There will come a day when Sir Alex Ferguson’s name is associated not with Manchester United’s dug-out, but the North Stand at Old Trafford. It may not be in the coming summer, nor perhaps until the 70-year-old Scot is carried from the Theatre of Dreams in a box, but a change, as Sam Cooke once promised, is gonna come.
United’s stability under Ferguson, driven by the Scot’s obsessive-compulsive requirement for total control, is an outlier in football, where the average tenure of a Premier League manager is just 24 months. Moreover, the trend is increasingly away from the dictatorial model practiced in Manchester.
Yet, overseas owners at Chelsea and Liverpool will be looking enviously at Old Trafford as a model for storied and stable success as those clubs reach out to the market for new managers this summer.
But one day soon David Gill and the Glazer family will go through the same process now underway at Anfield and Stamford Bridge, of recruiting not only Ferguson’s successor, but the quality of manager demanded by a club of United’s stature. Yet, true to United’s cloak and dagger modus operandi it is highly unlikely that the club will hold any formal search, selection and interview the process for the role.
Indeed, football is one of the few industries remaining where senior executives are appointed, frequently on multi-million pound contracts, and then given even larger capex budgets, without any hint of due diligence. In other industries people would, quite literally, go to prison for the crass neglect of fiduciary duty.
Contrast this approach with the typical Fortune 500, or other large corporation, where an executive can expect to beat off potentially hundreds of candidates through a four or five round interview process, technical exercises and psychometric, intelligence, mathematics, language and logic testing. Often this process involves both interviews by the corporation’s board, executive management and outside consultants.
Even known candidates, whose track record is not in doubt, can still expect a due diligence process if only to ensure cultural fit at the highest levels of management.
Yet, football is an industry that is “different” Rant was told by one experienced journalist today; a sector where fickle fans, apparently, will not accept that there should be a process for finding the best candidate, leaving owners to appoint on a wing and a prayer. It is, of course, rank nonsense that helps explain the criminal failure rate of football management appointments.
No surprise, then, with the mocking tone of media coverage of Liverpool’s search and selection process for Kenny Dalglish’s successor at Anfield. Fenway Sports Group, led by Boston Red Sox’ owner John W Henry, has drawn up a long-list of candidates, including André Villas-Boas, Pep Guardiola, Didier Deschamps, Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martínez whom, prudently, they would like to interview for the post.
Burned by Dalglish, an employee who spent more than £100 million on new players, but whose track record includes just two trophies in the past 20 years, FSG has set about deepening the due diligence process this time around. It is surely a sensible move.
To put Dalglish’s failure in context, while the Scot’s wages were around £4 million per annum, his spending was more than 50 per cent of Liverpool’s annual revenues. This is akin to newly IPO’d Facebook offering a new employee $2 billion to spend on whatever they want, and then Mark Zuckerberg complaining that HR hadn’t interviewed anybody else for the role.
Similarly at Aston Villa, who informally interviewed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Friday, Randy Lerner is seeking to cast the net wide to find not only the best candidate, but the man who will fit with the ethos and philosophy of the owner, staff and players. Solskjaer is not the only candidate, with Lerner undertaking a process, not simply appointing the latest hot thing.
Yet, there is still shock in the British media that FSG should want to break with football’s traditional method of appointing managers on a nod and a wink. Managers – ‘the most important employee at a football club’ – Rant was told, do not like to be interviewed because it undermines their current position. The heart bleeds that football clubs are, apparently, simply unable to recruit in the normal fashion, behind closed doors, and with a sensible level of due diligence.
Meanwhile, in the capital Roman Abramovich will likely continue the model that has served Chelsea poorly since Jose Mourinho’s departure. On each occasion Abramovich has anointed the new man seemingly on a whim – either through personal friendship, or in the case of the aforementioned Villas-Boas, because the Portuguese was the latest ‘hot thing’ on the market. The last mistake cost the Russian oligarch nearly £30 million, and his team a place in next year’s Champions League.
Which is all the more worrying when United comes round to replacing Ferguson. After all, while we know much about Mourinho, Solskjaer, and even David Moyes on a superficial basis, United’s senior executives will have little insight on a personal level. Not so much the blind leading the blind into a new era, as the partially sighted hoping that the light ahead is the end of the tunnel, and not a train wreck waiting to happen.
