a new series, LMA chairman Howard Wilkinson on the art of choosing a formation

Look sharp

The ‘hows and whys’ of improving your public image

56 The coach’s view

John McDermott on Spurs’ new policy, designed to give his charges a ‘pre-career career’

58 Health and wellbeing

8 From the dugout

Dr Dorian Dugmore unveils some strategies for holding back the tide of time

12 From the archive

The best players from the World Cup revealed, along with the best managers from last season

KICKING OFF

All of the latest news, from both within the LMA and the wider world of football A look back at a momentous occasion in the game’s history… the end of the maximum wage

14 Hall of Fame

A retrospective of the manager who pioneered international club football... Wolves legend Stan Cullis

16 Media matters

Sky Sports’ managing director, Barney Francis, talks technology, 3D and staying ahead of the game

FEATURES

24 Danny Wilson

Swindon’s manager on putting the disappointment of losing the play-off final behind him

28 32

60 Castrol analysis

LMA PARTNERS

62 LMA Awards 2010

The LMA’s men of the year from the 2009/10 season

67 Ivor Powell MBE

A tribute to a man involved in football for more than 70 years

69 Coaching for Hope

Martin Allen reflects on his time spent working in South Africa

70 Stoppage time

How some of South Africa’s newest parents marked the World Cup

28 Steve McClaren

He’s done it in Holland, now the former England boss tells us how he plans to succeed in Germany

32 The Insider

The newly appointed Southend manager, Paul Sturrock, on living and working with Parkinson’s

THE BUSINESS

34 More than talent?

Is an individual’s success due to their innate abilities, or can good management make the difference?

38 Different strokes

We talk to some people who’ve marched to a different beat and made a virtue of their individuality

46 A little extra

There are many ways that you can incentivise your staff, but which is best for you?

“It’s been a whirlwind”

Roy Hodgson, the new man at the helm at Anfield, on the challenges he faces in bringing the glory days back

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Kicking off

— News —

Kicking off news

and views from the dugout

olympics to delay start of 2012 season London agreement means there can be no clashes with other major sporting events, says London 2012 Olympics chief executive

with the International Olympic Committee, the games’ organisers pledged that there would be no clashes with other major sporting events for the duration of the games. Deighton said: “We have been in discussion with all the sports bodies responsible for schedules in 2012 and we are on track to meet that obligation.” The Community Shield normally takes place at Wembley Stadium in early August. When asked, Deighton confirmed that he believed that the beginning of the Premier League season would have to be delayed.

The beginning of the 2012/13 football season could be delayed, according to London 2012 Olympics chief executive Paul Deighton. The London games are due to take place between July 27th and August 12th, 2012. As a part of its agreement

Spain looks to the east Spain is looking to make inroads into the potentially lucrative Asian market by staging an annual pre-season tournament, the International LFP Cup. The new competition will take place in a different host country each year and will feature one local team and three from La Liga.

€442m

The true extent of Barcelona’s debt, as revealed by a recent Deloitte audit. The club incurred a loss of €77m in its last financial year.

Extra time A round-up of LMA members contributing to their communities

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shirt first for boro In what is believed to be a world first, Middlesbrough are to offer their shirt sponsorship to prospective commercial partners on a month-bymonth basis. Having failed to find a partner willing to meet its terms for full-season sponsorship, the club will now sell its front-of-shirt rights in 10 separate monthly packages. “We are all genuinely excited in taking this new approach to the market,” said Matt Smith, Middlesbrough’s head of commercial partnerships.

Tony Pulis defied the Icelandic ash cloud to climb Kilimanjaro in May. Pulis was part of a team that tackled Africa’s highest peak to raise funds for the Donna Louise Children’s Hospice. Donations can be made to www. justgiving.com/teampulis

— News —

HERE FOR THE BEER Carling has agreed a deal that will see the beer brand sponsor live UK broadcasts of Scottish Premier League matches across both Sky Sports and ESPN channels throughout the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons.

rafa leaves parting gift to liverpool

barnet host asian cup

Hillsborough charity among those to benefit as Benítez makes donations before leaving Reds to join Inter

Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benítez left a lasting impression on the city he lived and worked in for six years, when he donated to three Merseyside charities before leaving to take up the reins at Italian giants Internazionale. The three charities to benefit from Benítez’s generosity were the Hillsborough Family Support Group, the Lily Centre and the Rhys Jones Memorial Fund. The Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG) benefited to the tune of £96,000; equivalent to £1,000 for each of the lives lost in the crush at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium during the FA Cup semi-final in 1989. Benítez presented the cheque to HFSG chairwoman Margaret Aspinall (who lost her son in the tragedy) on June 10th, the day he was confirmed as Inter manager. The amounts donated to the Lily Centre (a breast cancer support group based in Kirkdale) and the Rhys Jones Memorial Fund (which was set up in

Mark Robins, Alan Irvine and a host of other managers lent their support to the recent Arrhythmia Awareness Week, an initiative by the Arrhythmia Alliance designed to help detect potentially fatal heart rhythm conditions.

honour of the 11-year-old Everton fan who was shot dead in Croxteth in 2007) remain undisclosed, but both were said to be “significant”.

Graham Taylor will join a group of approximately 300 cyclists, who will aim to pedal their way from London to Paris in September in an attempt to raise in excess of £500,000 for the Royal British Legion.

Brian McDermott was joined by his club chairman, Sir John Madejski, at a tea party held for Reading’s younger fans. The party raised funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care, the official charity partner of the Football League for 2010/11.

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Barnet have kickstarted a campaign to encourage more Asian players into the Football League by hosting its first Hive Asian Tournament in late July. The tournament, the brainchild of former manager (and current academy chief) Paul Fairclough, attracted 36 teams from as far afield as Birmingham, Nottingham and the Kent coast. The winning team, KKYW, came from closer to home, as most of its members hailed from the Middlesex area. The trophy was presented by Barnet captain Anwar Uddin, the first British Asian to captain a team in any of the top four divisions. The winning team also won tickets to the England v Hungary friendly and will enjoy a coaching session with the Barnet staff.

Harry Redknapp auctioned the suit he was wearing when soaked by his team live on TV following Spurs’ win over Man City to clinch fourth place. The suit raised £7,500 for Orchid, the only UK charity to focus on male-specific cancers.

— News —

SKY WIDENS REACH Sky has agreed a deal with Top Up TV to allow Freeview customers to watch Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2. This comes in the wake of similar agreements with Virgin Media and BT Vision.

EA Sports signs on as technology partner Premier League says new sponsorship deal will enhance matchday analysis and increase fan interaction

Five things I’ve learned Andy Payne

CEO, Mastertronic Group 1. IDEAS ARE EASY: Good ones are as easy as bad ones. Think every idea through and discuss it with your peers and team. 2. DECISIONS ARE ESSENTIAL: Sleep on them if you have to, but don’t shy away from them. Even if the decision is ‘no’, make it. 3. BE PERSONABLE: Face-to-face meetings are essential; the more you discuss, the more you agree. Take the time to talk, then act. 4. THINK LIKE THE OTHER GUY: It always helps to walk a mile in the other person’s shoes and understand their perspective. 5. MAKE EVERY DEAL A ‘WIN WIN’: If it’s not, even if it’s good for you, it’s not going to be a good deal in the long run. www.mastertronic.com

The Barclays Premier League has introduced its first new sponsorship category since 1992 with the announcement of the video game publisher, EA Sports, as its first official sports technology partner. EA Sports branding will feature on screen during all live broadcasts of Premier League games, while the two parties will “work to develop enhancements for matchday broadcast analysis and increased fan interaction”.

EA Sports will also sponsor the Premier League’s Player Performance Index and will publish a team of the week on the Premier League’s website. “We are extremely pleased that EA Sports has had the foresight to enter into this exciting new partnership that will connect with Barclays Premier League fans in new and inventive ways,” said Richard Masters, the Premier League’s director of sales and marketing. “Fans have a thirst for statistics and information and that is something that the Premier League, working with EA Sports, will provide to a level not seen before.” The Premier League and EA Sports have also agreed to extend their video game licensing arrangement.

Managers unite for man in black, halsey Top bosses show support for referee in remission, as dinner and auction raises money for cancer centre

A number of Barclays Premier League managers joined forces on May 8th to show their support for former topflight referee Mark Halsey, who hosted a sportman’s dinner to raise money for The Christie in Manchester, one of Europe’s leading cancer centres. Halsey, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2009 (and whose wife, Michelle, has leukaemia) underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the centre, before being told that he was in remission earlier this year. The managers, who joined a number of other sporting greats at Lancashire County Cricket Club for the dinner and auction, included Sir Alex Ferguson, Roberto Mancini, Owen Coyle, David Moyes, Martin O’Neill and Sam Allardyce. José Mourinho sent a special video message to the event, which was

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compered by Sky Sports presenters John Gwynne and Geoff Shreeves. Having refereed his last Premier League game in August 2009, Halsey returned to lower League duties in April and has now set his sights on a return to the top flight. “I thought I would never referee again,” he said, “but thanks to everyone at The Christie I am. It is a truly wonderful place.” Halsey’s consultant, Professor Tim Illidge, said: “The money raised from the dinner will go towards funding pioneering cancer treatment that targets the cancer cells without affecting the body’s healthy cells.”

— News —

3.18 million

The number of fans who attended the 64 games at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This didn’t break the record, though. That’s still held by USA 1994 (with 3.59 million).

Lord’s role

magpies boss wins kick it out honour Only black manager in the League presented with award after Newcastle clinch Championship title

Chris Hughton has been honoured by Kick It Out for his exceptional achievements as Newcastle United manager last season. Hughton, currently the only black manager working in any of the four main divisions, was presented with the award by the Kick It Out chair and founder, Lord Herman Ouseley at Paramount in London on May 18th. On presenting the award, Lord Ouseley said: “Chris Hughton is a pioneering figure whose achievements we hope will be recognised for years to come. As the first black manager

top marks for sam at bolton university Former Wanderers boss ‘honoured’ at being awarded Honorary Doctorate for services to Bolton

Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce has been recognised for his services to the town of Bolton, where he enjoyed many years of success as both a player and a manager. Allardyce joined the student body of the University of Bolton on July 15th

to achieve such heights, we feel this is worthy of recognition.” Hughton said: “We still have an imbalance between those playing and those going into coaching, but it’s important that anyone who gets there is there on merit. If me being the only black manager in the League can be a positive influence on anyone coming through, then great.” where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate. “It is a great honour to receive this degree, and to congratulate the students who have worked hard to earn theirs,” said Allardyce. “I educated myself as much I could as a coach and a manager. I built a great team at Bolton and I believe in the importance of the ‘team behind the team’ whether that’s in sport, or at a university.” Allardyce began his playing career as a centre-half with Bolton Wanderers in 1973, helping the club to the old Second Division title in the 1977/78 season. He returned to the club as manager in 1999, staying until 2007 when he left to manage Newcastle United. During his time as Bolton manager, Allardyce led the team to a League Cup final and to UEFA Cup qualification for the first time in the club’s history. “I didn’t consider my time at Bolton Wanderers to be work, I enjoyed it so much. It is a great pleasure to be honoured in this way,” he said.

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The Football League’s Honorary President, Lord Mawhinney, has been appointed as a special adviser to the NFL. Lord Mawhinney, who stood down in April after a seven-year reign as chairman of the Football League, will offer guidance and counsel on the sporting landscape in order to help the development of the NFL in the UK.

stir it up Stirling Albion have become the first senior Scottish football club to come under the direct control of its fans. The Stirling Albion Supporters Trust (SAST) has agreed a £300,000 deal to clear the club’s debts and buy out Peter McKenzie, chairman for the past 26 years. The SAST will now embark on a campaign of “innovative commercial activity” to generate new income.

beck ham? West Ham United coowner David Gold plans to enlist David Beckham to help with the club’s efforts to move into 2012 Olympic Stadium. “Beckham could play a massive part,” he said. “We see David as an ambassador not just for West Ham but also for East London.”

KICKING OFF

— MILESTONES —

From the SPONSORED BY

No.2 Maximum

Wage

As part of our ongoing examination of the history of the game, we look at how the abolition of the maximum wage changed football It’s a bizarre anomaly of modern life that professional footballers’ salaries are usually quoted in terms of their weekly wage. Frank Lampard, for example, isn’t reputed to earn £7.25m a year – instead he takes home £140,000 per week. The vision this conjures up is of footballers queuing up in front of a barred window every Friday to collect their pay in a small brown envelope (or, as would more likely be the case, several strong briefcases). This odd situation may have its roots in something that happened almost exactly 50 years ago – the abolition of the professional footballer’s maximum wage. The very notion of a ‘maximum wage’ for any profession seems positively Victorian; and indeed the seeds of football’s salary cap were planted in that era. Back in 1885, the Football Association opened itself to the concept of professionalism by announcing that it was “in the interests of Association Football to legalise the employment of professional football players, but only under certain restrictions”. This ruling merely served to legalise what was already becoming commonplace in the game – the payment of players, directly or by club directors providing a job outside football.

