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English Angle: The Adams Syndrome - When Good Players Make Bad Managers
Tony Adams and Paul Ince are the latest high-profile players to become managerial flops. Goal.com's Graham Lister considers why some struggle to make the transition from great on the field to great in the dugout…
| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £19.50 | Draw £32.50 | Arsenal £36.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £20.50 | Draw £34.00 | Arsenal £36.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £20.00 | Draw £32.00 | Arsenal £35.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £19.50 | Draw £34.00 | Arsenal £40.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Milan £19.90 | Draw £32.50 | Arsenal £34.50 |
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Feb 16, 2009 12:15:36 PM
Getty Images
The peremptory sackings last week of Tony Adams by Portsmouth and Luiz Felipe Scolari by Chelsea underlined how fine the margins have become in the top flight of English football: a victory instead of a draw here, a draw instead of a defeat there, and both men might have been preparing their teams for this weekend's matches rather than going shopping with their wives.
However, the case of Adams also highlights a recurring theme in football: that the best players don't always, and in fact rarely make the best managers.
The corollary of this is that the best managers did not necessarily enjoy the most illustrious of playing careers. Indeed, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, David Moyes and Guus Hiddink never hit the heights as players, and nor did the leading manager of an earlier era, Herbert Chapman.
Other outstanding managers such as Bob Paisley, Stan Cullis, Matt Busby and Bill Nicholson were fine players but were robbed of a key part of their careers by the Second World War. Another, Brian Clough, was prolific in the old Second Division but had his career prematurely terminated by injury before he could prove himself in the top-flight.
A common denominator was a feeling that their careers as footballers were somehow unfulfilled. Maybe that gave them the hunger that spurred them to greatness when they became managers.
In contrast, many playing legends who achieved it all on the pitch have found the transition to management a bridge too far; they led by example on the pitch but struggled to translate that to the dug-out. Adams is the latest in a long and distinguished line of top players in English football who subsequently bombed as managers. So what went wrong?
The Four Centurions - Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton
In a week that saw David Beckham hit the headlines for equalling Bobby Moore's record of most England caps (108) as an outfield player, it is worth recalling the dismal managerial careers of the four other England centurions.
Billy Wright was the first player to represent England 100 times. The Wolverhampton Wanderers centre-half was the golden boy of English football in the 1950s, so when he was appointed manager of Arsenal in 1962, despite having zero managerial experience, great things were expected. But in his four seasons at Highbury, the Gunners slid from seventh to 14th in the League and recorded their lowest ever home attendance (4,554). Under pressure from supporters, the board sacked Wright in summer 1966. He went on to make a successful career in broadcasting, the verdict being that he was just too genial a person, lacking the ruthlessness to succeed in management.
English football icons and World Cup winners Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore, fellow-members of the Centurions club, also made surprisingly poor managers. Charlton played his last game for Manchester United in 1973, holding club records for both most appearances and most goals, and became player-manager at Preston North End. However, the Lilywhites were relegated at the end of his first season in charge, and at the end of the next he resigned, admitting that management just wasn't for him.
As for Bobby Moore, after he retired from playing in 1978, he had brief, unsuccessful stints in lower league management with Eastern AA in Hong Kong, Oxford City and finally Southend United. It just didn't work out for him in any of those posts.
And 125-time capped Peter Shilton's brief managerial career with Plymouth Argyle (1992-95) is another warning to Beckham to do something other than management when he hangs up his boots - as if there was ever any doubt anyway.
The Foreign Superstar - Osvaldo Ardiles
Argentina's World Cup winner became the darling of White Hart Lane when he moved from Huracan to Tottenham Hotspur in 1978, but couldn’t match his playing achievements when he turned to coaching. A good start at Swindon Town was undone by disaster in charge of Newcastle United. Play-off success with West Bromwich Albion in 1992-93 could not salvage his reputation, as he returned to Tottenham as manager, finishing 15th in the league and facing the sack soon after.
Undaunted, he then had brief spells in charge of Deportivo Guadalajara, Shimizu S-Pulse, Croatia Zagreb, Yokohama Marinos, Al-Ittihad, Racing Santander, Tokyo Verdy, Beitar Jerusalem, Huracan and Cerro Porteno. Most ended in the sack following poor results. You couldn't fault his persistence, but his tactics were all too often wrong-headed.
