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Showing posts with the label Sir Alex Ferguson

How much a difference does the manager make?

[This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in the Charlton fanzine, Voice of the Valley.    Almost all references to Charlton have been excised]. In his excellent book The Football Manager: a History Neil Carter shows how managers often started out as the club secretary with the board selecting the team.  Gradually they achieved greater responsibilities.  He argues that Herbert Chapman at Arsenal was the most important figure in the development of modern football management.   The other two key pioneers were Frank Buckley at Wolves and Jimmy Seed at Charlton. Carter points out how football and the role of the manager changed after 1992.   Success on the pitch became even more important commercially making football even more of a results business.   Managers assumed a much higher profile in the media. In modern football the manager is generally seen as being responsible for everything that occurs on the pitch.  ...

Who are the longest serving managers in the Premier League?

Managerial turnover is a feature of modern football, given the finances at stake and the expectations of fans. Whether changing manager does more than give an initial boost is a matter for debate. It does work sometimes, but the incoming manager inherits a squad he would not necessarily have chosen. Who are the longest serving managers in the history of the Premier League? Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger are obvious answers, but the others may be more of a surprise: Longest managerial reigns

Sir Alex condemns world league plan

Sir Alex Ferguson has condemned plans emanating from Real Madrid for a world soccer league. Globalisation may be alive and well in football when it has retreated elsewhere, but this is surely a step too far: Ferguson criticises scheme Sir Alex said: 'Without question it is money-orientated, but surely this would not be attractive to our clubs in the Premier League, which at the moment is the best domestic league in world football and is well-supported financially by Sky, BT and now Amazon. I struggle to see why an English team would need to leave.' I don't see this plan going anywhere. A European Super League is still on the table, though, although probably as an enhanced version of the Champions League.