Within a few short years, the best players were starting to earn a very good living from the game, a subject which – inevitably – began to cause concern to many club administrators. The first proposal of a maximum wage was put forward by Derby County in 1893. It wasn’t until 1901, however, that the FA brought in the first wage cap,

Johnny Haynes became the first player in England to earn £100 a week

stating that the maximum wage for players in the Football League should not exceed £4 per week (ironically, the same figure as the Derby board had suggested almost a decade previously). Although this figure was double the average wage of a skilled tradesman at the time, it still came as a blow to the higherpaid players, some of whom had been earning up to £10 per week

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(and this was without taking into account their bonuses, which were also outlawed under the new rules). The imposition of the new rule led directly to the formation in 1907 of a players’ union, the Association Players’ Football Union, whose main objective was to raise the level of the maximum wage. There followed almost 50 years of conflict between the players and the governing bodies, almost all of which was directly related to the issue of pay. Despite the players’ best efforts, though, the maximum wage did not increase sufficiently over the years and by 1960, a professional footballer’s weekly earnings were only slightly higher than the national average. Then, in 1957, the Professional Footballers’ Association (as it had by then been renamed) appointed as its chairman the man who was to bring about the end of the maximum wage – Jimmy Hill. While never the most gifted of players, Hill had always been fully aware of the value of publicity and had cultivated a public persona which had made him one of the best-known players of the era. The four years that the ‘beatnik with the ball’ (a nickname inspired by his trademark goatee beard) had at the helm of the PFA were among the association’s most turbulent; starting with

January 10th 1961: Jimmy Hill, president of the Professional Footballers’ Association, talks to members of the press at St Pancras Town Hall, London. The topic under discussion is the threatened football players’ strike

the ‘Sunderland affair’ (where a number of players from that club were suspended for allegedly taking illegal payments) and ending with Hill organising a strike ballot on the subject of the maximum wage. This ballot produced an extraordinary 100 per cent ‘yes’ vote from the association’s membership and, faced with a strike which it had no chance of beating, the Football League conceded. Finally, in January 1961, the maximum wage was abolished. Although club administrators continued to fight against the inevitable change in the balance of power (a contemporary newsreel interview with the then West Ham chairman, Reg Pratt, shows him voice his concern about the effect that the rule change would have on public support), things changed almost overnight and within a matter of weeks Fulham’s Johnny Haynes had become the

“It was an injustice. There was no reason for a maximum wage”

JIMMY HILL on why he was active in ending the maximum wage

first player in England to earn £100 per week. These days, it’s impossible to imagine a world where professional footballers earned and lived at roughly the same standard as a successful solicitor, but up until the advent of the Premier League and the influx of subscription TV money into the game, that’s more or less how things stood. It’s equally unlikely that those days will ever return, but there are signs that the tide

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of player earnings may just be approaching its peak. The parlous financial state of many clubs’ finances, added to the global downturn in television revenues and corporate sponsorship funds, could point to a future where football has to cut its cloth more prudently. Indeed, in March this year, America’s MLS and Players Union reached a collective bargaining agreement which only narrowly staved off a strike. Add to this the imminent arrival of UEFA’s ‘financial fair play’ regulations and it seems likely that football players may find their prospective employers’ purse strings a little tighter than before. So, while players’ salaries will undoubtedly be reported on in terms of a weekly wage for some time to come, there may soon come a time where those salaries are no longer quite so newsworthy.

Kicking off

Hall of Fame Stan Cullis The Manager takes a nostalgic look at the man who did more than most to kick-start the era of international club football

Professional football has

had more than its share of tough guys over the years – both in the dugout and on the field. Very few, however, have been so tough that this quality has been reflected in their nickname... an ‘honour’ which was bestowed on the most successful Wolverhampton Wanderers manager of all time, Stan ‘the Iron Manager’ Cullis. An imposing centre-half during his playing days, Cullis captained Wolves while aged only 19, and earned 12 England caps in the run-up to the Second World War. That number could have been 13, except that Cullis refused to deliver the Nazi salute before England’s game against Germany on May 14th 1938 and was quietly dropped from the team as a result. Although this must have hurt at the time, it set Cullis apart as a man of strength and principle and did his reputation a great deal of good in the post-war years. The war loomed large over Cullis’s playing career as professional football came to a halt for the duration of the hostilities. Cullis signed up for the Army Physical Training Corps (serving at home and in Italy) and continued to play in representative

games, picking up 20 further ‘wartime caps’ during this time. Upon retiring after the 1946/47 season, Cullis was appointed to a coaching position with the Molineux side, which was then managed by Ted Vizard. When Vizard was sacked in 1948, Cullis, aged just 31, took over, heralding the most successful period in the club’s history.

“The whole future of football in Britain depends on our ability to face the challenge from abroad” stan cullis explains his pioneering approach to European football

Over the next 16 years Cullis perfected a distinctive ‘direct’ style – developed from the tactics employed by the great Hungarian national team of the day – which brought the club extraordinary success, including three League Championships and two FA Cups. Despite his reputation as a disciplinarian, Cullis was in many ways a visionary and pioneering manager, particularly in the field of international club football. During his tenure, Wolves became one of the first clubs to install

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floodlights, specifically so that Cullis could arrange midweek friendly matches against topquality European club sides. One of the first of these games – against Hungary’s Honvéd in 1954 – cemented Cullis’s growing international reputation. The opposition, which included the great Puskás and four other members of the Hungarian national side that had beaten England 7-1 earlier that year, quickly took a two-goal lead. However, following what must have been a robust team talk, Wolves came back to win with three second-half goals. Although it’s unclear as to whether or not he actually said the words, the press quoted Cullis describing his team as “Champions of the world” – words that sparked the creation of the European Cup and, subsequently, the Champions League. Wolves won their last League title in the 1958/59 season and, although they finished as runners-up the following season (and third the year after that), a slow and steady decline had set in. Cullis took the blame and the club dismissed him in September 1964. Even in the unforgiving world of

“You only have the one life, and I gave mine to Wolves” Stan Cullis

football, Cullis’s dismissal was seen as particularly callous; he found out that he had lost his job when he received a letter from the club asking that he return his keys (with his name and title crossed out on the letterhead). It is a measure of how highly thought of Cullis was within the game that he immediately received an offer to take the reins at Juventus. Cullis, however, turned this down, eventually returning to

STAN Cullis FACT FILE

the game for a final (and generally unremarkable) stint as manager of Birmingham City. Stan Cullis died on February 28th 2001 at the age of 84. Wolverhampton Wanderers marked his contribution to the history of the club by unveiling a statue in his honour in 2003. Although it may not match his nickname exactly, it’s somehow appropriate that the Iron Manager has been immortalised in bronze.

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Born: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, October 25th 1916 Playing career: Centre-half. Wolverhampton Wanderers (1934-1947); England (12 caps, 20 ‘wartime’ caps). Managerial career: Wolverhampton Wanderers (1948-1964); Birmingham City (1965-1970). Honours and achievements: First Division champion (1954, 1958, 1959); FA Cup (1949, 1960); inducted into English Football Hall of Fame (2003).

KICKING OFF

Media

matters Barney Francis SKY SPORTS Barney Francis, SKY SPORTS

from the on-screen score and clock to the extra depth of 3d, sky sports has been at the vanguard of innovation in broadcasting over the past two decades

If and when you next find

yourself watching a clip of pre-Premier League football on your television or computer, ask yourself one simple question… what’s the score? You probably won’t be able to tell straight away because, back in the pre-satellite days, broadcasters didn’t put that simple piece of information in the top left-hand corner of the screen. Carrying the score on the screen seems obvious now, but until an Australian called David Hill (by no means a football expert) looked at the screen during one of Sky’s earliest football broadcasts and asked, “Why on earth do I not know what the score is?” no one had thought to do it. Now, of course, it’s thought of almost as a basic human right. Hill, one of the management team in the early days of Sky TV,

has long since moved on (he’s now chief executive of Fox Sports in the US), but the spirit of innovation that he fostered within the network endures. Now almost 20 years old (that milestone will be passed in April 2011), Sky Sports continues to push the boundaries of sports broadcasting, these days under the guiding hand of its managing director, Barney Francis. And although the channel has been around for the best part of two decades, Francis believes it retains the same youthful will to innovate that it’s had since its inception. “We don’t want to be the Establishment,” he says. “We still want to break new ground; we still want to be the people who look at new techniques, new ways of doing things. That’s absolutely in our DNA. It’s not written down

about Barney Francis Barney Francis was appointed managing director of Sky Sports in July 2009 (having joined the network in 1999). He’s responsible for the output of five core channels, four HD channels, Sky Sports News HD and online and mobile content. Barney has worked in television for 17 years in the terrestrial, multi-channel and independent production sectors.

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anywhere, but everyone here who makes a programme has the view that they want today’s programme to be better than yesterday’s.” Sky’s record of innovation is impressive (see ‘Sky Times’, opposite), not only in the number of features it’s pioneered over the years, but also in the fact that the pace of change never seems to let up. The latest example of this is 3D TV. From a near standing start at the beginning of this year – the first broadcast was the game between Arsenal and Manchester United on January 31st, when there were only eight suitable screens in the UK – Sky Sports already has a network of 1,300 pubs across the country equipped to show games in 3D. The full introduction of 3D remains a major challenge (not least because extra room has to be found in the nation’s stadiums to place the cameras), but it’s one that Francis is keen to face. “3D will continue to challenge us and to challenge the clubs, but the Premier League sees the commercial opportunity, so it’s a case of us all working closely together to make it happen. In some of the older stadiums, the Anfields of this world, there are only a certain number of camera positions, so when you’re trying to get 20 HD cameras in there and an additional, say eight 3D

Sky’s 3D cameras will be jostling for position at grounds throughout this season

“Once the next thing comes along, we’ll get it to air as quickly as anyone” cameras, something’s got to give.” It would seem that 3D will be the latest in a long line of Sky-driven innovations that change the way the general public views sport. But occasionally Sky’s influence can go further than this, changing the sport itself, rather than just the way it’s viewed. A good example of this is the Hawk-Eye camera in cricket, which is now being gradually incorporated into the way the sport itself is officiated. “When I joined the channel in 1996, we were inundated with

Sky Times

technology developers who saw Sky as a great place to pitch their inventions, but that’s dried up now as we decided that we didn’t want to be seen as simply putting things on air for the sake of it,” says Francis. “The flipside of that is taking something like Hawk-Eye, which was clearly a great invention, and developing it further.” While Sky is clearly open to experimentation, Francis is keen to ensure that technology isn’t introduced for its own sake. The main criteria for the addition of any on-screen innovation is that it has to add editorial value. “We only take the viewer away to a ‘virtual world’ if that process shows us something that we can’t see in the real world,” says Francis. “Take, for example, Frank Lampard’s ‘goal that wasn’t’ in the World Cup; you don’t need to go to a virtual world to see that, a straight replay tells the story perfectly well.”

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1989 Sky launches 1991 Sky Sports launches as a standalone element of a five-channel line-up 1992 Sky Sports starts covering the new FA Premier League 1992 On-screen clock and scoreline introduced 1994 Sky Sports 2 launched 1994 ‘Super slow motion’ pioneered 1995 Split-screen coverage on final day of Premier League season, so all the drama could be seen on one screen 1996 ‘Replay 2000’ graphic measures speed, flight and distance of a shot 1997 ‘Virtual replay’ introduced 1998 Sky Digital launches, increasing the channel capacity tenfold 1998 Sky Sports News is launched – the first made-for-digital channel 1999 World’s first live interactive football match – Arsenal v Manchester United 2000 All Sky outside broadcasts live in widescreen 2001 Fan Zone introduced 2006 First live HD broadcasts 2010 First live 3D broadcast of football

So with 3D now on its way to becoming established – at least in public venues – what’s next for Francis and his team? “We’re going to continue to invest in 3D. You won’t be watching Sky Sports News in 3D any time soon, but we’re going to launch a 3D channel for residential homes in the autumn. This won’t be just for sports, it’s going to have movies and documentaries, too.” And what’s next after that? “I don’t know,” says Francis. “But nothing ever goes unresearched here; we’ll get 3D right and then, once the next thing comes along, we’ll get it to air as quickly as anyone.”

Feature

— Leadership —

HODGSON’S

CHOICE

With a wealth of experience under his belt and having taken unfashionable Fulham to the UEFA Europa League final, Roy Hodgson was the obvious candidate to take over at Liverpool. He talks to The Manager about what lies ahead

words Sue McKellar

Roy Hodgson gets his first taste of life in the Anfield spotlight

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— roy hodgson —

On May 10th, Roy Hodgson took

to the stage at London’s Grosvenor Square Hotel to the rapturous applause from an audience composed largely of his peers and professional rivals. He was there to collect the LMA Manager of the Year award sponsored by Barclays and, in the process, destroy the old adage that nice guys finish last. In an unprecedented break with tradition, the award was presented at the beginning of the evening (being the top accolade, the Manager of the Year prize is usually the evening’s final, climactic announcement), because Hodgson had a plane to catch; he went straight from the hotel to join up with his Fulham squad in Hamburg for that week’s Europa League final. Although Fulham eventually lost that match (beaten by Diego Forlan’s second goal of the night, deep in extra time), Hodgson’s reputation was secure; after 35 years in the coaching business his name was suddenly being linked with every available management position (and even a few that were still unavailable). So, when Liverpool and Rafa Benítez parted company on June 3rd, the media proclaimed Hodgson to be the only serious contender for the job and, as is often the case, the media got it right. Roy Hodgson was announced as Liverpool FC’s 19th manager on July 1st and, with many of his new squad still in South Africa on World Cup duty, found himself facing the task of restoring the Anfield club to its once familiar position at the top of the English football pyramid. Despite the fact that he suddenly found himself at the eye of storm, Hodgson took time out to talk to The Manager about the challenge that lies ahead… ➽

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— roy hodgson —

It was good that he brought them to a football club and a city that is always anxious to embrace those values anyway, but I think that many of the things that he stood for go beyond football and are mantras for life. I think I became most interested in Liverpool during my initial coaching days in the early 1970s when they really were the dominant team in England and Europe. I was definitely influenced by the style of the team; the quick-tempo passing, the movement and, of course, the successful pairings of front players such as Keegan and Toshack, and Rush and Dalglish.

Hodgson’s time with Switzerland led to a World Cup Finals appearance in 1994

➽

Has the enormity of the new job sunk in yet? I was very proud to have been offered such a prestigious job. There have only been 18 previous managers in the club’s 110-year history, so it’s obviously a major honour when the decision falls in your favour. There was quite a long process which the club carried out because they were anxious to leave no stone unturned. I was contacted quite early on and they let me know that I was very well considered, but from that moment on, until they actually offered me the job, it was a long process. I don’t like to discuss pinnacles or make comparisons with previous jobs, as you can quite easily offend people that you have worked with elsewhere and be viewed as disloyal or in some way negative. All I can say is that it is a fantastic honour; it’s a big job and one that I shall have to work very hard to do. Hopefully it will be a job that I shall be very proud of in years to come. Have you had any time to savour your appointment? It’s been something of a whirlwind and getting to grips with things will take time. We’ve had so many players away at the World Cup that

the players I was initially able to work with were ones with very little first-team experience. I have had a chance to meet a lot of people and get to know the structure of the job at Anfield, the Melwood training ground and the club’s other offices and community sites. Every day has been an 8.30 start and a past midnight finish, so it’s been a tiring, but enjoyable time. You’d have been about 16 when Bill Shankly won his first League title. What impression did his period as boss of Liverpool leave on you? Shankly achieved legendary status at Liverpool and I think that many of the values that he stood for are good values in every walk of life.