It’s precisely why FSG, despite the monumental mishandling of Liverpool’s transfer, communications and marketing strategy over the past 12 months, is now doing the right thing. Football industry be dammed, it’s better to get the right man, despite the negative headlines, than appoint another ill-fitting candidate on little-to-no information.
And while United fans may snigger at Swansea manager Rodgers turning down, on Friday, an interview with Liverpool, it may be best to remember that old Cooke refrain: change is gonna come. The question is, how will United manage its way through?
Nice article. Amusingly, Rodgers’ attitude to Liverpool is a contributing factor in the traditional managerial appointments process. According to reports, he felt he shouldn’t have to interview, and that Liverpool should have simply offered him the job based on his achievements with Swansea if they were serious. Staggeringly arrogant.
Bumweepoo – here’s a story from Facebook that might give some clarity. When Zuckerberg wanted to hire Cheryl Sandberg from Google he ‘interviewed’ her at his house for four days. Not because there was any doubt about her ability as a COO, but to see if they could work together. Imagine a football club making that effort to get the right man. Four days, you’d be lucky if they made four hours worth of effort.
I think we need some Liverpool bashing. I read in the metro (yes I can be very sad sometimes…) that Liverpool are proud of Dalglish’s contribution to the club.
Well, he left a first time, and now another time ending with Liverpool being in the worst position they’ve had in the amount of time I have lived on this earth (18 years) and they are PROUD. That is a failure, he’s not won anything worth a pound. And he’s certainly wasted more pounds buying players for ridiculous amounts ala Mr Carrol.
If I were Liverpool, I’d bloody well interview a manager, because at least I’d be sure, very sure, he’d do a good job. Not because he’s a hero that deserves that second chance. Life is not a film…
I think you make a valid point and given the fact that FSG are not people who have been entrenched in football, it is prudent to take this course of action. I imagine they have a vision and structure in mind for the club, they are now trying to identify who best fits that profile.
However that said, I think the very open manner in which they are going about it does not help. We’ve already seen Brenden Rogers decide he didn’t want to be part of a beauty parade and I would not be surprised to see other candidates rule themselves out. No manager will be able to command the same respect from his players and fans if he was to sit through a formal open interview process. He can’t return back to his club and demand 100% loyalty on the pitch and seek to tie down a player to a contract if he was ready to walk out.
The other factor is the rumored size of this list, 12 potential candidates. This suggest a club that doesn’t actually know what it wants and hopes to discover so during the process.
FSG might be correct in creating a due process, they simply should have been more discreet about it.
Crip – well to be honest that was my point. There will be push back from the ‘football community’ to a more thorough process, but there’s always protest when there’s change. But as football grows and more serious business people take over, I suspect that this will be more common.
To be fair to Villas-Boas… I think he was screwed over.
From what I’ve read… he was brought in with an ambitious, long term project in mind… Abramovic recognised that Chelsea was now an ageing outfit… and Villas-Boas was the man charged with overseeing the transition, and shaping a new and more exciting team.
Now whether or not he would have succeeded… we’ll never know… but it is obvious that he was undermined by some of the players, and never really allowed to get control of the dressing room… he was doomed, the minute he made an unpopular team selection.
Anyway… heaven help United when Fergies done, if the Glazers are still in charge.
And boy, did I snigger when I read about Rodgers turning down Liverpoo. I am actually sad Dalglish was sacked. He could have single handedly alienated the few overseas fans Liverpool still had in the next year or two. Let’s see what Martinez can do with Liverpool though. The only time I ever heard about him was when he was whining about refereeing decisions. As if Wigan NEVER got any decisions in their favour? And being able to make the team play in the last 10 games of a season consistently for three seasons or more makes him awesome?
I wonder how many managers are staying in their current jobs hoping to be in the mix when Fergie steps down?
Rodgers did well turning down the Liverpool job, so did Klopp
Martinez was the catalyst for what Swansea is today, and besides, he’s still a good manager. Apart from the whining he needs to shut up about that. He has a team that sells some great players they could develop – like Antonio, and they are left with mediocre to terrible players who don’t bother to play well because they think they have nothing to win, but they do have a premiership place to lose. If the Wigan team have the potential to be a good team, why only at the LAST possible moment? Its the players mentality and I will blame Martinez for this, for not making them think they can beat ANYONE, if you think anything is possible it is possible.
