IT is said Steve Bloomer was English football’s first superstar.
Schoolchildren wrote poems in his honour and, a century after his heyday,
supporters of Derby County were still singing his name. Less known were his
achievements in Spain. In 1923 Bloomer travelled to near Bilbao to take
charge of an amateur side, Real Irun, and won the Copa del Rey in an
extraordinary first season. In his second, Irun beat Real Madrid 7-0.
Basques gave Bloomer a nickname, “Saint Steve”.
But it was not Bloomer’s first coaching assignment. In 1914 he had gone to
Germany as “coach and instructor” of Berlin Britannia FC, but within weeks
war had begun and Bloomer was to be captured and spent 3½ years in a prison
camp. When great England players become managers they can’t say there are no
warnings from history. Success might lie ahead but difficulty almost
certainly does.
Not one of England’s great players has won a major trophy as a manager. In
fact the trophy record of former gym instructors (thanks to Rafa BenÍtez)
and one-time interpreters (thanks to Jose Mourinho) is far superior, in the
English game, to former England players. Some have made good managers, such
as Jimmy Armfield, Jack Charlton and Alan Ball, without confirming their
abilities through silverware. Several, such as Glenn Hoddle and Kevin
Keegan, have decent records but divide opinion. The Sirs, Bobby Robson and
Alf Ramsey, were great managers but “very, very good” rather than “great”
players.
The disasters loom large: Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore muddling unhappily
through short stints at Preston and Southend respectively, Stanley Matthews,
general manager of Port Vale when they were expelled from the Football
League, Billy Wright’s mediocre spell in charge of Arsenal, the inevitable
car crash that ensued when Paul Gascoigne took the steering wheel at
Kettering. Martin Peters is perhaps typical. The day after retiring as a
player he became manager of Sheffield United, 16 games later they were
relegated to Division Four and Peters never managed again.
Is it because of the failures preceding him that Bryan Robson is judged so
sternly? Mid-table in the Championship, Sheffield United are in nothing like
the crisis Peters encountered when he arrived at Bramall Lane (initially as
player-coach at the start of his retirement season), and yet there are car
park demonstrations by supporters, votes of confidence from the chairman,
vitriol in the media. Rather than enjoying turning up feeling a simple glow
of anticipation, with United having already beaten Premier League opposition
and through to an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Manchester City, Robson
will go to work this afternoon trying to put aside apprehension. There is
talk of a protest and a possible boycott by fans who want Robson out.
With United as close to the relegation zone as the playoff places, despite
having just come down from the Premier League and spent £4m on James Beattie
in the summer, the hard-hearted could argue it is all to be expected. But
the “Resign, Robson!” shouts were being heard as early as October, when a
supporter ran on and threw his scarf at the dugout during United’s League
Cup exit against Arsenal.
Though the local press has reflected them, the wider media has focused on
“Robbo In Crisis” without mentioning the mitigating circumstances. Rob
Hulse, last season’s top scorer, is still feeling his way back after a
broken leg and Beattie has missed the past five games with a knee problem
and is not expected to be fit to face City. It is taking time, Robson
argues, to introduce a more passing-orientated style of football to players
who worked so long with Neil Warnock and his direct tactics. As for
transfers, “the only thing people highlight is I paid £4m for Beattie. They
don’t talk about the £11m I brought in for players like Phil Jagielka,
Claude Davis, Colin Kazim-Richards and those sort of lads,” Robson says.
Robson’s record in management may be mixed, but it is not without positives:
taking Middlesbrough to three cup finals, achieving that “Great Escape” from
relegation with West Brom. In the past, having a great playing record
ensured you were given more leeway as a manager, but now the opposite
appears true. Gareth Southgate was quickly under scrutiny at Middlesbrough
and Stuart Pearce and Tony Adams have needed to draw on their considerable
reserves of character to get back on the horse when called “coaching
failures” after early disappointments with Nottingham Forest and Wycombe.
Are top players judged more harshly when they are bosses? “Sometimes there’s
a case of that,” says Robson. “When I went to Middlesbrough, straight away I
was under pressure and when I bought the foreign players it was the wrong
policy and that type of thing. Immediately people were criticising as soon
as I did something. It’s been the same since I went back into the job (after
three years out of management, from leaving Middlesbrough in 2000 to taking
charge of Bradford in 2003). As soon as there’s been discontent the media
have publicised it – maybe because I was a high-profile player.
“You’ve got to get on with the job in the best way you possibly can. But I
don’t think the same kind of criticism is slanted at managers of other
clubs, when they’re mid-table there’s not pressure to get them out.” It
seems different in other countries. The Dutch (Johan Cruyff, Frank
Rijkaard), the Italians (Fabio Capello, Cesare Maldini), the Germans (Franz
Beckenbauer, Jurgen Klinsmann) and South Americans (Mario Zagallo, Alfredo
Di Stefano) have traditions of great players becoming successful managers.
Laurent Blanc has Bordeaux challenging for the French championship after
just seven months as coach. Robson may not get another chance if he is
sacked and calls the situation at Sheffield United his biggest challenge in
football. “I’ll take it on the chin, but I’d like fans to focus on
supporting the team because in certain games when they’re getting on to me
it affects the players.” Robson never lost against Manchester City while at
Manchester United but that, of course, was as a player.
England icons who failed as managers
Bryan Robson was one of the great England captains and seemed ideally equipped
for club management. He joined Middlesbrough in 1994 and took them up into
the Premier League and to three Wembley cup finals before things started to
go wrong and he left in June 2001. He had spells with Bradford and West Brom
but was unemployed for eight months until going to Sheffield United last May.
Now, FA Cup defeat by Manchester City today could see him become another
statistic in the long line of England greats whose management careers ended
in disappointment ...
Billy Wright Capped 105 times, he enjoyed a wonderful playing career
with Wolves and was a natural leader. He became manager of Arsenal in 1962
but they never finished higher than seventh and he was sacked at the end of
the 1965-66 season
Martin Peters An England World Cup winner, he joined Sheffield United in
the old Third Division in 1980 as player-coach. He became manager in January
1981 when Harry Haslam retired. United were 12th, but won just three of
their last 16 games and were relegated. Peters resigned
Bobby Charlton After winning the 1966 World Cup and the European Cup
with Manchester United two years later, Charlton left United in 1973 and
joined Preston as player-manager. One season was enough to convince him he
wasn’t cut out for management and he resigned. He was a director at Wigan
and had a brief stint as caretaker boss in 1976
Bobby Moore Captained England a record 90 times, lifted the World Cup
in 1966 and, on paper, looked perfect managerial material. He had spells at
Herning in Denmark as well as at Oxford City and Southend, but achieved
little success and eventually walked away from the game
Paul Gascoigne After a colourful playing career, he hung up his boots
in 2004. Named manager of Kettering Town in October 2005, but his tenure
lasted just 39 days. He was dismissed after claims that he had consistently
turned up for work drunk
John Barnes Half of the Celtic dream team with Kenny Dalglish that
succeeded Jozef Venglos in 1999. When Celtic lost to Inverness Caledonian
Thistle in the Scottish Cup it signalled the end of Barnes’s time at
Parkhead
