The Dream Scenario

[Brizzle]

There is nothing more stupid than turning over the most important job in a big club to a complete novice just because he was a good player

This totally sums up my thoughts. And there is also too much pressure on ex players to be a success straight away as a manager. If an ex player wants to try their hand at management I think they should spend 5-10 years managing other teams (starting in the lower leagues) to build up experience that can be taken to a bigger club.

 

[redhorizon2]

When it comes to turning great players into great coaches, we need to learn from the Italians. Let's take a look at Antonio Conte - a captain and leader of Juventus in his playing days who, like Gerrard, always wanted to be a coach. After retiring as a player, Conte started his new career as an assistant manager in Siena, his first head coaching job was Arezzo in serie B, then Bari, Atalanta, and Siena again, this time as a head coach. By the time he was appointed a manager of Juve, he had 6 years of experience working with smaller teams. It was not all a smooth ride: he got fired after his first season in Seria B and got relegated, abused by fans and fired after his first season in Serie A.

He led Juve to a scudetto in his first season in charge and is now considered a savior by fans - but would he have made it this far if he was thrown in the deep end of the pool before he learned to swim and then got his confidence and reputation destroyed at the very beginning of his career? Juve have benefitted from a system that allowed their former captain to learn the coaching trade away from the spotlight and brought him back to the club when he was 100% ready for the job. Now they have the best of both worlds: an iconic player who is loved by fans and understands the soul and traditions of the club, but also a good tactically savvy modern coach. Now that's a real dream scenario.

By the way in Italy every coach has complete rigorous training and pass an examination at a special school for coaches in Coverciano. This kind of system is why Italians keep managing the best teams in England while English managers could not collectively produce a single top 3 finish in England in the last 10 years (amazing, isn't it?). There is nothing more stupid than turning over the most important job in a big club to a complete novice just because he was a good player. So I wish Gerrard every success when he hangs up his boots and tries himself at managing, but there is no question that he should prove himself by managing other teams before we can even start the conversation about managing Liverpool.

One swallow does not make a summer.

Mancini and Ancelotti are probably the examples you're thinking of, they had immense resources at their disposal so it would be an unfair comparison to use them and make case that Italian managers are the best. To be truly great at something, its gotta be in you, no-one can teach it.

 

[rurikbird]

One swallow does not make a summer.

Mancini and Ancelotti are probably the examples you're thinking of, they had immense resources at their disposal so it would be an unfair comparison to use them and make case that Italian managers are the best. To be truly great at something, its gotta be in you, no-one can teach it.

Mancini and Ancelotti got to work with the big resources in England because they proved to be successful coaches elsewhere. Nobody in their right mind will hand over big resources to Redknapp and Fat Sam, and those are probably 2 best English managers of the decade.

BTW, Ancelotti also started coaching in serie B despite being a great player for Roma, Milan and the national team.

 

[gkmacca]

It's all hopelessly hypothetical, like people fifty years ago pondering whether the young Dave Lee Travis would ever become Pipe Smoker of the Year.

 

[peterhague]

It's not really THAT unpredictable.

Is Gerrard clever? Is he a natural leader? Is he resolute? Personally charismatic?

I'd say he isn't any of those things - that's enough to make me think he'd be a bad manager.

 

[gkmacca]

No, unless someone, like Carra, talks and talks about his interest in being a manager, we just don't know enough to judge one way or another. And even with Carra, beneath the blather there's still plenty of mystery. Hardly anyone knew if Paisley would be a good manager, let alone a great one,when he took over. He claimed even he was unsure. Management isn't something you can tick all the boxes and start doing well. Beckenbauer did well, Charlton failed miserably. Bobby Moore was a disaster, Bryan Robson was mediocre, Kevin Keegan was all over the place, Dalglish was hugely successful. You just can't tell from looking at a player that he'll have ALL the right skills needed to manage well.

 

[peterhague]

I didn't make that claim though. I said Gerrard IMO lacks enough of the crucial qualities needed to have a chance of being a good manager to be able to predict that he wouldn't be one.

I agree that it's harder than that to positively say who would actually be a good manager.

 

[gkmacca]

I don't see how you know, for example, that Gerrard isn't clever enough. How do we know?

 

[peterhague]

I don't *know*. I just think he isn't. It's not a big deal really, just an opinion. He's always struck me as a bit thick - but worse, vacillating and under-confident, too.

 

[gkmacca]

So we don't know. Players act differently than managers. There's little to gauge who will make the transition. Some clever-sounding players become chronically neurotic as managers, worrying about everything because they're bright enough to be aware of everything. Some ex-players who seem real thickoes have good instincts and can concentrate on key things because they're not even aware of much else. All of this speculation seems pointless. Wait and see, that's all we can do.

 

[Athens]

I can just imagine him insisting that Phil Collins is played on the team coach.

 

[peterhague]

So we don't know. Players act differently than managers. There's little to gauge who will make the transition. Some clever-sounding players become chronically neurotic as managers, worrying about everything because they're bright enough to be aware of everything. Some ex-players who seem real thickoes have good instincts and can concentrate on key things because they're not even aware of much else. All of this speculation seems pointless. Wait and see, that's all we can do.

Would you be willing to venture an opinion on whether, say, Andrew Cole, would make an excellent manager?

 

[gkmacca]

I saw him on TV last night and I was really surprised at how sensible he seemed. But no, no idea.

 

[Dahuge]

He might have seemed sullen and mardy several years ago but I think he has grown into his role within LFC and England. I also think this has made him a more rounded person and would help him if he went down the managerial route.

Would he be a good manager, who the fuck knows.

 

[Whirly]

What about Kolo?