PLAYER-MANAGERS
SIMON SHELDON RECALLS THE DAYS WHEN THE DUAL ROLE WAS ALL THE RAGE – AND EXPLAINS WHY IT’S FALLEN OUT OF FAVOUR…
The fad that quickly faded
BACK in the 80s and 90s, having a player-manager was all the fashion. Club after club looking for success were happy to appoint top players just approaching the end of their careers to bring some stardust or magic from their playing days to the dual role.
The most famous player-manager in football is Melchester Rovers’ very own Roy Race, the comic strip legendary hero who has been around since the 50s and is currently making a comeback in a new reboot.
However, in the real footballing world there has been a long history of player-managers, too. The Huddersfield and Arsenal legend Herbert Chapman started his managerial career at Northampton Town in 1907 as a player-manager and in the mid-70s Johnny Giles even combined the two for club and country as he took the helm at West Brom and the Republic of Ireland.
In the past, it was seen as a way for clubs to get two people for the price of one, an experienced pro who was coming to the end of their playing days who would be happy to take on the extra responsibilities. There wasn’t the need for coaching qualifications back then, so the move into management was made with the minimum fuss.
At this time, it tended to be the smaller clubs with less money who went down this route.
This changed in 1985 when Liverpool appointed Kenny Dalglish to take over from Joe Fagan, who had resigned after the Heysel Stadium tragedy.
The following season Liverpool became the fifth club (at that time) to achieve the League and Cup double. Dalglish played in only 21 matches, scoring just five goals, but it included the decisive winner away to Chelsea that clinched the title on the last day of the season.
Over the next few seasons Dalglish played less and less, preferring to concentrate on the managerial side. Trophies continued to be won but after the terrible events at Hillsborough in April 1989, things would never be the same for him. The following season Liverpool won their 18th, and up to now last, League title. Dalglish made a final cameo appearance at the age of 39.
Seeing the success that Dalglish had at Liverpool encouraged other leading clubs to try the same formula, but they had mixed results.
Graeme Souness didn’t start very well at Glasgow Rangers, getting sent off on his debut after just 34 minutes.
During his time in charge he signed a number of international stars from English clubs. These included Terry Butcher, Chris Woods, Trevor Francis and Ray Wilkins.
Souness was very successful in winning trophies and dominating Scottish football but did not succeed in European competitions.
Bryan Robson had had a very successful playing career despite his many injuries for club and country.
So, Captain Marvel, as he was nicknamed, was considered an excellent choice as a player-manager for an ambitious club, such as Middlesbrough.
They had been revived by a young chairman Steve Gibson even though they had been relegated from the inaugural Premier League in 1993, while Robson had been busy helping Manchester United win their first League title in 26 years. He decided it was time to move on to this next path. His first season was a roaring success, winning automatic promotion to the Premier League. Robson’s experience helped and he played in 22 matches, scoring one goal. The Robson era had its ups and downs. They played some wonderful football and signed some star names
like the Brazilian Juninho and Italy’s Fabrizio Ravanelli. Robson led them to both domestic Cup finals in 1996/97, only to lose 1-0 to Leicester in the League Cup and 2-0 to Chelsea in the FA Cup.
Glenn Hoddle joined Second Division Swindon as player-manager in 1990 and prevented them from slipping down to the third tier.
Things improved the next season when they finished ninth and got even better the following year as they reached the play off-final at Wembley. With Hoddle in inspirational form and scoring the opening goal, Swindon went on to beat Leicester 4-3 and secured promotion to the Premier League. During the summer Hoddle accepted an offer to manage Chelsea. He continued to play and helped his new club to reach the FA Cup final, where they were well beaten 4-0 by a Manchester United team who achieved the double. During the following season, he retired from playing but guided Chelsea to 11th in the League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
He had also attracted some worldclass players to Stamford Bridge, including Ruud Gullit, who in turn took over as player-manager at the end of the season, when Hoddle left to become England manager. Gullit continued the successes with Chelsea ending the 1996/97 season sixth in the league and winning the FA Cup. The next season would be his last as he was sacked after a row with the then- chairman Ken Bates even though the club were second in the league, in the semi-finals of the League Cup and the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup.
Bates appointed Gianluca Vialli, who was at the club as a player having been signed by Gullit. Vialli would go on and win both cup competitions.
He would also win three more trophies and remained in charge until the 2000/01 season when he was sacked after making an indifferent start and falling out with several players.
Since those days, the player-manager role has fallen out of fashion, and that’s due to a variety of factors.
Firstly, the workload of most managers now is so great. Apart from overseeing training, planning tactics, scouting the opposition, dealing with contracts, transfers, agents (even if the top clubs have directors of football who take on a lot of these responsibilities, there are still meetings/discussions) and handling the 24hr media presence.
Secondly, all Premier League managers are now required to hold a UEFA A, B and Pro Licence, which takes over 500 hours of work and theory to complete. Players are rarely willing to give up so much of their spare time to do that.
Thirdly, there is the average tenure of a football manager (less than two years). You could be in charge one minute, but then asked to clear your desk the next. What happens to your playing contract then?
Finally, it comes down to money. These top players get paid such huge wages that it’s not worth the pressure to do both jobs at the same time. They would rather finish their playing careers before embarking on the treacherous path of management.
In my opinion, it is very unlikely we will ever see a player-manager triumph in English football’s top-flight again.