Nigel Adkins was relieved of his managerial duties last week following a noteworthy tenure.
Southampton had just completed back-to-back promotions and at the first time of asking, have given themselves a real chance of staying up as they reached the midway point of the Premier League.
Give this option to any Southampton supporter two seasons ago and they would have snapped your hand off.
He didn’t need years to lay foundations and build from the ground up.
He didn’t have substantial backing.
He didn’t even have much time.
Yet Nigel could not have achieved much more.
Not so long ago, Tottenham Hotspur were struggling in the relegation zone when they moved for Harry Redknapp.
In four seasons at the club, Harry finished 4th, 5th, 4th and even managed to take the club to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
No lengthy regime.
No extensive rebuilding project.
No complaint from Spurs fans.
As for David Moyes, he is highly regarded for his achievements at Everton.
Ten seasons of stability is all he has really achieved though.
Despite being in the Premier League for his entire reign, selling numerous players for vast sums, David has never won a major honour for them.
This during a period where clubs like Blackburn, Portsmouth, Birmingham and even Middlesborough have won silverware of some sort.
All of whom have had various candidates at their helm.
Then there’s Jose Mourinho.
It’s been nine seasons since Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea.
In that time, Roman has hired or fired nine different managers.
His first appointment was Jose.
While his treatment of a selection of these managers, namely the special one, has sparked vociferous debate in the stands - his methods have proved massively successful.
Chelsea hadn’t won the league in fifty years.
The only time they’d won it.
Three times they’ve won it under Roman now.
Last season they went one better.
Adding their first ever Champions League to the trophy cabinet.
In fact, they’ve qualified for the tournament every season Roman has overseen proceedings.
Coupled with four FA cups, two league cups and on numerous occasions reached the final four of Europe’s elite competition.
Jose was responsible for five of those major honours.
Not a bad period at all.
And no comparison with their former rivals Arsenal - the epitome of stability in the modern era.
Arsene Wenger has governed every single aspect of Arsenal football club for sixteen straight seasons now.
He has full control in decisions made yet hasn’t managed a major honour in his previous eight campaigns.
No contest when it comes to finance.
And no contest when it comes to success.
The idea that a manager must embody longevity is a distinctly British one - throughout the major European leagues anyway.
Since Sir Alex took over at Old Trafford, Bayern Munich have had twenty managers.
Ajax Amsterdam eighteen.
FC Porto the same.
All clubs dominating their domestic leagues as well as conquering Europe throughout this period.
A similar picture in Italy too.
Juventus fourteen.
AC Milan sixteen.
Internazionale as much as twenty seven.
All hugely successful in Serie ‘A’.
All winners of the Champions League during Fergie time.
Then comes the biggest club of all.
Real Madrid.
Jose Mourinho’s home right now.
The Spanish giants have had twenty five managers since Sir Alex took up his reigns.
Won eleven La Liga titles.
Three Champions Leagues.
Plus numerous World Club Cups, European Super Cups and Copa Del Reys.
Never one to have a problem with moving on a manager at seasons end - no matter how successful.
Fabio Capello won the league yet didn’t do it stylishly enough.
Jupp Heynckes won the Champions League in his only season in charge.
Vicente Del Bosque won two and it still wasn’t enough for him to retain his job.
Yet despite all this, Real Madrid remain the most successful club in the world.
Even more remarkable is that by the end of this season, Jose should be their third longest serving manager in their one hundred and ten year history.
He has had two and a half campaigns so far.
Brought in to end Josep Guardiola’s Barcelona dominance - labelled the greatest club side of all time.
It took Jose just one season before he started to overturn the Catalan giants.
No better manager in the world to undertake such a massive challenge.
And it will be a similar challenge that faces the next Manchester United manager - taking over from a man who has been in charge for almost thirty years.
How to find the next Alex Ferguson is the question people keep asking.
Not a job that Jose seems made for.
But what they should really be asking - is who will manage Manchester United next?
And expect Jose to be able to manage that...
Showing posts with label Roman Abramovich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roman Abramovich. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Monday, 21 May 2012
The Marginal Victory that is Winning The Champions League
Roman took over Chelsea in the summer of 2003.
Transforming a modest team into one of the top sides in the world.
Traditionalists will cite that what took place over the course of the next nine years was a club buying their success.
Realists will know that this is how football works these days.
Chelsea are no different to Blackburn, Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United.
Arsenal would have seen the same success but spent their money on a stadium instead of players.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are funded by Spanish banks and the Government.
And money has dictated the Italian championship a lot longer than it’s European counterparts.
Yet even those who have spent big have still only managed limited success in Europe’s top competition.
No team has ever retained the competition.
No team has ever dominated it.
Sir Alex Ferguson has had 17 attempts at winning the competition yet has only yielded 2 titles.
By his own accord that has not been good enough - but he is still the most successful manager in the competitions history.
Arsene Wenger has had 14 attempts with just 1 runner-ups spot.
Roman has tried and failed with the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Luis Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink, Avram Grant, even Jose Mourinho.
Nothing.