You’re following in the footsteps of legendary ‘boot room’ managers and, more recently, Gérard Houllier and Rafa Benítez. Does your experience with Inter allow you to take it in your stride? The stature, traditions and ability of Liverpool to attract players certainly make it an achievable task, even though we are in strange times at the moment; the club is up for sale and nobody knows what direction it will take if and when new owners are found. So it’s not quite as easy to answer that question as it would have been a few years ago when the situation was far more stable and the money to buy new players was available. We hope the situation will change when the club is eventually

Roy Hodgson timeline 1 1976: Begins managerial career with Swedish side Halmstads BK, winning League title in first season

1979: Second League title with Halmstads 3

1980: Joins Bristol City as assistant manager

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1982: Succeeds Bob Houghton as Bristol City manager

1986: Wins first of five consecutive League titles

1985: Leaves Örebro for Malmö FF

1983: Returns to Sweden to take charge of Örebro

— roy hodgson —

sold and owners who are prepared to invest in the club come in. When that situation arises I’m pretty sure it won’t be difficult for us to start achieving things again, but at the moment the task is really to hang on to the players we’ve got and make certain we don’t have a situation where we have got a total rebuilding process.

reward the players who are playing for their hard work and efforts. There’s no doubt that to win titles you need a very, very good team. You can’t do it on desire and team spirit alone; you have got to have the quality of players. The quality of players at our club has got to be commensurate with the ambitions of our biggest rivals.

Liverpool haven’t won the title for 20 years, but each season their fans believe they can win it. Some may view this as false optimism; what’s your view and how do you manage their expectations? I don’t think there’s any such thing as false optimism. There is pragmatism and you should never try to dampen people’s enthusiasm and optimism. Furthermore, every season you see teams not expected to win titles winning them; it doesn’t always go to the favourite in any country. So you should never play down the Liverpool fans’ incredible desire and passion to keep on winning trophies – and the Barclays Premier League in particular – and keep their noses in front of Manchester United. I believe that Liverpool people know their football; they are aware of what the team can and can’t do. One can only hope that they can sympathise with the situation that we find ourselves in and that they will, as they have always done,

As you did at Inter, you are joining a club with world-famous players. How do you get players to buy into your vision? I shall do what I always do in front of football players, whether they be superstars or lesser-known Scandinavian players, which has been the case sometimes in my

“Roy has accumulated a wealth of experience across the world. He deserved to be named LMA Manager of the Year and without a doubt deserves the opportunity to manage Liverpool” david moyes

1990: Moves to Switzerland to manage Neuchâtel Xamax

1992: Switches jobs with Swiss national coach Uli Stielike

1994: Leads Switzerland to the FIFA World Cup Finals in the USA

1998: Leads Rovers to sixth place in the Premier League

1997: Takes Inter to the UEFA Cup final, losing on pens to Schalke 04. Joins Blackburn 11

1995: Leads Switzerland to qualification for Euro 96, before joining Inter

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past management career. I shall just attempt to make sure that they are aware of how I believe the club should move forward, what I expect from them on and off the pitch. I aim to convince them that the way we are going to work and the way I expect them to work together will lead to success. I don’t have any particular concerns or ideas about how I go in and make an impression. I would expect them to judge and make their opinion about me over a period of time, just as I will do with them. I have always believed that the way you behave and the way that you do things is always much more important than what you say. It’s easy to say the right thing, but it’s much more difficult to consistently do the right thing and make sure they do the same – that’s the crux of the matter. During your 35-year coaching career you have managed 13 clubs and countries. Does that diversity of experience benefit you? It’s difficult to evaluate what experiences have done for you and what part they have played; it becomes just a big amalgam really. Strangely enough, the diversity has not been as great as you may think, because of the long periods of time spent in various jobs; six or seven years in Switzerland, 16 years in Scandinavia and six years in England. I suppose the only real ➽

1999: After a brief stint as caretaker manager with Inter, returns to Switzerland with Grasshopper Club Zürich 15

2000: Moves to Denmark and leads Copenhagen to the Superliga in his first season

— roy hodgson —

➽ diverse experience was spent during the two years I had as manager of the United Arab Emirates. I suppose the other example of diversity could be when I have moved from club to international management on three occasions.

How do you plan to approach living in the ‘goldfish bowl’ that is Liverpool? I am very comfortable with the desire of everybody to talk and give their opinions, wish you luck and possibly even tell you what you should be doing, because that demonstrates the passion and the interest. If you work at a club like Liverpool or Inter it’s something that you embrace rather than fear, and you should be pleased about the situation and never complain about it. If you want a quiet life and don’t want to be bothered by people trying to share their love of football with you, then working in football is probably the wrong job for you. You’ve been described as ‘stable, experienced and statesmanlike’; how do you view such descriptions? I don’t read how I am portrayed because there’s a risk then that I would start trying to live up to reputations that people were giving me. I think the people who are best placed to judge me are the players and people that I work with. All

“Liverpool is a big club with a big heart, where there is a special link between the people and the players and staff. I’m sure Roy is the ideal man to make it work” GÉrard Houllier

of those qualities that you’ve just described are qualities that we all should attempt to achieve because football clubs need stability, and when you are representing a big club, being statesmanlike is a very worthwhile quality. What does the Kop’s famous ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ anthem mean to you? The words ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ are apt in every respect; over the years the people at Liverpool have lived up to them in situations where their backs have been against the wall – Hillsborough, of course, is a classic and poignant example. I think that the players and people who work at the club feel that and feel protected by the Liverpool family. It won’t stop the family criticising us when we do something wrong, but they won’t leave us alone or cast us out. It defines the very culture of the club.

2001: Returns to Italy for a short spell with Udinese

2002: Coaches the senior and Olympic teams with the United Arab Emirates 18

2004: Moves to Norway to manage Viking FK, qualifying for the UEFA Cup in his first season

2008: Keeps Fulham in the top flight with a win on the last game of the season 2007: Returns to club management, taking the reins at Fulham

2005: Another spell of international management, this time with Finland

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It’s been a fine 12 months for you, reaching the Europa League final, being named LMA Manager of the Year and now being appointed Liverpool manager. Do you have to pinch yourself? It’s been a pretty good five or six years. My time in Finland was very good when we came so close to qualifying for the UEFA European Championships from such a difficult group, and the two and a half seasons I spent at Fulham were terrific and brought about my current opportunity with Liverpool. Anyone who knows me will know that I will work really hard as Liverpool manager and do the best job I am capable of doing. Just like when I joined Inter, Liverpool are at a stage where the past is more glorious than the present and it is going to be a challenging job to restore those glory days that everyone craves.

Hodgson shakes hands with his Anfield predecessor, Rafa Benítez

2009: Takes Fulham to seventh in the Premier League and earns the club a place in the UEFA Europa League

2010: Leads Fulham to their first-ever European final, with a famous victory over Juventus along the way. Wins LMA Manager of the Year award. Appointed Liverpool manager

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Feature

— danny wilson —

Outside of those who support or work for one of the Barclays Premier League’s ‘big four’, most people with a passion for football will experience more lows than highs. None of these lows, however, can possibly match the one that follows losing a play-off final. One man with very recent experience of just that is Swindon Town manager Danny Wilson, whose charges came agonisingly close to a return to the Championship last season, only to lose to Millwall by a single goal in the Wembley decider. Wilson, who’s taking charge of the Wiltshire club for just his second full season, is fully aware of just how crushing a blow that defeat was. “The atmosphere’s fantastic in the 10 days between winning the semi-final and the final itself,” he says. “Everybody’s on a high and the expectation level is enormous. Then, when you lose, it’s a massive, massive blow. Anyone who’s been through it – players, fans or management – will know what I’m talking about. But on the day, Millwall were better than us, so we wish them all the best.” Those of us who have never been in a dressing room after a defeat in such an important match can only imagine what the atmosphere was like; what did Wilson do at that point to encourage his team to put it behind them? “After the game it was a case of congratulating the boys on what they’d achieved,” he says. “They probably seemed like empty words – and I’m sure that not a lot really sinks in at that time – but they were really heartfelt.” So how does he prevent that disappointment from affecting Swindon’s performance at the beginning of this new season? “I’m hoping that the four or five weeks that they’ve had off has been enough to recharge their batteries and that they’ve come back with the hunger to do it all again this year. The most important thing, though – and I think most managers would

Starting After the gut-wrenching defeat of last season’s play-off final, Swindon manager Danny Wilson thinks positive in his new push for promotion words Ciarán Brennan

agree with this – is to get the games coming as quickly as possible so that the players can get it out of their system. We should keep the good memories from last season, but the sooner we lose the bad ones, the better for everyone at the club.” Despite having the experience of more than 800 games as a manager under his belt (to add to the 626 games he played for, among others, Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town and Sheffield Wednesday), this is the first time that Wilson has had to try to motivate a team after a play-off disappointment. He has lost a play-off final before – when in charge of Bristol City in 2004 – but left the club five days later. This time, he’s determined to use the experience as a positive. “It’s made us more determined to do well in the coming season. We’ll

the manager AUTUMN 2010

use Millwall as an example – how well they reacted to their own defeat in the 2009 final. They regrouped and got stronger, and that’s something that we’ll have to do, too.” Swindon’s achievement in even reaching the play-offs was remarkable enough – especially as many had predicted that they would be facing a challenge at the other end of the table. It was ➽

“It’s made us more determined to do well in the coming season”

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— danny wilson —

Six steps to bouncing back Setbacks and disappointments hit managers in all areas of business. Duncan Brodie, managing director of the leadership development company, Goals and Achievements, outlines a strategy for recovering and moving on from reversals.

➽ even more remarkable, though, when you take into account the strength of the opposition they faced. “Last season, we were up against the likes of Leeds, Norwich, Southampton and Charlton,” Wilson says, “some of whom have graced the Premier League before and will probably do so again – so that makes you realise how tough it was.” Wilson is quick to acknowledge, however, that playing against clubs of that stature can have a positive effect, too. “When we saw the fixtures list and looked at those games it was very exciting – and we had a lot of full houses.” But with Leeds and Norwich now back in the Championship, could it not be argued that the division might be a little easier? Wilson doesn’t agree, pointing out that not only are Charlton and Southampton still there, but they’ve been joined by another ‘sleeping giant’; the club where Wilson enjoyed most of his success as a player, Sheffield Wednesday. Wilson is acutely aware of the challenge that Wednesday will present. “You look at the crowds that they can attract, and they seem to be getting things going now, too, with Alan Irvine in charge. He’s a fantastic manager and an intelligent, articulate and hardworking man. I was disappointed for him and the club when they

went down, but maybe that ‘step backwards to go forwards’ is just what the club needs.” If it’s true that taking a step backwards might eventually be good for Sheffield Wednesday, could it also be true that having another year to develop in League One might be good for Wilson’s own team? “There could be something in that,” he says, “but if you’re in a position to take advantage of something I don’t think that you can say, ‘this is too soon for us’. You have to take opportunities when they arise and, unfortunately, we didn’t do that.” After last season’s performance, much is expected of Wilson and Swindon, but this doesn’t cause the manager undue concern. “We may have over-achieved a little bit last season… and we may have surprised ourselves a little bit,” he says, “but it’s given us that hunger to do it again. I think the expectation will be different this year. It will put a different pressure on our boys; this season, we’ll be there to be shot at from day one. I like that expectation level, though, because it keeps you on your toes in every game.” And does he think that he and his team can make the play-offs again this season? No, Wilson’s sights are set a little higher than that. “I would like to think that we can use the experience to go one better.”

the manager AUTUMN 2010

1. Recognise the effort and progress you’ve made Even if you haven’t got the result that you wanted, chances are that you will have made some progress. It’s important not to lose sight of this. 2. D on’t dwell on what’s happened It is always important to take stock, reflect and identify the key lessons for the future. At the same time, it’s good to remember that you cannot rewrite history, but you can influence what happens in the future. 3. Create a clear goal Be specific about what you want to achieve in the future. 4. Rebuild self-belief Good managers don’t become bad overnight. If you’ve had a setback, it’s inevitable (and entirely natural) that some doubt will creep in. Remind yourself what you have achieved to rebuild your self-belief. 5. Keep things in perspective When we are really attached to achieving something, it can seem like the end of the world if we don’t quite make it. Learn to stand back and keep things in perspective. 6. Take action There’s nothing more powerful in terms of picking yourself up than quickly setting another goal and taking action to achieve it. Remember that decisions lead to actions and actions lead to results. goalsandachievements.co.uk

Feature

— LMA OVERSEAS —

Return

of the

MAC With a Dutch title under his belt and new challenges ahead in the Bundesliga, Steve McClaren has put his England experience behind him words Sue McKellar

The England manager’s job is considered by many observers to be a ‘poisoned chalice’. Expectations are high and, at the first perceived failing, media criticism of the incumbent manager quickly becomes personal and harsh. Having experienced this recurring drama at first hand (before stepping down from the job in November 2007), Steve McClaren found opportunities to rebuild his career at club level in England hard to come by. But although it was no longer fashionable to say so – with the mass media preferring to linger on images of him sheltering under an umbrella on a rainy Wembley

night – Steve McClaren had always been a gifted coach. McClaren first began to make a name for himself as assistant manager with Derby County, when he and the then manager, Jim Smith, earned the club promotion to the Premier League in their first season in charge. This achievement, coupled with McClaren’s reputation as a well qualified, innovative young coach, secured him the position as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant manager. Together they brought Manchester United the historic Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League ‘treble’ in 1999. McClaren’s first job in the manager’s chair came when he

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— Steve McClaren —

succeeded Bryan Robson as Middlesbrough boss in 2001. Here he secured the Teesside club its first-ever silverware when he won the League Cup in 2004. Boro fans then went on to experience their first European football as McClaren led his team to the UEFA Cup final the following season. But, unfairly or not, his England experience spoilt the CV in many chairmen’s eyes and despite his exemplary club record, McClaren, like Sir Bobby Robson before him, came to the conclusion that in order to get his career back on track he would have to look abroad. In June 2008, he signed on as manager with the unfashionable Dutch team FC Twente, a club which, like Middlesbrough, had never really achieved anything. McClaren quickly made his mark, leading the team to second place in the Eredivisie (the Dutch top flight) in his first season and then, remarkably, going one better by lifting the trophy in May this year. This, as many observers noted, was the equivalent of leading Bolton Wanderers to the Barclays Premier League title. McClaren’s feat – which made him the first English manager to win a top-division league title since Howard Wilkinson in 1992 – made many of Europe’s big clubs sit up and take notice and, within days of his Dutch triumph, McClaren had joined German club Wolfsburg, thus becoming the first Englishman to manage in the Bundesliga. Just before setting off to Wolfsburg for his first session with his new squad, McClaren took some time out to talk to The Manager about the challenges that lie ahead.

