Poch played at the highest level. He was an elite level player. Recognisable enough to garner instant respect.
Think you’re being very disingenuous there. Yes I know you said “some” but you’re sort of tarring a lot with the same brush. I was Ralphout (4/26!) but I’m none of the above, well, apart the last.
Premier league players need to look up to their managers. They are multi-multi-millionaires. Sad reality. That’s how football is. Even Mourinho can’t get a performance out of teams when they lose respect for him. It seems like our squad in general has a pretty good mentality so we might be OK. But I have a feeling this might be a **** show of an appointment. Hope I’m wrong.
What does playing at the top level have to do with management? Wenger, Ferguson, Mourinho never played at the top level. And each have won dozens of trophies as managers.
If he’s a good man manager he will get their respect quickly. You don’t have to be a top player to manage, as others pointed out the best players don’t make the best managers (even more so these days). My reaction was initially underwhelming, but why? It really doesn’t matter if it’s Luton town or Cambridge united, if he’s caught the attention of the board then there must be something about him. Ralph’s dismissal was not rushed, it was a long time coming. The board will have been looking at options for some time, if they think Jones is the right man then there is probably good reason.
Reading a few articles on line - I literally no nothing about any manager - he seems very much to be in their mold. He loves stats and really looking into each player down to a very granular level, one would imagine he goes into that much detail with opponents too. You have to admit that seems to be the SR way. Also he seems to be very good with younger players and their progress up through a club system. So even if you don't agree with it you can see the reasoning.
Julian Nagelsmann manages one of the biggest clubs in the world, joining them at age 33, after a footballing career that involved him playing exactly zero first-team matches for any club.
The players would love that appointment. "OK lads put your boots away, todays training is a triple cheeseburger at the McDonald's Stadium"
Good example. And you could argue that having a glittering playing career has a detrimental effect on how good a manager you can be simply because they won't study for their coaching badges until they retire in their mid to late 30's. And you can't study the game at the required level when you're playing as you're focusing on playing, keeping fit etc. People who don't have a great playing career can study the game in detail at a much younger age, you can commit to coaching much earlier and you can work your way up as a manager.
Or in the case of people like Hoddle and Keane - be unable to get their message across because it all came naturally to them. Hoddle was apparently bad for this. He had more skill even after retirement than most players he managed and he couldn't understand it. And Keane just couldn't get why people weren't as into it as him. Who are notably successful ex-players? Especially in the PL? Guardiola is one. Daglish. I am sure there are a few others.
Most of the worlds top managers were successful former top players. Wenger/Mourinho/Klopp are the exception, not the rule. Conte, Mancini, Pep, Tuchel, Allegri, Ancelotti, Pochettino, Zidane etc. etc. etc.
May have been posted already, but this is pretty interesting. Clearly very detailed and methodical - I seem to recall some of the players we signed under Cortese saying similar - about how they were convinced to join by the level of detail and ambition Cortese had in a presentation about why they should sign for Saints.