Captain Marvel - Bryan Robson
Manchester United and England (90 caps) hero Robson seemed a natural to go into management, and when he was appointed player-manager of Middlesbrough in 1994, he got off to a dream start: Boro won promotion to the Premier League in his first season. However, Robson's managerial career had started on a high and slid steadily downhill. He endured the humiliation of Boro bringing in Terry Venables as head coach to save them from relegation in 2000-01, remaining nominally manager until leaving 'by mutual consent' in June 2001, having failed to take the club higher than ninth in the league, or guide them to any silverware.
The downtrend continued at Bradford City, who took only 22 points from 27 games under Robson and were relegated, then West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United, where his undistinguished record alienated the fans. He was a dynamic player, but it’s hard to imagine his hang-dog expression and passionless delivery being a source of inspiration to his players.
Rover And Out - Paul Ince
The jury is out on Ince the manager. After an outstanding playing career, the Guv'nor excelled in the managerial hot-seat at Macclesfield Town and Milton Keynes Dons, saving the former from relegation and guiding the latter to the League Two title.
He'd followed the classic route of cutting his teeth in the lower divisions before earning a step-up to the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers last summer. But an opening day victory over Everton was one of only three wins in his first 17 League games with Rovers, who decided he'd had long enough at that point, and sacked him after 177 days. Fans had been chanting for his dismissal amid rumours that Ince was at odds with several senior players. It remains to be seen when, or whether, he'll be given another chance in the top-flight.
The Unready - Tony Adams
A colossus at the heart of the defence for England and Arsenal, his only club as a player, Adams was the archetypal leader on the pitch. But his first sortie into management, in November 2003 at Wycombe Wanderers, was ill-fated: he led them to relegation from League One that season, and resigned a year later citing personal reasons. He won only 12 of his 53 games in charge, losing 20.
After trainee coaching roles in the Netherlands, he was appointed assistant manager to Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth in June 2006. It was a productive partnership, and when Redknapp left for Spurs last October, Adams was appointed manager. Chief executive Peter Storrie said, "I couldn't see anything better than Tony and that's why we decided he was the man to go for. We hope Tony will be here for as long as he wants to be here... we will give him all the support we can and we hope he will do a great job."
Just 16 games and 10 League points later, Adams was sacked, the club saying: "The team has played well but too many points have been dropped from winning positions." There were mutterings that some of the team did not want to play for Pompey while Adams was in charge, but it’s also clear that Redknapp got out knowing the club would be forced to sell their best players (Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe) without adequately replacing them. Adams wanted the one commodity no longer afforded to most managers: time.
He insists he'll be back, but like others before him, from Stanley Matthews to John Barnes to Gareth Southgate, he's found his own playing career a hard act to follow. The expectation that they can replicate as managers their success as players is a hefty weight to carry.
Graham Lister, Goal.com
However, the case of Adams also highlights a recurring theme in football: that the best players don't always, and in fact rarely make the best managers.
The corollary of this is that the best managers did not necessarily enjoy the most illustrious of playing careers. Indeed, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, David Moyes and Guus Hiddink never hit the heights as players, and nor did the leading manager of an earlier era, Herbert Chapman.
Other outstanding managers such as Bob Paisley, Stan Cullis, Matt Busby and Bill Nicholson were fine players but were robbed of a key part of their careers by the Second World War. Another, Brian Clough, was prolific in the old Second Division but had his career prematurely terminated by injury before he could prove himself in the top-flight.
A common denominator was a feeling that their careers as footballers were somehow unfulfilled. Maybe that gave them the hunger that spurred them to greatness when they became managers.
In contrast, many playing legends who achieved it all on the pitch have found the transition to management a bridge too far; they led by example on the pitch but struggled to translate that to the dug-out. Adams is the latest in a long and distinguished line of top players in English football who subsequently bombed as managers. So what went wrong?
The Four Centurions - Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton
In a week that saw David Beckham hit the headlines for equalling Bobby Moore's record of most England caps (108) as an outfield player, it is worth recalling the dismal managerial careers of the four other England centurions.
Billy Wright was the first player to represent England 100 times. The Wolverhampton Wanderers centre-half was the golden boy of English football in the 1950s, so when he was appointed manager of Arsenal in 1962, despite having zero managerial experience, great things were expected. But in his four seasons at Highbury, the Gunners slid from seventh to 14th in the League and recorded their lowest ever home attendance (4,554). Under pressure from supporters, the board sacked Wright in summer 1966. He went on to make a successful career in broadcasting, the verdict being that he was just too genial a person, lacking the ruthlessness to succeed in management.
