Post by QPR Report on Oct 28, 2009 6:57:54 GMT
When Saturday Comes/Ian Plenderleith
(WSC)
Managers who stoically shrug in the face of fate
27 October 2009 ~
Post-match interviews with players are mostly dull because reporters only want to talk to the goalscorers, during which we learn that the player concerned is indeed quite happy to have successfully done his job. Managers, though, are interviewed as a matter of course, regardless of the gameâs outcome. Again, not so interesting when the managerâs side has won but much more compelling after a defeat or a lost lead. A glance at this past weekendâs quotations presents an instructive picture of the several different ways of talking away failure.
The countryâs two longest serving and most successful managers are, of course, best able to cope with a poor result. Theyâve been in the game for so long and are therefore calm, canny men carrying a wisdom hewn from experience. Indeed, Alex Ferguson said he had âno complaintsâ about his sideâs defeat to Liverpool. Except that he did, albeit a passive-aggressive one. The referee, he wondered, may have found the atmosphere at Anfield âhard to handle. Whether he had enough experience, I donât know.â Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, called the free-kick that lead to West Hamâs first goal in the 2-2 draw at Upton Park âa very generous decision.â The decision on the penalty that drew the scores level was âsuper generousâ. Arsène, who may be a fan of Disney Channel, could have gone on to describe any potential third decision against his team as âlike, you know, super mega-generousâ.
So there was none of the overt criticism of the match officials that has lead to fines in the past. Theyâre just saying, thatâs all. Just in case someone thinks that two men with such strong career records could possibly be somehow to blame for their teamsâ inability to win. Naive managers like Sunderlandâs Steve Bruce just confess that his team was âsecond best. Birmingham were the better team.â Blackburnâs Sam Allardyce didnât even attempt to excuse his sideâs showing. âPretty pathetic from our point of view,â he mumbled. Clearly neither man yet possesses Ferguson or Wengerâs scapegoating savvy.
Then there are the managers who stoically shrug in the face of fate, like Tottenhamâs Harry Redknapp. âWe just didnât get a break,â he said after losing at home to Stoke, in the tone of a man absolving himself of all blame. âThree or four kicked off the line⌠we hit the post, it just wouldnât go in. The keeper had a great day. It was just one of those days.â Burnleyâs Owen Coyle was also powerless in the face of Wiganâs âtruly bizarreâ equalizing goal. âThere was no danger,â he recalled, while perhaps nursing a glass of rum and imagining a calm sea just before a savage squall. âThe ball was played through, Brian came to collect it and he has twisted his ankle in the process. You can prepare your team all week, but that is something you just cannot legislate for."
As you move down the divisions, managers tend more to this fatalistic acceptance of events beyond their control, while there is a refreshing absence of men questioning the competence of the referee. Itâs more that their best laid plans were wrecked by defenders âswitching offâ at the wrong moments, an occurrence cited by both Leyton Orientâs Geraint Williams (4-0 loss at Huddersfield) and MK Donsâ assistant manager Karl Robinson, whose defenders not only switched off, but did so âstupidlyâ while losing 3-1 at Southampton. Bristol Rovers manager Paul Trollope blamed âneedless fouls at times, that led to balls going in our boxâ, while Herefordâs John Trewick delivered a lengthy lecture on the single Bradford City goal that downed his team: "We were well aware that [Michael] Flynn can crack one from the edge of the box and unfortunately he got on to one and it came back off the post, and our marking from the rebound was less than we would have wanted it to be.â Ah, that explains it. What can you do, eh?
Losing managers also tend towards philosophical improvisation when coping with disappointment. "Penalties will be scored and missed as long as there are football matches,â mused Doncaster manager Sean OâDriscoll after his side lost 2-1 at Newcastle. And yes, they did miss a penalty. âPeterborough is a seriously tough place to visit. You don't just turn up here and get a win," Sc**thorpeâs Nigel Adkins pointed out, emerging bloody and bruised after a 3-0 defeat in Cambridgeshire. Be warned. And heed again the words of Leyton Orientâs Williams, who observed that âgoals do change games.â And not only for the better.
Perhaps most poignant of all are the quotations that illustrate the inherent helplessness of the director in the dugout. All those motivational team talks, all those drills and practices and all that emotive gesticulation can lead to nothing if the players canât follow through. "I think the difference is in that last third,â said Swindonâs Danny Wilson after his team lost 1-0 at Norwich. âWe've got great positions, but we're not delivering when we should.â Rotherhamâs Ronnie Moore, whose team fell 2-1 to Bury, said that at half time: âWe did the talking, but when we came onto the park, we don't do the things we were supposed to do." And Brightonâs Russell Slade, following the 2-0 home defeat by Oldham, noticed that: âWe need to have a more ruthless streak, we've got to do it right." You canât help but feel the pain of the impotent manager, a figure who is ultimately peripheral to the main event, but who would be so much more successful if only his players would just, please, get it right. Ian Plenderleith
www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3906/38/
(WSC)
Managers who stoically shrug in the face of fate
27 October 2009 ~
Post-match interviews with players are mostly dull because reporters only want to talk to the goalscorers, during which we learn that the player concerned is indeed quite happy to have successfully done his job. Managers, though, are interviewed as a matter of course, regardless of the gameâs outcome. Again, not so interesting when the managerâs side has won but much more compelling after a defeat or a lost lead. A glance at this past weekendâs quotations presents an instructive picture of the several different ways of talking away failure.