Solksjaer just turned down the aston Villa job.
Thank god. I’m cautiously optimistic about his chances of becoming a top manager and taking over at United one day. This step was too soon and he needs to make sure he can follow up success at Molde first.
Interviews definitely should be in place, and should be discreet. I think Mourinho considered being Barcelona manager but ended up in Inter because during talks (call them interviews, whatever) with Laporte he understood that Barca board were planning to impose Pep as his assistant. Jose realized the extent of power he would be given and pulled out – the interview mission was achieved but noone presented these talks as intimidating beauty parade undermining manager’s authority. They should not be formal.
I’m pretty sure if Jose comes to United (i’m not sure he will be a success, but just “if”) – he will interview rich uncle Malcolm, too.
what will danni say tonight once jt and lamps have lifted the european cup
Fuck… I hope not.
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
LOL @ Spurs?
Chelsea have won the Champions league, now Tottenham do not qualify, therefore Gareth Bale will be looking to move on. This is a chance for SAF to get his left sided player. He’s got 100 million so 40 million for Bale is a great deal. SAF will get 15 million from the sale of Berbatov and another 30 million for Nani if Nani does not sign his new contract. Hazard will be meeting SAF on Monday while Kagawa has already met with SAF. So its beginning to look like we will buy two midfielders this summer.
Sorry mate but you’re living in fantasyland.
This is a wind up right?
15m for Berba!?! We’ll be lucky to get 7.
30m for Nani!?! You’re dreaming.
I’m confident we’ll get Kagawa, apart from that I reckon it’ll be bargain basement stuff, ie Clyne.
Sincerely hope I’m proved wrong but just can’t see it happening.
Bosingwa … lol … way to spoil the picture.
I’ve been suggesting this idea for the last month or so, Now torres has come out and said he is unhappy at Chelski, how about Fergie poaching Torres, pairing him with Rooney and restoring his form lijke his time at Liverpool ??
Not spoiling the picture, just keeping up on whats going on. As for Martinez and Rodgers, these are too good managers. Wigan and Swansea play some of the best attractive football other than Arsenal. The style of football is the key. Look at Bilbao and Barcelona.
Liverpool will continue to slide down the table. Teams coming into the Premier division with new young managers bring a new style of football with new ideas and tactics.
Hopefully, Martinez will stay at Wigan. Solskjaer should be offered a job at Man United to replace Mike Phelan.
That’s actually a fantastic idea, especially if reports that Solskjaer is now being alienated at Molde because of his talks with Aston Villa are true. Come home Ole!
Herb, keep me across how the SAF/Hazard mtg goes today
You need to dramatically lower your expectations Herbie because you are going to be disappointed.
I’m not too worried about the appointment of the next manager as Fergie will be in charge of it, David Gill said so once if I’m not mistaken. He’ll look for someone to continue the United way, like he and Busby did with such success. I trust he’ll also take into consideration the changing of the times and the need for someone more modern. Not many fill both requirements but there are enough and almost all would jump at the chance to succeed Sir Alex. Now, here’s hoping for a surprise coming from Mr. Hazard’s lips tonight. Not holding my breath, but I’d take him over Nani who is not a leader for our offence (and we need one to help Rooney out).
I reckon Berba might stay now with not many forwards going round the rumour mill and the bargain basement price we will get. Nani would go for 20-30 mill, I can see Madrid sniffing round.
If Fergie can give Berba 15 starts and 15 subs apps I think he will be happy. He clearly brings something different to our mix than Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez.
Herbie simm
“Solskjaer should be offered a job at Man United to replace Mike Phelan.”
That’s the most intelligent thing you’ve ever said.
although saying that, he’s already learned enough from Ferguson. and he might not be the guy to challenge Fergie’s madcap decisions due to the old player/manager respect.
Would be good way to ease him in though.
I don’t want anyone associated with the club in charge until the Glazers are gone… especially not a United hero like Ole… he’d just be forced to suck up to the Glazers, and made to work miracles with a substandard team… on a hiding to nowt… that would just suck.
