Players’ picks suit them but rarely the club
IF you were allowed to pick your new boss at work, chances are you’d go for someone you already knew well.
Someone who’d let you choose the jobs you wanted to do and who’d generally give you an easy time.
That’s much better than having someone drafted in from outside, who might have entirely different ideas and could even want to get rid of you and your mates.
So if Leicester City’s owners have been asking the players whether Craig Shakespeare would be a good choice as the next manager, their answer was always going to be obvious.
“Yes! Craig knows us, he knows how we work best, he knows what the club is all about. We’d love him to be our manager.”
Shakespeare was Nigel Pearson’s assistant when Leicester produced their great escape from relegation, and Claudio Ranieri’s No. 2 for their even more miraculous title win. So of course he knows the squad inside out. His first two games in caretaker charge produced much-needed victories, so it’s clear that the players have responded to his familiar touch on the tiller.
Their upturn in form even makes overturning the first-leg deficit in the Champions League tie against Sevilla on Tuesday a distinct possibility.
But there’s a fundamental problem when players are given a say on whether a club should promote from within, or bring in an outsider.
They will always support the internal candidate, partly out of loyalty but mostly out of self-interest.
Consequently, such appointments rarely work beyond the short term.
When Alan Pardew left Newcastle United, the players backed his assistant John Carver. He took them down.
When Steve Bruce walked out on Hull City, the squad lobbied for Mike Phelan. He was given the job – and sacked six months later with the team in the bottom three.
It doesn’t always happen immediately. When Chelsea sacked Andre Villas-Boas, the players threw their weight behind his assistant, Robert di Matteo, and he steered them to Champions League victory.
Di Matteo was made permanent manager after the win in Munich, but lasted only four months.
It’s a difficult transition when a pal becomes a boss. Players see a soft touch and take liberties. The manager avoids the hard decisions.
Shakespeare may buck the trend if and when his appointment is confirmed. But there haven’t been many Bob Paisleys these past 40 years!