We have witnessed one of the greatest sides to ever come out of England continuously miss out on Champions League glory.
And by the smallest of margins.
John’s slip in the final.
Luis’ goal that never crossed the line.
Eidur’s miss in the last minute.
The penalties at Anfield.
Barcelona-gate.
This squad, more than most, have proved what little margins there are between coming first - or coming last.
For to win the Champions League - everything must go your way.
Everything over the course of the season.
Liverpool were 4 minutes away from elimination in the group stage in 2005.
Not to mention what happened in Istanbul.
Manchester United were losing 1-0 in injury time in 1999.
The same club of course, who benefitted from John’s slip.
And then we had Chelsea in 2012.
How many times had they looked dead and buried in this seasons competition?
Napoli defeating them 3-1 in the first leg.
Then scoring an away goal at the Bridge.
Losing both centre backs in Camp Nou.
Barcelona going 2-0 up.
Lionel stepping up to take a penalty to give Barcelona the lead.
Their opponents in the final playing with home advantage.
Bayern scoring in the 84th minute of the final.
Arjen looked to seal it from 12 yards in extra time.
Juan missing his kick.
Before finally Bastian tipped the competition in Chelsea’s favour.
They were down and out on so many occasions yet they would not die.
Neutrals may not like some of these Chelsea players but they have to have been impressed with their mentality.
They have earned the respect of everyone who really knows about this sport.
Their ‘not knowing when to quit’ attitude was exceptional.
Desire unquestionable.
Every time they looked out, they somehow found something extra special to keep them in the fight.
This is what makes great teams great.
What made Chelsea great.
And Chelsea have been exactly that this century.
It’s just now, they’ve finally got what they deserve - a marginal victory...
Transforming a modest team into one of the top sides in the world.
Traditionalists will cite that what took place over the course of the next nine years was a club buying their success.
Realists will know that this is how football works these days.
Chelsea are no different to Blackburn, Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United.
Arsenal would have seen the same success but spent their money on a stadium instead of players.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are funded by Spanish banks and the Government.
And money has dictated the Italian championship a lot longer than it’s European counterparts.
Yet even those who have spent big have still only managed limited success in Europe’s top competition.
No team has ever retained the competition.
No team has ever dominated it.
Sir Alex Ferguson has had 17 attempts at winning the competition yet has only yielded 2 titles.
By his own accord that has not been good enough - but he is still the most successful manager in the competitions history.
Arsene Wenger has had 14 attempts with just 1 runner-ups spot.
Roman has tried and failed with the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Luis Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink, Avram Grant, even Jose Mourinho.
Nothing.
We have witnessed one of the greatest sides to ever come out of England continuously miss out on Champions League glory.
And by the smallest of margins.
John’s slip in the final.
Luis’ goal that never crossed the line.
Eidur’s miss in the last minute.
The penalties at Anfield.
Barcelona-gate.
This squad, more than most, have proved what little margins there are between coming first - or coming last.
For to win the Champions League - everything must go your way.
Everything over the course of the season.
Liverpool were 4 minutes away from elimination in the group stage in 2005.
Not to mention what happened in Istanbul.
Manchester United were losing 1-0 in injury time in 1999.
The same club of course, who benefitted from John’s slip.
And then we had Chelsea in 2012.
How many times had they looked dead and buried in this seasons competition?
Napoli defeating them 3-1 in the first leg.
Then scoring an away goal at the Bridge.
Losing both centre backs in Camp Nou.
Barcelona going 2-0 up.
Lionel stepping up to take a penalty to give Barcelona the lead.
Their opponents in the final playing with home advantage.
Bayern scoring in the 84th minute of the final.
Arjen looked to seal it from 12 yards in extra time.
Juan missing his kick.
Before finally Bastian tipped the competition in Chelsea’s favour.
They were down and out on so many occasions yet they would not die.
Neutrals may not like some of these Chelsea players but they have to have been impressed with their mentality.
They have earned the respect of everyone who really knows about this sport.
Their ‘not knowing when to quit’ attitude was exceptional.
Desire unquestionable.
Every time they looked out, they somehow found something extra special to keep them in the fight.
This is what makes great teams great.
What made Chelsea great.
And Chelsea have been exactly that this century.
It’s just now, they’ve finally got what they deserve - a marginal victory...
Monday, 28 November 2011
Do fans really want success or are they just happy to be entertained?
For me, the sport I love has always been about winning.
Whether it’s Ireland in a World Cup or a kick about in the park, winning was all that mattered.
Even if we didn’t play well - winning made the sport entertaining.
I always felt that while the match may not have been an entertaining spectacle, it felt great to play so bad and still win.
Qualification for the European Championships this month was a massive success.
All the hard work, combined with this perceived lack of entertainment, surmounted to winning qualification to a major tournament for the first time in ten years.
The criticism of Giovanni Trapattoni’s reign over the Irish team should have grinded to a halt after his victory over Estonia.
Instead, critics have now turned their attention to telling the public how bad Ireland are going to do at the Championships next summer.
Even if Ireland were to lose every game 5-0, the campaign would still go down as the furthest Ireland have gone in 10 years.