The countryâs two longest serving and most successful managers are, of course, best able to cope with a poor result. Theyâve been in the game for so long and are therefore calm, canny men carrying a wisdom hewn from experience. Indeed, Alex Ferguson said he had âno complaintsâ about his sideâs defeat to Liverpool. Except that he did, albeit a passive-aggressive one. The referee, he wondered, may have found the atmosphere at Anfield âhard to handle. Whether he had enough experience, I donât know.â Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, called the free-kick that lead to West Hamâs first goal in the 2-2 draw at Upton Park âa very generous decision.â The decision on the penalty that drew the scores level was âsuper generousâ. Arsène, who may be a fan of Disney Channel, could have gone on to describe any potential third decision against his team as âlike, you know, super mega-generousâ.
So there was none of the overt criticism of the match officials that has lead to fines in the past. Theyâre just saying, thatâs all. Just in case someone thinks that two men with such strong career records could possibly be somehow to blame for their teamsâ inability to win. Naive managers like Sunderlandâs Steve Bruce just confess that his team was âsecond best. Birmingham were the better team.â Blackburnâs Sam Allardyce didnât even attempt to excuse his sideâs showing. âPretty pathetic from our point of view,â he mumbled. Clearly neither man yet possesses Ferguson or Wengerâs scapegoating savvy.
Then there are the managers who stoically shrug in the face of fate, like Tottenhamâs Harry Redknapp. âWe just didnât get a break,â he said after losing at home to Stoke, in the tone of a man absolving himself of all blame. âThree or four kicked off the line⌠we hit the post, it just wouldnât go in. The keeper had a great day. It was just one of those days.â Burnleyâs Owen Coyle was also powerless in the face of Wiganâs âtruly bizarreâ equalizing goal. âThere was no danger,â he recalled, while perhaps nursing a glass of rum and imagining a calm sea just before a savage squall. âThe ball was played through, Brian came to collect it and he has twisted his ankle in the process. You can prepare your team all week, but that is something you just cannot legislate for."
As you move down the divisions, managers tend more to this fatalistic acceptance of events beyond their control, while there is a refreshing absence of men questioning the competence of the referee. Itâs more that their best laid plans were wrecked by defenders âswitching offâ at the wrong moments, an occurrence cited by both Leyton Orientâs Geraint Williams (4-0 loss at Huddersfield) and MK Donsâ assistant manager Karl Robinson, whose defenders not only switched off, but did so âstupidlyâ while losing 3-1 at Southampton. Bristol Rovers manager Paul Trollope blamed âneedless fouls at times, that led to balls going in our boxâ, while Herefordâs John Trewick delivered a lengthy lecture on the single Bradford City goal that downed his team: "We were well aware that [Michael] Flynn can crack one from the edge of the box and unfortunately he got on to one and it came back off the post, and our marking from the rebound was less than we would have wanted it to be.â Ah, that explains it. What can you do, eh?
Losing managers also tend towards philosophical improvisation when coping with disappointment. "Penalties will be scored and missed as long as there are football matches,â mused Doncaster manager Sean OâDriscoll after his side lost 2-1 at Newcastle. And yes, they did miss a penalty. âPeterborough is a seriously tough place to visit. You don't just turn up here and get a win," Sc**thorpeâs Nigel Adkins pointed out, emerging bloody and bruised after a 3-0 defeat in Cambridgeshire. Be warned. And heed again the words of Leyton Orientâs Williams, who observed that âgoals do change games.â And not only for the better.
Perhaps most poignant of all are the quotations that illustrate the inherent helplessness of the director in the dugout. All those motivational team talks, all those drills and practices and all that emotive gesticulation can lead to nothing if the players canât follow through. "I think the difference is in that last third,â said Swindonâs Danny Wilson after his team lost 1-0 at Norwich. âWe've got great positions, but we're not delivering when we should.â Rotherhamâs Ronnie Moore, whose team fell 2-1 to Bury, said that at half time: âWe did the talking, but when we came onto the park, we don't do the things we were supposed to do." And Brightonâs Russell Slade, following the 2-0 home defeat by Oldham, noticed that: âWe need to have a more ruthless streak, we've got to do it right." You canât help but feel the pain of the impotent manager, a figure who is ultimately peripheral to the main event, but who would be so much more successful if only his players would just, please, get it right. Ian Plenderleith
www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3906/38/