English football icons and World Cup winners Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore, fellow-members of the Centurions club, also made surprisingly poor managers. Charlton played his last game for Manchester United in 1973, holding club records for both most appearances and most goals, and became player-manager at Preston North End. However, the Lilywhites were relegated at the end of his first season in charge, and at the end of the next he resigned, admitting that management just wasn't for him.
As for Bobby Moore, after he retired from playing in 1978, he had brief, unsuccessful stints in lower league management with Eastern AA in Hong Kong, Oxford City and finally Southend United. It just didn't work out for him in any of those posts.
And 125-time capped Peter Shilton's brief managerial career with Plymouth Argyle (1992-95) is another warning to Beckham to do something other than management when he hangs up his boots - as if there was ever any doubt anyway.
The Foreign Superstar - Osvaldo Ardiles
Argentina's World Cup winner became the darling of White Hart Lane when he moved from Huracan to Tottenham Hotspur in 1978, but couldn’t match his playing achievements when he turned to coaching. A good start at Swindon Town was undone by disaster in charge of Newcastle United. Play-off success with West Bromwich Albion in 1992-93 could not salvage his reputation, as he returned to Tottenham as manager, finishing 15th in the league and facing the sack soon after.
Undaunted, he then had brief spells in charge of Deportivo Guadalajara, Shimizu S-Pulse, Croatia Zagreb, Yokohama Marinos, Al-Ittihad, Racing Santander, Tokyo Verdy, Beitar Jerusalem, Huracan and Cerro Porteno. Most ended in the sack following poor results. You couldn't fault his persistence, but his tactics were all too often wrong-headed.
Captain Marvel - Bryan Robson
Manchester United and England (90 caps) hero Robson seemed a natural to go into management, and when he was appointed player-manager of Middlesbrough in 1994, he got off to a dream start: Boro won promotion to the Premier League in his first season. However, Robson's managerial career had started on a high and slid steadily downhill. He endured the humiliation of Boro bringing in Terry Venables as head coach to save them from relegation in 2000-01, remaining nominally manager until leaving 'by mutual consent' in June 2001, having failed to take the club higher than ninth in the league, or guide them to any silverware.
The downtrend continued at Bradford City, who took only 22 points from 27 games under Robson and were relegated, then West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United, where his undistinguished record alienated the fans. He was a dynamic player, but it’s hard to imagine his hang-dog expression and passionless delivery being a source of inspiration to his players.
Rover And Out - Paul Ince
The jury is out on Ince the manager. After an outstanding playing career, the Guv'nor excelled in the managerial hot-seat at Macclesfield Town and Milton Keynes Dons, saving the former from relegation and guiding the latter to the League Two title.
He'd followed the classic route of cutting his teeth in the lower divisions before earning a step-up to the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers last summer. But an opening day victory over Everton was one of only three wins in his first 17 League games with Rovers, who decided he'd had long enough at that point, and sacked him after 177 days. Fans had been chanting for his dismissal amid rumours that Ince was at odds with several senior players. It remains to be seen when, or whether, he'll be given another chance in the top-flight.
The Unready - Tony Adams
A colossus at the heart of the defence for England and Arsenal, his only club as a player, Adams was the archetypal leader on the pitch. But his first sortie into management, in November 2003 at Wycombe Wanderers, was ill-fated: he led them to relegation from League One that season, and resigned a year later citing personal reasons. He won only 12 of his 53 games in charge, losing 20.
After trainee coaching roles in the Netherlands, he was appointed assistant manager to Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth in June 2006. It was a productive partnership, and when Redknapp left for Spurs last October, Adams was appointed manager. Chief executive Peter Storrie said, "I couldn't see anything better than Tony and that's why we decided he was the man to go for. We hope Tony will be here for as long as he wants to be here... we will give him all the support we can and we hope he will do a great job."
Just 16 games and 10 League points later, Adams was sacked, the club saying: "The team has played well but too many points have been dropped from winning positions." There were mutterings that some of the team did not want to play for Pompey while Adams was in charge, but it’s also clear that Redknapp got out knowing the club would be forced to sell their best players (Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe) without adequately replacing them. Adams wanted the one commodity no longer afforded to most managers: time.
He insists he'll be back, but like others before him, from Stanley Matthews to John Barnes to Gareth Southgate, he's found his own playing career a hard act to follow. The expectation that they can replicate as managers their success as players is a hefty weight to carry.
Graham Lister, Goal.com
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