I feel the opposite. I’d rather someone with a real connection with the club had to put a brave face on it than the club was just run by total wankers I couldn’t give a shit about. What would be the point of watching at that point?
I don’t really get the point of the original article to be honest. Are you saying that clubs should hire managers in a more corporate way, the way Liverpool is supposed to be doing? This misses that point that football is a talent-driven business, like Hollywood. Do you think Tom Cruise auditions for parts? Does he fuck, film producers beg him to join the film and throw a lot of cash his way.
Liverpool can run an interview process because they are not competing for the top talent any more. The idea that the likes of Guardiola would even consider coming to Liverpool for a second is fucking deluded. Guardiola is not going to interview. Any club that wants him would quite rightly have to beg him and offer him the world. A more corporate interview process makes sense in liverpool’s situation where they are a medium sized club offering a step up to managers who’ve only worked at small clubs until now.
The club IS run by total wankers…
Berbatov….
This makes me sad.
Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has spoken of his disappointment over his treatment this season, and has announced that he will likely leave the club in the summer.
The former Tottenham man was brought to the club for £30 million four years ago, but has struggled to establish himself in that time.
Despite finishing the 2010-11 season as United’s top scorer, the mercurial Bulgarian has featured mainly as a substitute this year as his team finished the campaign empty-handed.
Berbatov told Bulgarian television channel BTV: “My time at Manchester United is running out. I no longer feel like a valuable part of this team.”
“I think I did well in the few opportunities that I received. But I am a little frustrated by the way this happened, I do not think I deserved it.”
The usually cool-headed striker seemed rather disgruntled with manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and hinted that the veteran boss had misled him over his first-team opportunities this season.
“I’ve talked 10 times or even more with the manager and he always told me there would be a place for me in the team. But after that I continued to stay on the bench,” he said.
“But I have dignity and I stopped going to such meetings, it is clear that I’m leaving United. It’s obvious that I have to leave.”
Bulgaria’s all-time top scorer will surely not be short of suitors, but the former Leverkusen forward has not given any clues as to his next destination.
He did, however, dismiss the possibility of following ex-teammate Carlos Tevez’s lead in joining cross-town rivals Manchester City, who recently pipped United to the Premier League trophy.
“I’m looking for a new place now, I know I can still play at the highest level,” he continued.
“I would never join Man City, I am a loyal person after all. I had the opportunity to sign for City in the past, but I chose United.”
Feel pretty sick of Ferguson when I read shit like this.
Is there a link to this?
I know I’m living in dreamland, but I’d love to see United move for Guardiola now. Let him take a year or two out, and then come in at academy level to learn the club, and begin to impose his style on our youth teams. Then, when the time comes for SAF to step down, we’ve got a ready made replacement.
This is the most important decision the board will ever have to make, so I really hope that they’re already planning.
There appears to be two ways in which SAF will be replaced.
The first is obviously the most attractive, and I think it was mentioned the other week on the Rant Cast, the ‘Barcelona model.’ SAF decides he’s going at the end of the season (probably the season after next) but doesn’t inform the press, merely the board and the senior players. In the first half of the year, interviews are held with everyone sworn to secrecy. Then, a week after the last game of the season (hopefully the European Cup final), a conference is called and the successor is unveiled the moment SAF says he’s off.
The second is the probable scenario. SAF will announce he will leave at the end of the season in November, the press will have a field day talking about successors for the next 5 months, we interview people like David Moyes and Alan Pardew and everyone is getting anxious and saying these guys aren’t the caliber we need. The press will manipulate us into thinking Jose Mourinho is the ‘only guy for the job’ (much like they did with Harry Redknapp and England) and when the end of the season comes, Fergie goes and no-one is appointed for a few months then someone like Jurgen Klopp gets the job and we all panic and he gets sacked in a few months.
TL;DR: a general point about managing the appointment well and not allowing us to dwell on the last 27 years.
Haha yes that does seem the likely outcome. Of course the old one could pull one last trick and reveal that all the money that has been drained out of the club has in fact been spent on an immortality cure for himself.
The Scousers would fucking hate that.