the manager AUTUMN 2010

Not everyone has what it takes to lead; at what point did you begin to realise that you were one of the few? I think it’s quite apparent if you’re a leader, even from when you play school sports. No matter what age you are, you show that, when the going gets tough, you’re the one who stands up and keeps going. Those qualities develop into your chosen profession. As you gain experience and get more confidence you grow into that role. It’s a natural thing and sometimes you don’t even realise it’s happening. What type of leader or manager did you set out to be? To manage or lead, the first thing you need is passion for the job. Being a leader, in business or football, often means making multi-million pound decisions and you have to have knowledge and experience to do that. You have to work hard to acquire that knowledge and experience through what you do, what you read and study, and by going to other people for advice. As a football manager you have to work 24/7, you need a vision of where you and your team are going, and you have to have the staying power to do it. Is there a particular skill required to inspire a group of fellow professionals to do things your way? You have to display passion and enthusiasm and convince them of what you know. You must be able to communicate your ➽

— Steve McClaren —

➽ knowledge, because if you don’t know what you’re talking about, players will know it within a week. I think respect is a key word within football; as a player when you move to a new dressing room you have to win respect quickly, and it’s the same when you come in as a coach. I remember joining Manchester United as assistant manager and it being the hardest five months of my life. I joined as an unknown and the United players were all big names; I had to try and win their respect through what I knew and through the qualities I could bring to improve them. I always classify myself as a teacher, because you’re trying to improve the players as individuals to improve the team. How have you evolved as a manager? I have become more comfortable in myself by learning from my experiences, both good and bad. You have to be able to deal with adversity, setbacks, failures, losing football matches – even losing jobs – and have the strength, belief and confidence to come back and try again. You just think, “right, won’t be doing that again” and learn from the experience. Have you put the disappointment of losing the England job behind you? It’s very difficult to achieve success in the England job – and

that’s been the case for the past six or seven England managers. In hindsight, the England disappointment has made me a better manager and a better person than I was before. You can’t beat experience and you have got to go through certain experiences to acquire knowledge. You won three Premier League titles (one of them part of a ‘treble’) as assistant manager with Manchester United, reached the UEFA Cup final and won the League Cup with Middlesbrough, and won the Eredivisie in your short time at FC Twente. Is there a secret to all of this? Your philosophy is a big thing; you’ve got to know the culture and work ethic that you want to create. You have to know how you want your team to play and what kind of players you want. You must be pragmatic and flexible, but at the same time you must have core principles that are inflexible; these form the platform to what you believe in. I like to think that I create a players’ culture, but I always believe in the premise of “we want to improve you as players and as a team who will succeed”. I was taught all about work ethic in my time at Manchester United where you just couldn’t get those

Steve McClaren has rebuilt his career after England and is now one of the most respected managers in Europe

players off the training field. For me, talent is nothing without hard work and doing extra and taking responsibility for yourself. You have to engender a culture where you create a team that want to work for their mates and then you can become unstoppable. At FC Twente you inherited a Dutch coaching staff and a team that didn’t know you. How did you go about communicating your philosophy? It was like going into the lion’s den and trying to get accepted pretty quickly. I believe that I was fortunate to join a good club, with good players and coaches. I had to adopt the approach of being flexible and pragmatic and think to myself, “do I want to try and make 30 people change or do I adapt myself to the new environment?” I decided to appraise the situation, not go in like a bull in a china shop and see how they worked. My experience helped me do this because five years ago I would probably have gone in saying, “this is my way, this is the English way”. If I’d done that I might have had a rebellion on my hands because the Dutch are very strong in their opinions and in the way they play. I bought into what they were doing because it was successful and contributed to that with my methods. I injected some of the English approach – showing them how to inject some passion and commitment – which I felt the team needed to develop. Has managing abroad, coupled with working under Sven-Göran Eriksson with England, expanded your approach to coaching? European experience certainly expands your approach and accelerates your acquisition of knowledge and experience. I first experienced it at Manchester

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— Steve McClaren —

United working under one of the world’s best managers in Sir Alex Ferguson. You can experience working in the Premier League, but nothing beats working in the Champions League or Europa League for extending your knowledge. You are constantly involved in big games and are presented with different problems every time you play. As a leader, how important is it to be receptive to other people’s ideas and views? It’s very important; within a football club you can’t succeed

“The England job has made me a better manager and a better person than I was before” without good leadership and without good senior players. It’s so important to listen to your senior players and get them to buy into your philosophy, because then you have a platform from which to achieve. When I became Middlesbrough manager I assembled a staff of five. We were so strong and unified in our beliefs that eventually the players bought into our philosophy and aspirations. They knew they couldn’t break us so they had to follow us and we stuck with the ones who wanted to follow us and got rid of the ones who didn’t want to. If the senior players buy in, then the younger ones will follow. The dressing room is the inner sanctum and is the key to whether you are going to succeed or fail and that is what you have to control and lead.

Steve McClaren FACT FILE

Born: Fulford, York, May 3rd 1961 Playing career: Midfielder, Hull City, Derby County, Bristol City, Oxford United. Managerial career: Middlesbrough (2001-2006); England (2006-2007); FC Twente (2008-2010); Wolfsburg (2010-). Honours and achievements: League Cup winner (Middlesbrough, 2004); Eredivisie winner (FC Twente, 2010); LMA Special Merit Award (2010).

What needs to be done to open up more opportunities for British managers abroad? We need to start at the bottom and improve our coaches. We need to make coaches understand what hard work it is to be a coach, that it’s not a nine to five job... it’s 24/7 and it’s hard work. To gain all that knowledge is hard work and the only way to do it is to put in the hours on the field, in the office, on the road and in front of the TV screen, analysing your own team, the opposition or just watching European games and World Cups. We have got to establish that kind of culture in Britain. The Netherlands has more than 100 top coaches working across the world; good coaches who’ve gone through a lot to get their coaching licences. You have to work your way up from the youth team, through the reserves, before you get anywhere near the first team. The reality in Holland is that you start thinking like a coach when you are playing at the age of 11, because that’s when you are first taught the tactical side of the game. If we get good, good coaches in the UK they will coach the kids better and give them what they need.

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Lifting the Dutch Championship trophy on May 12th 2010

You’ve now become the first-ever Englishman to manage in the Bundesliga; how are you approaching this? I have to adapt, which is what a leader or manager has to do in almost every situation. Not every situation is the same and you have to be able to evaluate very quickly – and that applies from club to club, not just country to country. When I joined FC Twente I had to adapt to Dutch football, culture and traditions, so first and foremost I will have to adapt to German football as quickly as I can. Were you keen to go to Germany alone without your coaching staff like you did at FC Twente? Yes, absolutely, because I think by working with Dutch coaches I very quickly learnt the Dutch way. I’ve been fortunate that throughout my coaching career I have stepped up a level in every job. I was assistant manager to Jim Smith, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sven-Göran Eriksson and had very good experiences with all of them. I’m looking forward to experiencing German football and culture and trying to build a team and be successful.

Feature

— Leadership —

Insider The

Paul Sturrock Photography matt munro

Having secretly battled against Parkinson’s for almost a decade, Southend boss Paul Sturrock wants to prove there’s more to him than just a medical condition

“It’s all down to Muhammad

Ali, really,” says Paul Sturrock. “People see him on TV and immediately that becomes their reference point of how people with Parkinson’s are. It’s a wee bit disappointing, but you can’t really argue with it, as that’s all that most people see. The truth is that Parkinson’s affects everyone in different ways.” And Sturrock should know. He was diagnosed with the condition back in 2000 and, having decided to keep it secret, continued to work in football management for the best part of a decade before finally ‘coming clean’ and announcing his condition to the world in July 2008. Sturrock first noticed something was wrong when his hand started to shake uncontrollably while drinking a cup of tea. His first reaction was to ignore it, but when the condition worsened he eventually brought it to the attention of his club doctor. “He sent me to a specialist who informed me that I had a mild form of Parkinson’s or, as he called it, ‘bog standard Parkinson’s’,” says Sturrock. Although he jokes about it now, this was something of a bombshell to a 43-year-old man who’d been fit and active throughout his life. “Your first question is, ‘is it life threatening?’,” says Sturrock. “Thankfully, the specialist allayed my fears on that front, although he did say that when I get into my later

years I might want it to be. You then ask yourself, ‘why me?’, but I soon realised that there are a lot of people out there worse off than me. It’s not that I’m grateful to have Parkinson’s, but I can appreciate the situation a bit better now.” Sturrock decided that he wasn’t going to let the condition affect his work and set about finding the best way to deal with it. “The key to

“I’d love to think that in 10 years I’ll be talking about how successful the decade has been” managing Parkinson’s is controlling your tiredness and maintaining your energy levels. I learned very quickly how to monitor and schedule my day, so I make sure that I get enough rest and get it when I need it,” he says. Sturrock also worked closely with his medical advisers to work out the most suitable medication and lifestyle that would allow him to continue working normally. For the next eight years, Sturrock

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kept his condition a secret from all except his closest family, his club doctors and his coaching staff (assistant manager Kevin Summerfield and defensive coach John Blackley) who, he felt, had a right to know. Then, in 2008, the situation finally reached a point where Sturrock decided that he wanted to make his condition more widely known. “I was starting to feel uncomfortable about keeping it from people. I developed a ‘flick’ in my left foot and people started to notice that something was wrong. I weighed up the whole scenario and decided to make it public.” Although the reaction to his announcement was largely positive – both from fans and players (“To be honest, I joke about it more than they do”) – Sturrock began to notice that references to his condition began to creep in to the media. “Once it got out, people started to mention it whenever we lost, but I’d been managing with Parkinson’s for eight years and in that time I’d won four promotions, so I don’t think it affected me too badly.” However, results on the pitch took a turn for the worse and, inevitably, Sturrock paid the price, with his second spell as Plymouth boss coming to an end late last year. Sturrock now found himself in the position of being an unemployed football manager with a well-publicised medical condition. “It was interesting to see how

— Paul Sturrock —

difficult it was for me to even get an interview, never mind an opportunity,” he says. “And in the three interviews I did have, the subject of Parkinson’s was always the first thing that came up.” Thankfully, though, the powers that be at Southend were willing to look beyond Sturrock’s condition and focus on his managerial record, and he signed a three-year deal with the Roots Hall club in July. “I’m in it for the long haul,” he says. “I’ve had good guidance, I’ve worked with a psychologist and we’ve developed a life plan, a good routine. I’d love to think that in 10 years’ time I’ll be sitting here talking about how successful the last decade has been.” How this new chapter will unfold is yet to be seen, but one thing that Sturrock hopes is that his story is once again going to be about football, not his medical condition.

about Parkinson’s

Named after Dr James Parkinson, who first brought attention to the subject in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817, Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition that affects one person in every 500 in the UK. Most people are first diagnosed with the condition aged 50 and above, but it can strike younger people, too.

Paul Sturrock FACT FILE

The incurable condition is caused by a deficiency of dopamine. Early symptoms usually include poor hand coordination, problems with handwriting, and a tremor (shaking) in the arm. These symptoms usually develop gradually and can sometimes take years to progress to a point where they cause problems. Further information is available online at www.parkinsons.org.uk

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Born: Ellon, Aberdeenshire, October 10th 1956 Playing career: Centre-forward, Dundee United (1974-1989) and Scotland (20 caps, three goals). Managerial career: St Johnstone (1993-1998); Dundee United (1998-2000); Plymouth Argyle (2000-2004); Southampton (2004); Sheffield Weds (2004-2006); Swindon Town (2006-2007); Plymouth Argyle (2007-2009); Southend United (2010-). Honours and achievements: Scottish First Division champion (St Johnstone, 1997); Football League Division Three champion (Plymouth Argyle, 2002).

THE BUSINESS

— talent management —

nature or nurture? Is successful management just a case of finding gifted people and applying them to the task in hand, or is the equation a little more complex? The Manager takes advice from some experts in the field of talent management

words Cath Everett

In his 2008 bestseller Outliers,

Malcolm Gladwell argued that the secret to success among extraordinarily high achievers was not raw, natural talent, as many of us might expect. Instead, it came down to two much more mundane factors, namely the right opportunities and a great deal of hard work… 10,000 hours of hard work, in fact. While Gladwell’s theory has been criticised in some quarters for being overly simplistic, it does raise some interesting points, not least in relation to the ongoing ‘nature versus nurture’ debate. Moreover, The New Yorker journalist’s views are also widely believed to hold more than a grain of truth. Research by Dean Keith Simonton, a distinguished professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, for example, came to the conclusion that

becoming an expert in the fields of both music and psychology took most individuals an average of 10 years, a finding roughly similar to Gladwell’s. Meanwhile, neurological studies, as evidenced in The Talent Code by journalist and author Daniel Coyle, also suggest that practice makes perfect. Coyle

So, what such ideas would appear to imply is that, while innate talent may predispose individuals to pursue certain areas of interest, without hard work and effort, they are unlikely to excel. Professor Alex Linley, a founding director of people management consultancy, the Centre of Applied Positive

“Talent, in the absence of hard work, is worth nothing, but talent with hard work is a dynamite combination” discovered that, because repeated activity in a chosen sphere significantly increased the layering of a neurological protein called myelin over neural circuits, the rate at which people learned was boosted exponentially. This, in turn, led to higher levels of success in that area.

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Psychology (CAPP), explains: “It’s a combination of nature and nurture. Nature can guide you in a certain direction, but nurture will determine if it’s realised. Talent, in the absence of hard work, is worth nothing, but talent with hard work is a dynamite combination.”

— talent management —

Therefore, as a rule of thumb, his preference would be to hire personnel who were of average ability, but worked hard, over those who were talented but lazy – even though, with all of the effort in the world, the former would never become world-class, just better than normal. Nonetheless, it appears that hard work is not the only factor behind success. Issues such as family, culture and friendships also have a role to play, as do encouraging coaches and mentors who are willing to help people hone their skills. But again, without high levels of that magic word ‘motivation’, such support is likely to come to little. Richard Nugent, a confidence and leadership coach, who owns the Success in Football consultancy, indicates that successful people always have a “drive or a will to succeed and a passion” for whatever it is they do.

