Gordon in another quiet moment
Gordon in another quiet moment
The latest in a long line of bizarre edicts emanating from a football committee or association, looks likely to segregate soccer managers and their sideline staff. True to form, the plan is ill-conceived, supported only by the minority, and will probably come into effect as soon as F.A. officials, referees, coaches and players have all sat around a table, enjoyed a fat-cat lunch, and determined who, with the implementation of such a ridiculous idea, carriesthe most influence over our national game.
Undoubtedly prompted by Gordon Strachan's animated outbursts, notably the fracas with Chelsea's management team, the League Managers Association, fronted by former Wolves' boss John Barnwell (you may recall he was responsible for prising Emlyn Hughes away from Liverpool in 1980) have jumped on FIFA's bandwagon to, and I quote, "tighten up bench legislation".
What is "bench legislation"? Perhaps official guidelines as to correct posturing, or maybe even a seating plan a la wedding etiquette. The father of the coach must sit to the left of the mother of the physio?!
Strachan continues to perform miracles at Coventry. A bogey side for all the top sides, Manchester Utd certainly never relish a visit to Highfield Road. Arguably that is a Premiership ground where titles have been won and lost.
Quality players come and go, golden nuggets like Huckerby and Boateng might grace anyone's League XI, but it is Strachan's passion that the neutral, and surely the Coventry players and fans, find so compelling. An unremarkable playing career was never rewarded with the prizes that so many of his generation seem to have picked up along the way.
That is not to deride a man for whom I have the utmost admiration. It is worth a bet that Strachan will one day coach his national side - then I believe he will put to rest the standing joke that a Scotsman in the 2nd round of the World Cup is a referee. If you take a closer look at Premiership bosses (those young enough to sleep through the night without needing to pee) then the wee copper-headed one is in distinguished company.
Ruud Gullitt was European Player of the Year, winning everything in sight with AC Milan, and captaining the Dutch to tournament success in 1988. Gianluca Vialli is still a prolific player, and ranks among the great Italian internationals, and George Graham impressed for every club in the capital, peaking with a double-winners' medal in 1971. Despite these luminaries, and the johnny foreigner coaches who "have enriched our game", by coming in and bringing.....what? More foreigners! There is still a place on the bench for a full blooded British approach.
Other Premiership managers who enjoyed "unremarkable" playing careers arealso proving to be more than a match for Europe's finest. Early promise from John Gregory at Villa, Martin O'Neill's impossibly resilient Leicester, Harry Redknapp introducing resolve to West Ham's flair, and the master of them all Joe Kinnear at Wimbledon. All can be credited with discovering home-grown talent good enough to compete with the Premiership imports. In all cases, they couple technical coaching with grit and determination. Bryan Robson, England's finest skipper next to Bobby Moore, had a couple of difficult seasons with 'Boro before hitting the sweet-spot of compromise between buying success and breeding it.
Brian Kidd will need to be given time to do a similar job at Blackburn, for whom he gave up a lucrative existence,and fast-track to managing the biggest club side in the world. At the time of writing, a relegation battle still rages at the foot of the table.
Kidd will be hoping that Charlton and Southampton will fail to capitalise on Blackburn's forthcoming misery at the hands of Newcastle and treble-chasing Man Utd.
My sympathy lies with the managers of all these struggling clubs. Alan Curbishley was interviewed after his team's defeat at Houdini Everton, and would not be drawn into discussion about a sensitive hand-ball prior to theopening goal. David Jones has conducted himself as a thorough going gentleman, despite Southampton's appalling defensive record.
These mild-mannered bosses, like their players, save their outbursts and their passion, which I mentioned earlier, for pitchside.These men are as highly paid as the players. Sometimes even more. It is conceivable, then, that they should feel just as emotionally charged as anyof the eleven walking on to the pitch. Born out of helpless frustration, we have seen many times how a manager can suffer so much at the hands of others.
A documentary was made out of the film of Graham Taylor squirming, watching England lose royally to the Dutch in October 1993. His public image, that of the furthest thing from what we needed as an internnational football manager, had spiralled uncontrollably downwards.
But even the most vociferous anti-Taylor lobbyist must have felt a little sympathy as we watched a man crack up on or screens. Do I not like that. There is more pressure than ever on managers to engineer the success a club's boardroom demand. It always used to be a case of buying and selling the right players, picking the right side on Saturday and hope for the best.
Careers (and health) can hinge on so many things that are simply out of a manager's control. It may be acceptable to attribute Aston Villa's fall from contention to the lack of hold over Collymore that Gregory had. Or for that other Forest team to have suffered disruption at the hands of Pierre Van Hooijdonk.
But these are player issues for which a manager is accountable. When it all goes wrong on match day, when the officials are struck temporarily blind to incidents fans, players & TV cameras the world over can see, and when you can do absolutely nothing about it except watch.........or like Strachan, get up off the bench and start remonstrating with the referee, and generally making an example of yourself.
Wrong or right, it is only a human reaction, the like of which we might all see inside our own working environments. It states clearly in "Bench Regulations" that one may only stand when celebrating a goal, or when a lady walks into the room. I say they are doing no harm. When it gets a little rough, they do themselves and the game no credit and should be punished. George Graham's touchline ban for example. It is a high pressure job - they are not hurting anyone.
But to segregate the rival factions, with areas "patrolled" by the fourth official, is a nonsense. At the risk of pinching a line from fellow part-time journo, pundit and forgotten ex-alcoholic goalscorer, GET ON WITH THE GAME.