Torres is still good, but he’ll never get back to the form of his first two years with the Verrrmin.
whether he joins citeh or not is irrelevant to me.
fact is fergus spent 30m and wasted berbs or rather he did a u-turn and decided not to build a team around him and rooney – he wanted a more direct method. add this to the 8m on bebe shit, the 18m on the awful anderson, a truly appalling medical team, his constant shit about evans and jones being great, only for them to fuck up, taking the team to golf and spa resorts before everton and citeh game, only for them to shit their pants.
viera was laughing his head off at scholes and mancini made a fool of him at the citeh game. tevez came back and galvanised the squad who had the mental strengh to shrug of Taggart’s last minute half arsed attempts at mind games.
fergie needs to look inward rather than the excuses of the financial power of citeh and the chavs.
he needs to question why he cannot get an Oxlade-Chamberlain, why our lads are constantly in sick bay, what actaully does Phelan do? why was rooney transparent in the last three weeks of the season despite earning 8m in wages last year, more than anyone else in the EPL, inc. Agero and toure? having spent 30m on Berbs he decided to isolate him with the result of the shittest season for ages. fletcher and vida were huge losses but every team has injuries. taggart has made some key mistakes but rather than questioning these, it’s easier to put one’s head up arse and blame the PIK debt.
You talk so much shit… your breath must reek.
danni you cunt, what about terry and lampard being european champions, why aren’t you talking about that
That will never happen.
This is his way of arguing.
Talk a complete load of horseshit, and when someone confronts you on it… just ignore them… that way, he can state his opinion, but he never has to defend it.
I reckon he thinks it’s clever… and feels he never really gets put in his place, because he never allows himself to be dragged into a debate…
But what it really is… is gutless… he likes to snipe from the wings… popping in every now and then, to make the same ridiculous arguments… often full of insults, exaggerations and even outright lies, about what he claims is someone elses opinion… and then he’ll skulk off again, and won’t be heard from for a while…
But what he won’t do, is actually stand up to a debate about anything he actually said himself… that would risk being outed as an idiot.
As Sid would say… he’s probably a Tory cunt!
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
danni
That comment had almost no connection to what I wrote.
Solksjaer is still flirting with Villa…. slightly surprised at the way this is playing out.
squigs has also gone missing
I imagine he died a little inside seeing englishmen lift the pot
I’ll admit the likes of Lampard, Terry, Drogba, Cech etc. deserve a European Cup because they are great players
Cahill has stepped up n all. Two top performances against Barca and Bayern
Terry and Drogba can fuck off, but I’m fine with Lampard winning… been a top player, a proper footballer, durable as fuck, and as far as I know, always been a decent enough lad as well.
Yeah he doesn’t seem to be like Cole / Terry.
Did you see Cole with his smug, ironic “well played” jibes at the Bayern players who were walking to get their runners up medals? I would have belted the dozey-eyed cunt.
I’ll have fond memories of Dalglish, especially in one of his first Liverpool matches after coming back (possibly his first) United beat them like 3-1 (I think. The look of fear in his face was priceless.
The Grauniad reckon Louis van Gaal is ready to take up a ‘senior managerial’ position at Liverpool
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/22/louis-van-gaal-liverpool?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038
Top man. But surely such a big name will undermine the new manager at some point, especially if the manager is someone like Martinez who has much less experience.
Regardless, it looks like the Dippers are getting their shit together.
Don’t worry the Euros start soon and with your house decked out with the St George’s cross you can cheer on the nasty foreigners exposing Terry,Barry,Lescott etc for the one-paced carthorses they are.
I had exams so I was missing for the last month thankfully, credit were it’s due I didn’t think Chelsea had it in them to win a European cup. I’m genuinely impressed with what Di Matteo has managed to do and fair fucks to them. and I didn’t think that Terry would be ridiculous enough to strip out of his suit to wear the club kit and then go up to collect the trophy. So I was wrong on both counts.
I will say though Ashley Cole is a utter prick but he was magnificent in the final and Cahill looked lost at first but had a really good game as well.
It just hit me. Phelan is being groomed as the next United manager!!! Oh no!!! Our answer to Pep G!
Sorry, I’d rather Ole be our manager, there’s no way Phelan is being groomed at all.