“And if they do something they’re really passionate about, it’s amazing what they can achieve. When talented people don’t play at their best, it tends to be because they’ve lost that passion and it’s the same in business,” he says. Other helpful traits for winners include having confidence, ‘get up and go’, a tendency towards positive thinking and a belief

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that they can win. But even taking such considerations into account, Paul O’Leary, Ireland country manager for talent management organisation PI Europe, believes that it is simply counter-productive to put a square peg in a round hole. In his view, high performance levels are based on a mixture of character, motivation and skill... and while skills can be learned, character is fixed. As a result, a prerequisite for success involves “matching the personality of the job to the personality of the person”. To explain his point, O’Leary cites the analogy of a chicken and a duck – the former is naturally good at laying eggs and the latter at swimming. “If your role and performance in a role is based on being able to swim well, there’s no point putting a chicken in it,” he says. “There’s nothing wrong with chickens, but a prerequisite ➽

— talent management —

➽ for high levels of performance is getting the right character fit.” What this means in practice is that managers need to place people in positions where “performance is simply behaving in a way that is natural to them, in a position where they can succeed rather than fail,” O’Leary adds. In order to do this effectively, however, it is crucial to understand each team member as an individual and to know what makes them tick. While psychological profiling can help in this regard, managers can achieve a lot by simply taking an interest in their staff and in trying to develop a clear and objective view of their character and motivations. This process, which can be formal or informal, depending on the organisational culture, involves learning what is important to staff, how they interact with others and which form of communication they respond to best. For example, while some individuals need rules and structures to feel comfortable, others require a certain amount of autonomy to function at their best. While some characters respond to a lot of change and variety, others prefer their environment to be more stable and reliable. Once they have such information to hand, managers are in a stronger position to work with each individual in a way that will motivate and get the best out of them. The pitfall that many leaders fall into, however, is only seeing things from their own perspective and expecting each member of their team to be motivated by the same things that they are. The problem with such an approach, which includes imparting ‘motivational’ speeches to push the manager’s views, is that it is unlikely to help personnel understand the upside for

themselves, which is important if they are to feel engaged. James Brook, managing director of talent management consultancy Titan Talent, believes that the quickest path to high performance is to really understand what individuals are energised by, to get them in the right role in the first place and to shape those roles around them. “It’s about doing the right thing for people rather than prescribing a method or approach, competencies or behaviour,” he says. A tip in this context is to simply ask what a team member’s personal picture of success

are making progress and can even create a virtuous circle in terms of reinforcing positive behaviour. CAPP’s Alex Linley explains: “The effect of ‘golden seeds’ can be quite pronounced. A piece of positive feedback that really hits the spot grows with people over time.” But encouragement can also come in other forms. While some people require positive reinforcement to build up their confidence, others may receive a greater benefit from being shown that a lot of hard work is required to achieve success. Equally important in boosting morale, however, is making

“The secret is finding a way to manage that is authentic for yourself and right for your staff” looks like, what they want to achieve and how it can be achieved in the context of the organisation’s objectives. The manager’s role is then to help personnel achieve these goals by developing a personalised road map for them, which takes into account their strengths and weaknesses, skills and knowledge. Any remaining gaps can subsequently be filled with training, guidance, mentoring and a good dose of constructive challenges to help stretch and open up new opportunities for them. Another key word to bear in mind in the context of staff development is encouragement. Positive, authentic feedback linked to a named time and place and backed up with evidence of positive outcomes, helps people to feel valued and appreciated. Earned praise and rewards appropriate to each individual also enable them to see that they

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goals and expectations clear. As most humans are goal-oriented, employees tend to respond positively if they know what is expected of them on a daily and weekly basis and are not subject to ambiguity or uncertainty. But clarity is not only required in terms of objectives. Because leaders have a strong influence on their teams, it is also important that they understand themselves and their own motivations. Research shows that when people quit a job, they generally leave to get away from their manager, not their position or duties. As a result, to become credible, managers need to focus on their own self-development and build up a track record of positive performance. Another key characteristic of a good leader, however, is honesty. As Success in Football’s Nugent puts it: “People are more likely to follow someone if they’re a bit of a bastard and honest about

— talent management —

it, rather than pretending to be something that they’re not.” But staff also respond well to bosses that they perceive to be inspirational. While this difficult word appears to be a mix of positivity, confidence and charisma, Nugent believes that inspirational behaviour is entirely learnable. “Think about the most confident person you know, then sit the way they sit and breathe the way they breathe. Have conversations in your head that you think they’d have in theirs,” he says. The thinking behind such techniques hinges on the fact that if the body is sitting in a confident manner, it tricks the brain into releasing chemicals that actually make the individual concerned feel more confident themselves. Therefore, although many people assume that being inspirational is about jumping around and exuding high energy, in practice it’s more about slight shifts in behaviour and body language, which include using slightly more defined and noticeable hand gestures. But as CAPP’s Linley reassuringly points out, at the end of the day, there is no such thing as a ‘perfect manager’ profile. While there may be some consistency in terms of practice, each will have their own individual personalities and characteristics. The secret is finding a way to manage that is authentic for you and right for your staff, which means playing to your strengths. “The fundamental role of any manager is to deliver results through other people and it’s one of the key transitions people have to make on the leadership journey. It’s a real step change and until they get that, it simply won’t work,” Linley concludes.

The early bird catches the scout’s eye In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell points out that two-thirds of Canada’s professional ice hockey players are born in either January or February. This, Gladwell asserts, is because Canadian youth leagues are organised by calendar year and, as children born in the first months of the year are inevitably better developed than their younger teammates, they get more coaching and more opportunities to play. As a result, a ‘virtuous circle’ is established which continues into adulthood. Gladwell suggests that this ‘birth bias’ might, in fact, lead to many potential stars remaining undiscovered. Craig Simmons, the Football Association’s player development adviser, believes that a similar age bias exists in football. In his paper, Can family planning increase your selection chances?, Simmons says: “In England, statistics for players in centres of excellence show an obvious bias towards birthdays in the September to December third of the year.” Simmons also points out that this bias is, in fact, an international phenomenon. “The seasonal bias is not simply calendar based, but relates to the start date of the relevant age bands of competition,” he says. “Therefore, the selection bias towards the oldest performers appears as the first three to four months into any competition year. In the UK, with a September 1st start date for school and the football season, the majority of ‘talented’ players come from the September to December period. Japan’s competition year begins on

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April 1st and the bias is observed in May to July.” In another paper, Strategies for Scouting and Talent Identification of Potential Young Football Players, Simmons suggests a strategy that can help reduce the effects of age bias. “Physical pairing of children in practice and games sessions can be supported by a simple formula of assessing body mass. Players are grouped by a formula derived from multiplying height in centimetres by weight in kilograms, divided by a thousand and recorded to one decimal point.” For example, a child weighing 50 kilos and 165 centimetres tall would be gauged as follows: 165cms x 50kg, divided by 1,000, resulting in a ‘score’ of 8.2 (and, therefore, a place in ‘group 8’). “Players could on occasions play in groups made up of similar opposition to each other,” Simmons says. “This process allows assessment of players without the domination of constant mismatch; children more evenly opposed will have better opportunity to learn and be evaluated.” Simmons identifies Jamie Carragher (pictured) and Francis Jeffers as examples of late developers (aged 14, both had been among the smallest in their school years) who benefited from being viewed in a system that matched age, body size and maturation stage. The matching of physical types allows players to demonstrate their understanding and technique without being affected by the size or strength of the opposition.

THE BUSINESS

— leadership —

Dare to be

Different While talent copies and genius steals, those who really want to make a mark have to do things their own way. The Manager talks to a select group of business people who have made their mark by doing things their own way words chris alden Photography Hannah Edwards

As soon as you walk into

London’s Cumberland Hotel, you know this is not what Stuart Chappell, the hotel’s general manager, calls “just another London bedroom factory”. Yes, it’s the second biggest hotel in the city, but the huge lobby is painted in minimalist white, with original sculptures, and there’s even a glass waterfall to catch the eye. It’s daring, and it’s certainly different, but what might not be immediately obvious as you look around is that the member of staff who helps you check in might be Chappell – a man who doesn’t shrink from leading from the front. “If it’s a Friday afternoon and you’ve got 500 arrivals and there’s going to be a challenge in the lobby, your people need to see you there backing them up,” says Chappell, explaining his hands-on style. “Whether I’m there making sure everything’s going right, or engaging with customers, they need to see that when the chips are down – as they have been for the past 18 months – I’m leading my team.” Standing out from the competition, it seems, is more difficult than it looks. It’s not

just about arty design or original thinking – though that can help. It’s about inspiring people, it’s about confidence in what you’re doing... and it’s about leadership. Unlike some hotel managers, Chappell didn’t go to university – but he did spend two years

“Great leaders drive change because they understand where they want to go” on an intensive training scheme at the start of his career, finding out about the industry from the inside. And as a leader, he prides himself on knowing what it’s like at the coalface. “It’s hard graft. You need to know how to clean 15 rooms a day and what it’s like to be cleaning up sick at four in the morning after functions,” he says.

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Gerard Murphy, director of Leading Teams Europe, says: “In any walk of life, the team reflects the leader. Great leaders drive change because they understand where they want to go, and they’re quite ruthless about it – in a positive way.” Take Neil Westwood – an NHS trainer who, sick of carrying bulky flipcharts around hospital wards, spent £30,000 of his own money developing the Magic Whiteboard, a portable, tear-off roll of paper that sticks to walls using static electricity. He had a wife, two children and a steady job, but he believed in what he was about to do, and dared to take the risk. The gamble paid off when he and his wife, Laura, appeared on the BBC TV programme, Dragons’ Den, and persuaded Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden to part with £100,000 in exchange for 40 per cent of the business. Throughout his journey, Westwood hasn’t been afraid to do things a little bit differently – if it means bringing in trade. He hired a billboard outside the head office of a stationery chain in order to persuade it ➽

— leadership —

Stuart Chappell: doing things differently at London’s Cumberland Hotel

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— leadership —

➽ to stock his product. “The buyers are so busy, you’ve got to do something different, rather than just emailing them and trying to ring them up,” he says. “You’ve got to influence them in different ways.” Above all, he’s not afraid to give things a go, as he showed when, sat waiting in the departure lounge of Frankfurt Airport for his flight, he noticed a businessman who worked for a major stationery company in the west of England. “I just showed him Magic Whiteboard there and then – and he said, ‘Right, we’ve got to get this in.’ You’ve got to take chances and talk to people.” Dave Hall, a reservist Marine who is director of the leadership and management development consultancy, Sampson Hall, agrees that courage is a key quality you need if you’re going to dare to be different. “Being a good leader is having the willpower and determination to succeed and achieve your objective – as opposed to managing to avoid failure. Managing to avoid failure doesn’t really wash as a leader.” Take children’s writer Tom Blofeld (nephew of cricket commentator Henry Blofeld), who took the unusual step of setting up BeWILDerwood, a treehouse adventure park for children themed around his storybooks. “When we set out to make the park, we set out to do something that was original and came completely from ourselves,” Blofeld explains. “We were exclusively interested in what we wanted to do, and that led us to a place that was very different. “There’s a really good quote from [Italian author] Italo Calvino, who wrote The Baron in the Trees. He says at the beginning of the book: ‘I went to the library to borrow a book, and I couldn’t find it so I went home and I wrote it.’ “It’s the best reason I’ve ever come across to make anything. It’s

the reason we made the park. We felt that what we wanted didn’t exist. So we created it.” Another businessman who’s dared to follow his own path is Charlie Mullins, the entrepreneurial plumber who’s built himself up to running a £15m business as boss of Pimlico Plumbers. Mullins is almost as famous for his unique marketing tactics as for his plumbing. There’s the fact that Pimlico Plumbers vans have personalised number plates (such as LOO 2 WET or A 801 LER) an idea which even leads to customers asking for the plumber by their number plate when they call up. He’s not afraid of using the media, either. “We’re probably the only plumbing company that has an in-house PR team and Max Clifford as its agent,” he says. Mullins has made a success of it by looking at how the public traditionally perceive plumbers... and doing the opposite. “The industry has a bad name,” he admits. “But there’s nothing complicated about what we’ve done – we do the complete opposite to the cowboys. They expect us to turn up late, a scruffy plumber with a dirty van, overpricing and not finishing the job. A lot of businesses are stuck in the old mould – then they wonder why they haven’t got any work. Seventy-three per cent of our customers have used us before, and we deal with 1,200-1,500 jobs a week. I would say the average plumbing company doesn’t get return work of 10 per cent.” And if being different means facing a bit of flak, says Murphy of Leading Teams Europe, so be it. “In all walks of life, when great leaders start out people sometimes think they’re a bit crazy. People look at what they’re doing and wonder what’s going on. What they’re doing is changing the status quo. They’re pushing the boundaries. “You have to be brave – and just go for it.”

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four sportsmen who broke the mould Muhammad Ali One of the most recognised men in history, Ali’s lightning-quick reflexes with fists and feet in the boxing ring – and his equally swift tongue outside of it – helped blur the line between sport and celebrity. Outspoken, iconic and utterly beguiling. Kevin Pietersen Never has a cricket stroke caused such controversy as Kevin Pietersen’s ‘switch-hit’. Not content with already being one of the world’s biggest hitters, the England batsman divided the sport when he spanked the ball out the ground by suddenly changing his grip and playing left-handed. Johan Cruyff Not many footballers have a trick named after them, but Cruyff is unlike other players. One of the exponents of ‘total football’, his legacy on the game goes deeper than just the ‘Cruyff turn’; this summer’s World Cup final, for example, featured 14 players with links to the academies established by Cruyff in Ajax and Barcelona. Dick Fosbury When US high-jumper Dick Fosbury ditched the straddle method of clearing the bar in favour of his new backwards, head-first technique (dubbed ‘the Flop’ due to it looking like a fish flopping in a boat) his rivals laughed. That was until he won gold at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The rest is history.