The furthest in the European Championships in 22 years.
Yet now some journalists are saying we will be found out by the likes of Spain, Germany and Holland when we get there.
Found out?
As in the best three teams in the world will prove that they are better than a team made up from the bottom half of the Premier League?
Surely success came in the qualification and anything beyond is even more of a bonus for this Irish team?
Yet a large portion of Irish supporters want Giovanni out.
Sick of the style of football, no matter how successful.
Compare this to the situation at Arsenal right now.
Arsene Wenger, one of the greatest managers in the world, has led his team to play some of the best football the Premier League has ever seen.
Yet he is nowhere near as successful as Giovanni.
Arsene will hope to some day be mentioned in the same breath as Giovanni when it comes to the amount of major honours he’s won.
But right now, he is not even close to adding to his tally.
He is currently overseeing his seventh season since he won a trophy.
But by playing such entertaining football during this barren spell, he was able to keep the terraces happy.
Gordon Strachan and Martin O’Neill is another interesting example at Celtic.
Gordon had the better record as manager.
Yet the supporters never really took to him despite twice taking the Glasgow team to the last 16 of the Champions League and winning the same number of league titles as Martin but in fewer seasons.
Gordon didn’t have nearly as much money as Martin and was forced to work with a weaker squad.
Yet most Celtic supporters will tell you they’d prefer to see Martin back in the hot seat.
Martin and his entertaining ways.
Finally, you have the situation at Chelsea.
There’s no chance Arsene would have been allowed 6 seasons in charge of Chelsea with such a lack of success.
Giovanni would no doubt have had success at the helm but the feeling is that Roman Abramovich demands entertainment and success.
And even when they had that in the shape of Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti, it only lasted as long as the success was there.
Hefty prices have been paid in trying to obtain both.
And he still can’t win the Champions League no matter how much money he spends.
The aim in football has always been to have an entertaining and successful side.
This is not always possible with the resources some sides have.
Especially in the international arena.
Roman has the right idea about this.
And the resources.
He is just living proof of how hard it is to have both.
Whether it’s Ireland in a World Cup or a kick about in the park, winning was all that mattered.
Even if we didn’t play well - winning made the sport entertaining.
I always felt that while the match may not have been an entertaining spectacle, it felt great to play so bad and still win.
Qualification for the European Championships this month was a massive success.
All the hard work, combined with this perceived lack of entertainment, surmounted to winning qualification to a major tournament for the first time in ten years.
The criticism of Giovanni Trapattoni’s reign over the Irish team should have grinded to a halt after his victory over Estonia.
Instead, critics have now turned their attention to telling the public how bad Ireland are going to do at the Championships next summer.
Even if Ireland were to lose every game 5-0, the campaign would still go down as the furthest Ireland have gone in 10 years.
The furthest in the European Championships in 22 years.
Yet now some journalists are saying we will be found out by the likes of Spain, Germany and Holland when we get there.
Found out?
As in the best three teams in the world will prove that they are better than a team made up from the bottom half of the Premier League?
Surely success came in the qualification and anything beyond is even more of a bonus for this Irish team?
Yet a large portion of Irish supporters want Giovanni out.
Sick of the style of football, no matter how successful.
Compare this to the situation at Arsenal right now.
Arsene Wenger, one of the greatest managers in the world, has led his team to play some of the best football the Premier League has ever seen.
Yet he is nowhere near as successful as Giovanni.
Arsene will hope to some day be mentioned in the same breath as Giovanni when it comes to the amount of major honours he’s won.
But right now, he is not even close to adding to his tally.
He is currently overseeing his seventh season since he won a trophy.
But by playing such entertaining football during this barren spell, he was able to keep the terraces happy.
Gordon Strachan and Martin O’Neill is another interesting example at Celtic.
Gordon had the better record as manager.
Yet the supporters never really took to him despite twice taking the Glasgow team to the last 16 of the Champions League and winning the same number of league titles as Martin but in fewer seasons.
Gordon didn’t have nearly as much money as Martin and was forced to work with a weaker squad.
Yet most Celtic supporters will tell you they’d prefer to see Martin back in the hot seat.
Martin and his entertaining ways.
Finally, you have the situation at Chelsea.
There’s no chance Arsene would have been allowed 6 seasons in charge of Chelsea with such a lack of success.
Giovanni would no doubt have had success at the helm but the feeling is that Roman Abramovich demands entertainment and success.
And even when they had that in the shape of Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti, it only lasted as long as the success was there.
Hefty prices have been paid in trying to obtain both.
And he still can’t win the Champions League no matter how much money he spends.
The aim in football has always been to have an entertaining and successful side.
This is not always possible with the resources some sides have.
Especially in the international arena.
Roman has the right idea about this.
And the resources.
He is just living proof of how hard it is to have both.
At the end of the day though - Roman shares the same belief as myself.
Football is all about winning.
Yet some supporters of this beautiful game, just don’t find joy in being successful...
Football is all about winning.
Yet some supporters of this beautiful game, just don’t find joy in being successful...
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