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THE BUSINESS

— Image management —

Image rights Sir Richard Branson has a unique one, Baroness Thatcher’s was famously rebuilt and Madonna changes hers on a regular basis. We are, of course, talking about image words Mark williams

Image now has almost

unrivalled importance in our society. Almost all of us are more conscious of our public persona than we’ve ever been before: we’re forced to be. Those in the public eye face even more pressure. Apart entirely from the heavily Photoshopped, productendorsing portraits and glossy lifestyle spreads that boost their

public profiles (and bank balances), they are also plagued by a section of the media that delights in portraying them when they’re far from looking their best. The preoccupation with image is not just confined to showbusiness, professional football or the heavily spin-doctored world of politics, either. For years, companies of all sizes have realised the importance

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of image management. In short, it’s good for the bottom line. “Each of us only has about 30 seconds to create the right impression,” says Audrey Hanna, consultant at CMB Image, the corporate division of the leading personal image consultant, Colour Me Beautiful (whose impressive client list includes Proctor & Gamble, IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Pfizer, Vodafone, Barclays, Marks & Spencer and Jaguar). “Ninety-three per cent of communication is non-verbal; 55 per cent of that is appearance and body language; 38 per cent is tone, pitch and pace of voice; while only seven per cent is actually what the person is saying. This underlines the importance of image.” Another expert in the field of image management, Tim Luckett is a self-confessed ‘poacher-turned gamekeeper’. For many years a national newspaper reporter, he’s now a senior consultant at the international PR and communications agency Hill & Knowlton, whose clients include

— Image management —

Castrol, Adidas, HSBC, Gillette, Aviva and the Carling Cup. “One of my specific areas is senior executives’ presentation and media skills,” he explains. “Business leaders are their own ‘shop window’. Their image must represent the brand effectively. Recently, I’ve just been working with a premier sports brand business leader, preparing him for a high-profile sales conference. To succeed, everyone in the audience must trust and respect him and, above all, listen to him. That’s why every element of his image has to be just right – there can’t be any distractions or mistakes.” According to Luckett, ‘image’ goes well beyond clothes, hair and personal grooming; it also covers body language, eye contact, posture, gestures, voice and communication style. “Even the manner in which you enter a hall or room is part of your image,” he says. “And even if a business leader is just being interviewed by a print journalist, not appearing on TV, their image must still be

right, otherwise the key messages can get lost.” As Luckett explains, if a manager loses their temper in a media interview – even if provoked by Paxman-style questioning – they’re seen to lack control, which affects perception and damages reputation. There’s a lot to get right. Defensive body language makes interviewees look elusive. Confidence levels and

managers, board members and shareholders. “Much depends on the organisation, but a less formal internal image can be advisable. The same leader would probably dress and act more formally when doing a TV interview. A few high-profile business figures deliberately turn up dressed informally for media interviews,

“Even if a business leader is just being interviewed by a print journalist, their image must still be right” demeanour also have to be right for the audience and circumstance. “Many senior business people have more than one image,” says Hanna. “Often they have to present themselves in one way to their customers, the media and general public, while simultaneously having a slightly different image when communicating with employees,

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because that’s the way they want to represent the brand. This is the result of careful consideration, not a lack of professionalism or judgement.” Crucially, as Luckett points out, image can be as much about perception as it is about reality. Images can be (and often are) created. “Frequently, I’m tasked ➽

— Image management —

➽ with improving image. I might ask a senior executive to present to me; then I’ll identify faults and provide tips. Perhaps I’ll say I want them to speak slower or louder, maybe give me 50 per cent more energy. When it comes to the real thing, they might only give it 30 per cent, but at least that will enhance their image. “A business leader might have to work very hard to become more engaging or more likeable and that can be a big challenge. Many would rather spend time on a golf course or in the boardroom than with me doing presentation training, but they know that investing the time to improve image is worthwhile.” So where do business people

senior business people can really struggle with the concept of ‘smart casual’ clothing; they don’t know how to dress down.” The key, Hanna says, is to find an image solution that represent the manager’s brand positively, while being current and suiting his or her personality, natural features and attributes. “We tell them what colours, shapes and clothes suit them, maybe which tie to wear with a particular shirt, for example, or what blouse to wear with a suit.” Image problems, it would seem, are by no means exclusively in the male domain. Could it be that image really is as important as experience, knowledge and traditional

“You must stay current, but that doesn’t mean dressing too young. If you’re a 50-yearold executive, you shouldn’t try to look like a 20-year-old” commonly get it wrong when it comes to their appearance? “Some get stuck in a rut,” Hanna explains. “Having the same haircut or wearing the same style of suit for 20 years encourages people to think their management style or brand is similarly behind the times. “You must stay current, but that doesn’t mean dressing too young. If you’re a 50-year-old executive, you shouldn’t try to look like a 20-yearold; you must dress for your age. You must also feel confident, because then you’re more likely to act confident. Frequently, people wear clothing that is too big or too small for them.” Personality ties and brightly coloured braces or socks are a definite “no no”, Hanna says. Rather less predictably, she adds: “Being overdressed can work against you, but if there’s any doubt, it’s better than being underdressed. Some

managerial skills these days? “Senior leaders – in all areas of business – need to successfully engage a diverse range of stakeholders,” says Luckett. “If their image alienates just one important group, it could have serious implications for the longevity of their job.” Is it the case that we, as a society, are too obsessed with image and appearance? “That’s an argument you will hear,” says Luckett, “but there’s no turning the clock back. Today’s 24-hour rolling media is hungry for news and there’s an appetite for stories about celebrities, high-profile business people and brands. The general public now has camera phones and images and news can quickly be disseminated online. Image is a 24/7 consideration for successful businesses and their senior decision makers – and that won’t change.”

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Suited and Booted One man with a firm grasp of the importance of 'dressing to impress' is the Leicester City manager, Paulo Sousa. Having been invited by the Alfred Dunhill company to sample its custom tailoring programme, Sousa made two visits over the summer to the company's London home, Bourdon House, to be fitted by custom and bespoke manager, Karl Clausen. Dunhill's custom tailoring programme offers a choice of two signature cuts – the St James block (as chosen by Sousa) and the Belgravia fit. Whichever version is chosen, the finished suit undergoes 165 operations, with the jacket alone constructed from some 200 separate pieces.

Photography Hannah Edwards

— Image management —

the manager AUTUMN 2010

THE BUSINESS

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; bonuses and incentives â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

keeping them keen Rewarding an employee is no longer just a case of putting a little extra in their pay packet. The Manager examines the changing nature of employee incentives words guy matthews

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— bonuses and incentives —

‘A fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work’ was one of the slogans of the early trade union movement – a rebuff to bosses who, it was perceived, had come to regard their workforce as expendable. A decent pay packet is now the least any employee can expect... and in many cases they want more. We live in an era of the end-of-year financial bonus and the companywide incentive scheme where (in some sectors more than others) the presumption has arisen that the salary will be just one element in a broader reward package. How, then, should employers approach the bonus issue with a view to achieving employee satisfaction, while also serving their own interests? What options exist? Is the carrot of financial reward always the most effective means of achieving loyalty and performance? In the immediate wake of a recession, are large bonuses even justifiable or affordable? The up-market end of the scale has certainly enjoyed a bad press in the past couple of years. Banks rescued with taxpayers’ money and continuing to pay fat bonuses; FTSE 100 chiefs enjoying golden pay days while dividends are slashed – all have courted ire. “Despite some controversy, nothing’s really changed,” says Christopher Hitchins, a partner in the employment group at international law firm Morgan Lewis. “People in certain industries – financial services being the most obvious – are still receiving massive bonuses. There was a backlash against them when Lehman Brothers collapsed, and there were suggestions that they should be forcibly capped. Instead, what’s happened is that rather than give guaranteed bonuses in cash, most are now discretionary and paid in a mix of cash and shares, or over a period of years. They are now more likely to be subject to conditions,

and perhaps clawed back or withheld if these are not met.” Hitchins believes that an important consideration for any organisation looking at financial rewards beyond a basic salary is to reflect whether they’re trying to incentivise people to deliver better results, or simply to retain them. “Are you in a situation where someone says, ‘Pay me my bonus or I walk’?” he says. “You have to remember that bonuses are handled differently in different sectors, so this might not always be the case. In the legal world, it’s normal to get two per cent of your salary as a maximum. There might be a bonus pool from

“The law says pay what bonus you like, as long as it’s reasonable” which five per cent of profits are paid out. In other sectors, you might have a bonus that’s a multiplier of six times a moderate basic salary, and very much expected as part of a package. This would typically be in a sector such as banking, where you don’t go in to enjoy yourself, but to make money.” Daniel Issac, a partner in the employment team at law firm Withers Worldwide, believes there is an essential distinction to be made between a discretionary bonus (where an element of choice and control resides with the organisation’s management) and a formulaic one that is calculated on a set scale that should be plain for all to understand. Both, he says, come with challenges. “A discretionary bonus used to mean an option, ranging from giving nothing to being very generous,”

the manager AUTUMN 2010

he says. “Then there was the case of Clark v Nomura where Clark, a trader, got a bonus of zero and brought an action against the bank for being in breach of contract. The court agreed, creating great excitement in the world of employment law. Then, a bit later, there was another case – Keen v Commerzbank. Keen got an OK bonus, but not as big as he expected. The court ruled against him, saying it only wanted to be involved in extreme cases. The number of cases suddenly fell away. Then came the credit crunch and anyone in banking thought they were lucky just to have a job. So the law currently says pay what bonus you like, as long as it’s reasonable and not perverse.” The way bonuses are handled differs, not only between different vertical sectors, but also within companies, depending on the nature of the employee’s role, says Andy Greenwood, sales manager of Edenred (formerly known as Accor Services), a company that specialises in the creation of employee incentives. “If you’re talking about a sales job, then you really have to offer some level of bonus to attract people and keep them,” he says. “But how you do this is changing, thanks to a lot of research into what motivates and what doesn’t. Cash, as it turns out, is not the biggest motivator. It actually has little direct link to a business’s overall performance.” Although, if asked, most employees will say that cash motivates them more than any other form of incentive, Greenwood points out that research actually belies this. “If you look at the effect on their performance after a reward is given, it improves an average of 15 per cent with something noncash, such as a meal out or some travel, compared with only two per cent with money,” he says. ➽

— bonuses and incentives —

➽ A lot of companies are becoming more savvy, and realising there are other ways of achieving motivation than big cash sums, Greenwood claims. “There’s always just plain recognition,” he says. “Recognising someone’s worth is important; it gives them a sense of achievement. That can come simply from the MD shaking them by the hand.” Greenwood says certain key principles apply whether you are looking at a big City bank or a small retail chain. “Feelings of self esteem and security will get people to the next level of working hard for you,” he says. “A general reconsideration of cash as the main motivator was already happening before the credit crunch, but that’s certainly accelerated it.” Whether you’re talking about financial or non-financial incentives, there’s no point in implementing a scheme at all if you don’t get the basics right in the first place, says Kevin Harrington, director and marketing strategist at Sodexo Motivation Solutions. It’s a division of the hospitality and facilities management company that creates and maintains incentive schemes not only for customers, but for all the staff in its parent group. “If you don’t sort out the basics, then the risk is that you will only achieve temporary, short-term changes in behaviour,” he says. “What you’re after is to make positive changes to behaviour and then sustain them.” Firstly, he says, you must plan ahead and carefully define your objectives. “Does the scheme you have in mind fit the objectives of the business?” he says. “Secondly, you need clear administration in place, so that you’re not running the risk of being accused of favouritism in the award of bonuses, and also so you have a basis to work out if the scheme was a success. Thirdly, you must communicate so that people know why they are being rewarded. I know of one case where people

got a reward, but thought it was just a Christmas present and not connected to their performance.” Like Greenwood, Harrington is wary of cash as the best way to incentivise. “Our research shows that a cash reward is quickly forgotten about,” he says. “It’s also generally between six to 10 times more expensive than a non-financial reward. The problem with cash is it goes out with the payroll and gets used to pay your credit card or your Tesco bill. It doesn’t leave a lasting memory. With a voucher scheme, say, people are forced to treat themselves, not pay a bill, and end up feeling much more rewarded.” He favours a gift that the recipient can choose to some

“A lot of companies are realising there are other ways of achieving motivation than big cash sums” extent. “Just because the chairman likes opera and Ascot, that doesn’t mean the employees will,” he warns. “Choice means a low level of wastage. And it means you don’t work hard and then get something you think is derisory. It doesn’t need to be of high value either. I’ve seen people jump through hoops for a £20 voucher. If it’s given at an endof-year event in front of colleagues, so much the better. What you need to ensure is that you’re bumping the performance of the business up to a new level with each new round of rewards, and not just maintaining it at the same level.”

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The incentive for reaching the Premier League can be great for players and managers

BONUS BALLS Simon Barker, formerly a tough-tackling midfielder for Queens Park Rangers, now a senior executive at the PFA, knows more than most about the subject of bonuses in the world of football. “Football is like any other business; the people who bring you success will earn the most money,” he says. “It’s a difficult one, though, because it’s a team game. The people writing contracts these days have to get the balance right between team and individual bonuses.” Barker believes that, as basic wages have increased at the higher levels of the game, the importance of bonuses has diminished. However, at the lower levels they remain important as they make up a larger percentage of the player’s take-home pay. The structure and level of bonuses also changes from club to club, based on the club’s financial status and also on its definition of success. “For some clubs, being successful is simply staying in the league they’re in,” Barker says, “while for others success is only seen as promotion or getting into Europe.” Managers, of course, are also on bonuses for success. “If being in the Premier League is worth £40m a year, then it makes sense to incentivise the people who have a big say in making that happen,” says Barker.

THE BUSINESS

— Profile —

THE

Venetia Williams words alex mead

While many football managers might feel that they spend their days trying to get the best out of thoroughbred athletes who don’t understand a word that’s said to them, that’s exactly the DAILY challenge that faces Venetia Williams You can lead a horse to water… but how do you get it to jump Becher’s Brook twice and then go on to win the Grand National? Venetia Williams knows, as she trained the 100/1 outsider Mon Mome, which won that famous race in 2009 (making Williams only the second female trainer to win the National, after Jenny Pitman 26 years earlier). This was no fluke either, as Williams’ charges have also captured the Hennessy Gold Cup and King George VI Chase. Williams boasts an impressive CV that started to take shape after she gave up her own riding ambitions. Just a couple of weeks after competing in the 1988 Grand National, Williams suffered a near fatal fall at Worcester. “I broke a bone in my neck and was very, very lucky that I wasn’t six feet under,” says Williams. “I was paralysed for 10 minutes after and I remember hitting the ground and ending up face down on the grass. I could feel the grass on my face, but from the neck down my body didn’t exist – it was like it I was floating in the sky.” Luckily, Williams was fit enough to at least turn her attention to training, something she had always been involved in while riding as an amateur. As you can imagine, the things that drove her as a jockey still apply in her role as a trainer. “I think everybody involved in racing has a competitive nature. Obviously it helps if you enjoy winning, which

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— Venetia Williams —

I do,” she says. “But I also have enormous admiration for the horses themselves and the questions we ask them and answers they give.” The parallels between Williams’ relationship with her charges and those of a football manager are remarkably similar. “Mental attitude is very important and the training of that side of it is just as important as the physical side,” she explains. “It’s a case of trying to read a horse’s mentality and trying to treat that horse in the best way,

so that it is able to produce its best attitude. There are a vast number of horses that might be blessed with enormous natural ability, but might not want to dredge the depths to make the most of it. The best horses not only have a lot of natural ability, they also have to have willing and competitive attitudes.” A big part of solving such problems comes with getting to know the individuals (sound familiar?) and for this, Williams turns to the horses’ training

“Horses are not designed to be cooped up 23 hours a day. We let them be horses, allow them to go out and buck, kick and play” partners for help. “All the exercise riders have to write me a few lines on every horse they’ve ridden every day,” says Williams. “The first thing I do every day is read the reports. It’s very informative for me, and when I’m going around looking at the horses in the stables I can bring up the comments with the riders for further conversation.” As well as studying a horse’s nature and daily changes in attitude or performance, Williams is a firm believer in the negative impact of ‘all work and no play’. “I do turn all horses out in the fields in the afternoon for a few hours; I’m sure I’m the only trainer in the country who does this.”

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And not only does she allow them ‘play’ time, she gives them a ‘play pal’, too. “The horses are paired up with one good friend for the season,” she says. “We’ve got 50 big paddocks and when they’re turned out, they can have a good gallop, get down and roll and play… it’s always the same pair, so hopefully there’s no kicking and scrapping. Horses are not designed to be cooped up 23 hours a day and then put out on the gallops for an hour. We let them be horses, allow them to go out and buck, kick and play.” Whether or not a buddy system or allowing them to have a buck and play would work with footballers remains to be seen, but there is some common ground when it comes to sharing knowledge. “It’s always interesting to hear an equivalent tale now and again, such as a football ligament injury – the operation required, the time it took to recover and the physio needed. At the end of the day, we’re all trying to get our star back in action as quickly and effectively as possible.” Keeping her stars happy and in peak condition may be Williams’ ultimate aim, but there’s also the two-legged members of her team. “Every day of the week I’m faced with hundreds of decisions that I need to make,” she says. “I also employ 35 members of staff and I have to look after them, too. I rely a lot on feedback from them, but at the end of the day, by and large, decisions are made by me. Trying to make the correct call is demanding, but it’s important that I get all the decisions as right as possible, while at the same time maintaining the respect from people who work for me and treating them with respect.” With some of the most famous races already under her belt – and many more sure to come – it seems that Williams’ management (of both her two-legged and four-legged charges) seems to be working nicely.

the touchline

In the light of Spain’s success at the recent FIFA World Cup, the lma chairman considers how the modern coach might choose and implement a formation

The World Cup in South Africa

has generated the usual torrent of post-event discussion, much of it focusing on formations and systems, particularly England’s alleged ‘rigid adherence to an outmoded 4-4-2’. The fact is, though, that there is no perfect formation; a system of play should be like a bespoke suit, tailored to fit the qualities of the players and the demands posed by the competition. It should provide an organisational structure and framework that will give the team its best chance of winning or (for some) not losing. Above all, the system must enable a team to be effective in the ‘business areas’ of the pitch, the attacking and defending thirds. Possession is important, but goals are critical and we need to know where and how they are scored. Video and statistical analysis of games at the highest level give us the ability to accurately determine:

a) Where and how most goals are scored b) Where assists occur c) How goals are created d) Where turnovers and regains occur e) The physical demands on each position f ) Patterns of passing sequences g) Strengths and weaknesses of influential players. It’s often overlooked, but changes and modifications to the laws of the game – particularly since the 1992/93 season – have played a huge part in the evolution of systems and have had an enormous impact on the way the game is

played. The process started with the change to the backpass law, followed by the abolition of taking throw-ins to the goalkeepers’ hands and the crackdown on goalkeeper timewasting. Then came amendments to the offside laws and an increasing awareness of the need to protect and encourage skill by (quite rightly) outlawing the tackle from behind, and cracking down on the professional foul and reckless and violent play. In the five years leading to the World Cup in 1998 the game’s profile changed enormously, just as it did when the offside rule was changed in 1925.

Figure 1: the pitch as numbered areas

“Winning the ball back now requires clinical judgement and skill” the manager AUTUMN 2010

— The technical area —

The result is a game that has become more stretched (with greater space between the lines of players) and features longer periods of uninterrupted play, as it has become more difficult for defenders to compress space and unfairly stop the game without incurring serious action from the referee. Winning the ball back now requires more clinical judgement and much greater skill. Consequently, counter-attacking from the middle and defending thirds has become the norm as players have to exercise more patience in terms of winning the ball. Ongoing analysis of World Cups, European Championships, the Champions League and Europe’s five elite domestic leagues since 1998 has enabled us to identify the critical areas of the pitch that any system needs to address. This analysis shows us the following (see Figure 1 for explanation of area numbers): a) More than 80 per cent of goals are scored in Area 1 b) G oal assists come mainly from Area 2, Area 3 and, to a lesser degree, Area 4 (assists from Area 2, ‘the hole’, are now on a par with assists from crosses) c) Regains in the opponent’s half no longer dominate turnovers. Counter-attacking from the defending third and Areas 5 and 6 is now a major feature

d) Distances covered by outfield players (centre-halves apart) have increased significantly. When you consider these facts, the questions concerning the positional spread of players and the qualities required are, in part, answered for us: Defending a) At least two players are needed to defend Area 1 b) At least one player is needed to deal with assists and strikes from Area 2 c) Assists from Areas 3 and 4 require a minimum of one player on each side (more probably two). Attacking d) At least one player is needed to play and occupy Areas 1 and 2 e) At least one player is needed to play between the lines and provide a link between striker, midfield and defence.

In this case two options are Figure 3 and Figure 4: Figure 3: a 3-5-2 system

This leaves a team defensively vulnerable in wide areas and makes enormous physical demands on full-backs attacking in wide areas. Figure 4: a 3-4-3 system

All of which limits our options (we’ve already used seven players, Figure 2). Figure 2: the seven players

the manager AUTUMN 2010

Operating with three centre-backs, no matter how you deploy the rest of the team, will always place enormous pressure on two or three players – attacking and defending – and lead to imbalance in midfield, as Germany eventually realised after their rethink in 2000. ➽

— The technical area —

Figure 5: Germany

The flexibility and variation of the 21st-century game demands: a) Players in all positions who can handle the ball (such as Piqué, Lucio and Rio Ferdinand) b) I ntelligence and technical ability (as embodied by Messi, Schweinsteiger, Iniesta and Gerrard). Thinking and playing in straight lines doesn’t work c) Strikers who can operate as ‘lone rangers’ and, when necessary, rotate with midfielders (Forlan, Villa and an in-form Rooney) d) Physical preparation to deal with the longer distances and greater intensity of the modern game (especially for midfielders and modern, attacking full-backs such as Ashley Cole and Maicon).

Figure 6: Spain

Figure 7: England

➽ Looking at how the best coaches are operating, it’s clear that the spatial priorities of the modern game (in attack and defence) are best served by occupying four at the back, with slight adjustments to the positions in front of them (see Figures 5, 6 and 7). All the World Cup semi-finalists (and most other countries in the tournament) operated on this basis.

fours demands you play through the opposition, something which Spain (with Xavi, Iniesta and Villa, ably supported by the full-backs Ramos and Capdevila) showed great mastery of d) Use ‘holding’ midfielders (De Jong, Van Bommel, Busquets, Khedira etc) to allow full-backs to get forward, while providing security against ‘hole’ players (Sneijder, Özil, Xavi and Kaka).

This allowed them to: a) Attack and defend the critical spaces in numbers b) G et numbers up, down and across the pitch very quickly as a flexible unit c) Cope with the stretched space between front and back players, by passing, running or dribbling between and through the lines. Having no space behind the back

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The effectiveness of any system will be determined by the players’ skills and the coach’s ability to ensure that they understand it and that it suits their qualities. The coach will also have to adjust and adapt, before and during a game. Most important of all, though, is the strength of the group’s ‘winning culture’; the degree to which all the players and staff are united and unequivocally committed to the set of agreed goals, irrespective of other distractions and considerations. Howard Wilkinson, in association with the leading online sports education provider Sports Path, has devised a series of football management courses, the LMA School of Football Management. Find out more at www. leaguemanagers.com/technical/ lmaschoolofmanagement-158.html

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the touchline

— comment —

The Coach's view

Photography Hannah Edwards

Tottenham Hotspur’s John McDermott explains his club’s changing youth development strategy

football has changed,

some might say beyond recognition, over the past couple of decades – and not just because we no longer have to endure the sight of a defender rolling the ball back to the goalkeeper, where he would then take an age to set play in motion again. For the most part, football at the top end of the English game has evolved in a greatly positive fashion, with elite players providing a fine spectacle for the paying public. However, this raising of the bar places a particular emphasis on my own area of responsibility – player development. The onus is on our staff and counterparts at other clubs to produce players equipped to perform at the required level. When the Premier League came into being, England’s top flight was composed of roughly 72 per cent British players... that figure is now closer to 40 per cent. This, in the current climate, means that there are fewer opportunities for British professionals and for talented British youngsters to make it directly into a top-flight team. Whereas a decade or two ago it wasn’t unusual for players to make it into the first team in their late teens, the average age for a player to make his Premier League

debut is now 22. For this reason, players now need to already have a career under their belts before they eventually embark on their Premier League career. Under the traditional system, our players would have accumulated the experience they needed through the reserve team set-up. Over the years, though, the composition and benefit of a reserve team has changed. As players from first-team squads were gradually withdrawn from the system, the standard of such fixtures diminished and so, therefore, did their effectiveness as a development tool. This eventually led to the point at the beginning of the 2009/10 season where we decided to withdraw from the reserve league and develop our 18 to 21-year-olds in an alternative way. The method we chose to employ is to loan our players out to lower

League clubs in order to provide the opportunity of the ‘pre-career career’ that has now become necessary. Of course, there are drawbacks to this (we no longer get to work with our entire youth squad as a cohesive unit and the style of play that they experience week to week isn’t what they would experience at a Premier League club), but, on balance, we decided that the benefits of playing regular competitive football outweighed such disadvantages. In this framework our young players don’t go ‘out of sight, out of mind’ or become isolated from the club. When they don’t have a midweek game, we bring them back to train with the firstteam squad and play in specially organised fixtures against strong teams from other clubs. This way, they get all the benefits of regular League football and still get to train alongside, and learn from, the likes of Luka Modric, Tom Huddlestone and Heurelho Gomes. Another tangible benefit is that they get to perform in front of Harry Redknapp and the other first-team staff, who get to monitor and judge their progress at first hand. In our first season under

“Players now need to already have a career under their belts before they eventually embark on their Premier League career” the manager AUTUMN 2010

— John Mcdermott —

this new regime we placed 17 boys out on loan who, between them, accumulated almost 400 League appearances – that’s an average of 23 senior games apiece. Added to this, they each took part in 10 or more development games and three overseas U20 tournaments. And despite this hectic schedule, some of them – David Button, Jake Livermore, Danny Rose and Andros Townsend – even managed to get some first-team experience under their belts. With this change in thinking, there has been an inevitable alteration in structure and working practices. Our group of players is transient and the individuals

are on different programmes, spread around the country. Sometimes all the players are with us, on other occasions only two. As a result, the staff ’s role is now multi-disciplinary; visiting players at their loan clubs and working with their coaches and managers, facilitating distance learning, injury-prevention programmes, fitness and weights programmes and making sure their accommodation, food and lifestyle is of the same elite level we demand at the club. We certainly haven’t done this to make things easier for ourselves, as the old system was more straightforward. Now our landladies are unsure when the players will be around, the education officer has to provide tutoring all over the country and the catering department never knows how much food to order in from one week to the next. But, even taking all of this disruption of routine into account, we feel that by embracing this new and more fluid system we have adapted to the needs of the modern game in giving our players the best opportunities to develop for our club.

ABOUT John McDermott

John McDermott has been responsible for youth development at Tottenham Hotspur since his appointment as academy manager in May 2005. John joined Spurs from the Football Association, where he held several roles, including England U21 assistant coach and England U16 coach. Before joining the FA, John was academy director at Watford.

the manager AUTUMN 2010

touchline

— HEALTH AND WELLBEING —

Health &

Wellbeing Is it really possible to slow, stop or even reverse the ageing process? Dr Dorian Dugmore offers some insight into the current thinking on this age-old problem The stresses and strains

of modern management can take their toll on a manager’s health and fitness, and can even contribute to premature ageing. So, is there a way that managers can ‘hedge their bets’ and either beat the ageing clock or, at least, turn it back a little? It will come as no surprise to most that the key to ‘quality ageing’ is the same as the key to most health and wellbeing issues… regular exercise. In a recent study (the findings of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine), Dr Ralph Paffenbarger tracked thousands of former Harvard graduates to monitor how they aged. The results demonstrated that men who expended at least 2,000 calories (equivalent to three to four hours of exercise) per week through exercise were more likely to live to reach 80 and beyond than

their more sedentary counterparts. Members of this group also had significantly lower levels of heart disease and cancer. In addition to your exercise regime, maintaining a good eating pattern is also crucial (or, more to the point, eating too much and at the wrong time can have a seriously negative effect). The world-famous Cleveland Clinic advises us that as we age beyond 35-40 years, eating five smaller meals throughout the day maintains energy, avoids the famous 3pm energy slump and controls weight gain more effectively. This is because as the human body ages, it handles smaller ‘calorie bundles’ more effectively than it handles large meals, particularly those that are consumed late at night. Redesigning the plate so that it’s smaller, has three-quarters of its space filled with healthy, nutritious (and multi-coloured) fresh vegetables and fruit, and features regular oily fish as a main item, is the way to go. As most managers are driven by a passion for what they do, it’s unlikely that they will leave their position by choice. So, according to Time magazine’s ‘How to Live 100 Years’ feature (February 2010), to extend their careers and turn back the ageing clock “the first step to a longer life and career span is to get back some of what we lose by living our overfed, overstressed and underactive lifestyles”.

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— HEALTH AND WELLBEING —

CATCHof THE DAY

Do we have an anti-ageing clock?

Dr Walter Pierpaoli, an anti-ageing expert and New York Times bestseller, has focused on the discovery of what he calls the “anti-ageing clock”, whch resides in the brain’s pineal gland complex. He suggests that melatonin, a substance naturally secreted by this gland, slows the ageing process and assists in the quality of sleep. However, because this secretion slows with age, taking melatonin supplements (not readily available in the UK at the moment) can help delay the onset of old age.

Only about 30% of ageing for most people is genetically based, which means 70% of other variables that can delay ageing are in our hands

Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil and flaxseed help protect you from age-related illnesses, such as heart disease, and may slow how your cells age. Research on heart patients in San Francisco showed those with high levels of omega 3 fatty acids positively slowed the shortening of chromosomes, slowing the ‘biological ageing clock’. So eat oily fish (high in omega 3) at least three times per week.

EXPERT COMMENT

“Research from the Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, suggests that our health-related behaviours, thoughts and feelings can modify our health risks by controlling the expression of our genetic code. A recent study highlighted four key behaviours: regular exercise, not smoking, not being obese and consuming a plant-based diet. Together, they reduced the risk of heart attacks by 81 per cent and chronic disease by 78 per cent.” Dr Lee Rice, CEO, Lifewellness Institute, San Diego, California. Former USA Olympic Team & America’s Cup doctor

HOW TO DELAY THE AGEING CLOCK Age Marker

Action Required

Heart reserve

Exercise, low-fat diet, anti-oxidants up

Lung reserve

Exercise, avoid smoking and toxic environments

Cholesterol

Measure annually, fish oil, exercise, low-fat diet

Blood pressure Measure annually, limit salt, weight control, low-fat diet Blood sugars

Measure annually, weight control, exercise

Weight gain

Early-morning exercise, regular small meals

Bone loss Weight-bearing exercise, cardio, stretching Skin ageing UV protection, avoid midday sun, annual skin exam Dental decay

Floss, avoid sugars, visit hygienist, check gums

Supplements and ageing

Experts in the field of anti-ageing are predicting that longevity should and will increase. Anti-ageing supplements, although sounding fanciful, may not be so far away. Already Time magazine (February 2010) has cited the potential benefits of resveratrol, a substance found in grapes, red wine and peanuts that mimics the response to caloric restriction. The latter seems to extend the life span in humans and animals. One theory is that a state of slight hunger acts as a mild but constant stressor that makes an organism stronger and more resistant to the ills of ageing.

the manager AUTUMN 2010

touchline

— ANALYSIS —

The 11 players who made their mark at the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Analysis

this summer, Castrol and

Opta’s expert analysts decamped to South Africa to record and analyse every kick, tackle, pass, shot and save of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Here we present the team of the tournament, composed of the highest-rated players in each position. Unsurprisingly, the Spanish defence, which conceded only two goals in the entire tournament (equalling the best-ever defensive performance by a FIFA World Cup winner), makes it into this all-star 11 intact. It’s notable that all 11 players come from the four semi-finalists.

1. Manuel Neuer, Germany Invaluable in Germany’s thirdplace finish, Neuer made 22 saves during the tournament, at a rate of nearly four per game.

2. Sergio Ramos, Spain Spain’s right-back topped the Castrol Index with a series of commanding performances. Completed 80 per cent of passes.

7. Sergio Busquets, Spain The Spanish midfielder ran himself into the ground for his country: he also completed more short passes (119) than any other player.

3. Carles Puyol, Spain The Catalan central defender broke the deadlock against Germany in the semis – his only shot on target of the tournament.

8. Mark van Bommel, Netherlands Van Bommel completed more passes (291) and was fouled the most (22 times) than any other Dutch player at the finals

4. Gerard Piqué, Spain One of three players to play the entire finals, he was the most prolific defender in the passing department, completing 506.

9. Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands Sneijder scored five finals goals, equalling the best showing by a Dutch player (Johan Neeskens, 1974, and Rob Rensenbrink, 1978).

5. Joan Capdevila, Spain Tireless in the left-back position, Capdevila whipped in 26 crosses during the tournament. Only conceded six fouls in 660 minutes.

10. David Villa, Spain David Villa was involved in 75 per cent of Spain’s goals at the FIFA World Cup, scoring five times and delivering one assist.

6. Thomas Müller, Germany The new star of German football was the most clinical player of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, converting all five of his shots on target.

11. Luis Suárez, Uruguay Involved in nearly half of Uruguay’s goals, scoring three times and making two assists. Only David Villa had more shots on target.

Castrol Index Team of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

villa 9.59 busquetS 9.46 müller 9.51

Puyol 9.70 Ramos 9.79

4 1

suárez 9.53 VAN bommel 9.41 Sneijder 9.56 Piqué 9.63 capdevila 9.74

the manager AUTUMN 2010

Neuer 9.48

— ANALYSIS —

THE CASTROL LMA MANAGERS’ PERFORMANCE TABLE P

PTS

TT score

Chelsea

318

112

682

131

Sir Alex Ferguson CBE

Manchester United

330

104

631

124

Chris Hughton

Newcastle United

324

585

119

Arsène Wenger OBE

Arsenal

306

107

579

114

Paul Lambert

Norwich City

314

582

112

Roberto Di Matteo

West Brom

258

533

107

Harry Redknapp

Tottenham Hotspur

234

481

105

Simon Grayson

Leeds United

262

105

564

103

Alan Pardew

Southampton

236

116

573

101

Kenny Jackett

Millwall

242

513

Keith Hill

Rochdale

272

463

Lee Clark

Huddersfield Town

236

501

Phil Parkinson

Charlton Athletic

248

463

Danny Wilson

Swindon Town

238

503

Billy Davies

Nottingham Forest

228

462

Martin O’Neill

Aston Villa

176

100

441

Ian Holloway

Blackpool

214

457

Rafael Benítez

Liverpool

230

449

Dave Jones

Cardiff City

230

470

Nigel Pearson

Leicester City

226

434

Pos

Div

Manager

Carlo Ancelotti

Club

The Castrol LMA Managers’ Performance Table (powered by Prozone) allows managers to test themselves against one another. Points are awarded for wins and draws, with results away from home scoring higher. Points for clean sheets and goals scored accumulate throughout the season, while a team’s winning margin also counts towards the total. POINTS SYSTEM Home win 10 points Goal scored 1 point

Away win 12 points Clean sheet 1 point

The table for the whole of last season’s performance shows few surprises, with the top three from the Barclays Premier League all in the top four. Chris Hughton, who won the Championship with Newcastle United, deserves massive credit for splitting them, as does Paul Lambert, who led Norwich City to the League One title and finished a mere two points behind Arsène Wenger in the Performance Table.

Home draw 5 points Away draw 6 points Winning margin per goal 1 point

There is also a factor included in respect of knock-out matches (‘Cup points’), based on the League status of the relevant club. Points are divided by the number of games played. This number is then multiplied by ten – to exclude decimals – producing the final Top Twenty score.

the manager AUTUMN 2010

WP Win points DP Draw points GS Goals scored CS Clean sheets WM Winning margin per goal CP Cup points

Season 2009/10, Full Season Final Table

LMA PEOPLE

— EVENTS —

our men of the year Football’s biggest names see Roy Hodgson take the top prize at the LMA’s 18th Annual Awards Dinner

with the 2009/10 season (almost) done and dusted, the LMA’s membership convened at London’s Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel on May 10th for the association’s 18th annual awards dinner. Just before dashing off to join his Fulham squad for preparations for the its first European final, Roy Hodgson accepted the evening’s top award, along with the heartfelt acclaim of his peers. Commenting on Hodgson’s success, LMA chairman Howard Wilkinson said: “He is a great role model for all aspiring managers and coaches and is fully deserving of this recognition.”

Another highlight in an event-filled year: Roy Hodgson is crowned LMA Manager of the Year, sponsored by Barclays

Spurs’ success was acknowledged by Harry Redknapp becoming Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year

The LMA Hall of Fame’s 1000 Club welcomed its latest member in the larger than life form of Ron Atkinson

Long-serving Arsenal director Ken Friar OBE collected the LMA Service to Football Award, sponsored by Barclays

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— 2009/10 AWARDS DINNER —

Gerard Marsman of the Dutch Coaches Association collected the LMA Special Merit Award, sponsored by Barclays, on behalf of Steve McClaren

Rochdale’s Keith Hill, proud recipient of the Coca-Cola Football League Two Manager of the Year award

Promotion for Norwich and Coca-Cola Football League One Manager of the Year for Paul Lambert The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Manager of the Year, Newcastle’s Chris Hughton

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— 2009/10 AWARDS DINNER —

the manager AUTUMN 2010

— 2009/10 AWARDS DINNER —

All the winners except Roy Hodgson, who had to catch a flight to Hamburg for the Europa League final with Fulham

the manager AUTUMN 2010

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LMA PEOPLE

— IVOR POWELL MBE —

IVOR calls it a day The Manager pays tribute to the world’s oldest coach, who finally hung up his boots, aged 93, after a life in football An extraordinary career came to an end on

May 26th when, at the age of 93, Ivor Powell MBE finally hung up his boots. Having been officially recognised as the oldest working football coach by the Guinness World Records on his 90th birthday, Powell had been involved with the game for 74 years. Having started his working life, aged 14, as a miner in his native South Wales, Powell’s talent with a football took him first to Queens Park Rangers and then, following a then record £17,500 transfer, to Aston Villa. Powell’s playing career was interrupted by the Second World War. As well as guesting for Bradford City and Blackpool, where he struck up a friendship with Stanley Matthews who went on to be his best man at his wedding, Powell saw active service in India and worked as a physical training instructor for the RAF. Powell represented his country both before and after the conflict, earning a total of eights caps. When his playing career ended, Powell embarked

on a coaching career that took him to Don Revie’s Leeds United, Carlisle United and PAOK of Greece, among others. Powell took what was to be his final job in football when he became a coach at the University of Bath in 1973 – a position he was to hold for almost 40 years. Throughout his long coaching career, Powell worked to instil five characteristics into all his charges: aggression, determination, the will to win, work rate and consistency of performance. One of the estimated 4,000 students who trained under Powell during his time at Bath, Rich Oldfield (now technical director at GKN Aerospace) has fond memories of their time together. “When I was captain in the second and third years he would walk around with me and within five minutes of the first training session we would know who was going to be in the squad for the rest of the year,” he says. Oldfield remembers his former coach’s appearances on the field of play as much as his work on the sideline. “Despite the fact that he was almost 80 at that point – and had almost no cartilage left in either knee – he wanted to play in every session. Even at that age, the way he read the game was just quite incredible; he was 50 years older than us and still able to run rings around the best of us. It was obvious that he was on a completely different level.” Powell’s achievements were recognised in the 2008 New Year’s Honours List when he was made an MBE. To mark his retirement and to leave a lasting legacy in his name, the University of Bath has created the Ivor Powell Sports Scholarship Fund, which will provide scholarships for future undergraduates who are gifted both academically and in their chosen sport. The fund has already collected £30,000.

the manager autumn 2010

business

with real balls The Manager is the quarterly magazine from the League Managers Association. Drawing on the rich experience of the men on the touchline – as well as from leaders in many other businesses – The Manager provides insightful and fascinating perspectives on the professional disciplines and personal qualities needed in successful management. To see a digital version of the latest issue, go to www.leaguemanagers.com and click on ‘The Manager’ To subscribe to The Manager email lmasubscriptions@sevensquared.co.uk To advertise, please call Richard Ibbotson on 020 7775 5714

LMA PEOPLE

— COACHING FOR HOPE —

Hope and glory With the world’s media focusing on South Africa this summer, Martin Allen visited the country as part of the Coaching for Hope charity At the height of summer, like many of his

contemporaries, former Leicester City and Brentford manager, Martin Allen, packed his bags and headed for South Africa. Unlike most of the others, though, Allen didn’t spend his time in the ‘rainbow nation’ describing the unfolding drama of the FIFA World Cup for one of the UK’s many media outlets. Instead, he decamped to the slightly less glamorous setting of Khayelitsha, a township just outside Cape Town. Working with the charity Coaching for Hope, Allen spent 10 days in the region, passing on the benefit of his experience to a group of local players and coaches. “It was a great experience,” says Allen. “I stayed in a little guesthouse at the bottom of Table Mountain and spent five solid days working with the group.” Allen’s work was divided between working directly with a group of 17 teenage players and guiding a group of 15 local coaches, with a view to giving greater structure to their own coaching efforts with young players from a variety of age groups. Having arrived in South Africa without knowing too much about the quality of the players he was

due to work with, Allen found himself pleasantly surprised. “They were just a local team from one of the Cape Town leagues,” he says, “but the quality of their technical ability was absolutely superb.” It wasn’t just the boys’ technical ability that impressed Allen, either. “I think we all know, especially after watching the World Cup, that mental strength is the most important attribute – and these boys were outstanding in that regard,” he says. “They worked long hours and there was no arguing or fighting, and I never heard one of them swear. They just loved playing football, and their energy and enthusiasm was second to none.” When the formal coaching session finished, Allen spent some time visiting the township, where the reasons for the local boys’ talent and enthusiasm became clearer. “They don’t have Sky, PlayStations or mobile phones,” he says. “Their lives just revolve around getting the ball out and playing. Everywhere you look, all you can see is people playing football.” Allen, who hopes to get back to Khayelitsha at some point over the next few months, thinks that the future is bright for African footballers. “You can see why more African players have started to come into the top level in Europe,” he says, “and over the next 10 years that number is going to grow even more. There’s some unbelievable talent down there.”

Where there’s hope...

Coaching for Hope is a sport-for-development programme that uses the power of football to communicate social messages to young people in disadvantaged communities, building the capacity of local coaches and youth workers through coach education. www.coachingforhope.org

the manager autumn 2010

LMA PEOPLE

StoppagE

Time

70 It may not have produced too much memorable football, but the 2010 FIFA World Cup will leave a lasting legacy in certain parts of South Africa, as this story from the Pretoria News on July 10th reveals.

the manager autumn 2010

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