it’s all in the training: hugh robertson mpgraham thorpe – switching sidesteam talks: turning words into actiondavid platt on life after managementthe art of successful mentoring

The magazine of the League Managers Association Issue 2 £5.00

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c o m m e n t e d i t o r

Published for the LMA by Caspian Publishing Ltd. Opinions expressed by contributors are their own. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. Publishing enquiries: 020 7368 7177 Fax: 020 7368 7178 www.caspianpublishing.co.uk Editor: Alice Hoey Group editor: Keith Ryan Account manager: Tina Franz Creative director: Nick Dixon Art editor: David Twardawa/Clare Meredith Production manager: Karen Gardner Advertisement manager: Matthew Blore Business development director: Frances Hughes Commercial director: Andy Rice Founder and communications director: Matthew Rock Founder and editorial director: Stuart Rock Picture credits: Action Images/Getty Images/Alamy/Rex Features/istockphoto The League Managers Association The Camkin Suite, 1 Pegasus House, Tachbrook Park, Warwick CV34 6LW Tel: 01926 831 556 Email: lma@lmasecure.com www.leaguemanagers.com For annual subscription (£20 for four issues): 020 7368 7200 Fax: 020 7368 7201 or subscribe online at www.themanagermagazine.com

How did your team do? Did they rise to the challenge and prove

their mettle or struggle against tough competition and low morale?

Depending on their level of ability, fitness and motivation, your

people can be your most valuable asset or your biggest cost.

Few managers have the luxury of a blank cheque with which

to re-stock the organisation with fresh blood and new ideas.

Recognising the talent within and getting the very best from

existing resources is, therefore, an essential skill. Those starting next

season at the helm of a new ship will have to identify and exploit their

strongest assets quickly if they are to get results in those crucial early

months. These days, new managers are afforded precious little time to prove

themselves, despite often having to work with a legacy

of club politics, finances and players.

In this edition, we ask how the right words, said in

the right way, can make people up their game. Does

the carrot or the stick work best in spurring on a losing

team? According to business leader John Timpson,

instigating change is less about the words and more

the groundwork you have already laid: “However

inspirational the speech, if people don’t respect you

and believe in your message, it won’t work.”

Mick McCarthy agrees that getting team buy-in

requires mutual respect, and that this has its

foundations in honesty. Speaking exclusively with

The Manager, he says, “[The players] are welcome to

ask me a question, but they must be prepared for the

answer. I’m brutally honest and say it like it is.”

Getting dedication and performance from a group

of individuals takes a particularly skilled leader,

especially in the face of adversity. And, according to MP

and ex-military man Hugh Robertson, simply shouting at people when conditions

are tough gets you nowhere. In our interview, he echoes the need for trust, but

adds that it also comes down to preparation: “In the army, we used to say ‘train

hard, fight easy’, and I believe that’s a great lesson for life.”

This summer will mean hard training and tough decisions for many clubs and

businesses. But get it right and the pay-off could be well worth the effort. I for one

look forward to finding out.

ALiCE HoEy EDITOR

those starting next season at the helm of a new ship will need to identify and exploit their strongest assets quickly

04 kicking off News and views from the past

quarter-season.

08 mick mccarthy The Wolves boss speaks exclusively

about his open, honest and direct

approach to leadership, and why

you have to trust in your team.

12 crossing the line The transition from player to

manager isn’t always easy, writes

Sue Bridgewater. Tony Adams,

Graham Thorpe and actress-turned

-playwright Manjinder Virk speak

from experience.

18 word play Say the right thing and you can

motivate and inspire. How do John

Timpson, Peter Taylor and Roberto

Forzoni approach the team talk?

22 watch and learn Everybody wins from a successful

mentoring relationship, so why

aren’t we all at it?

26 train hard, fight easy MP Hugh

Robertson on the

importance of broad

experience and why

sport is undervalued.

30 big boots In football and business, family ties

can be strong and productive. We

look at the highs and lows of

following in the family footsteps.

34 timeline to greatness Profile of the longest-

serving manager

of all time,

Fred Everiss.

36 world’s apart Working abroad

might be daunting,

but the effort can

really pay off. Stephen

Constantine reports back

from Sudan.

38 on a mission Where do you begin when trying

to turn around an ailing business?

According to our experts,

re-igniting success starts

with your people.

42 what next? Making a radical

career change

takes guts.

What happened

when ex-player

and manager David Platt turned his

hand to business.

46 one careful owner The manager-owner dynamic can

make or break a club, says

Professor Stuart Timperley.

But how do you make

it work? With

Dave Whelan.

50 culture club An organisation

is much more

than the sum of

its parts. We ask

Dave Bassett why

corporate identity

matters and where the

manager fits in?

54 don’t lose any sleep over it! Stress and poor sleep can be a

vicious circle. Here’s why, with

Dr Dorian Dugmore.

56 equal measures Every aspiring manager, black or

white, should get the support and

opportunities they deserve, says

Kick It Out’s Piara Powar.

60 lma events Highlights from a season of events.

s u m m e r i s s u e t h e l i n e - u p

0820 1222 12

54

34

54

� The Manager �The Manager �The Manager �The Manager

As always in football’s summer season, the

headlines are dominated by news of transfers,

club sales, discussion about debt and finance, and

hopes and expectations for the coming season.

In the run up to this edition going to press, we saw the

record-breaking transfer of Ronaldo from Manchester United

to Real Madrid. This has sparked a debate about the growing

emphasis on money in football – is it a case of “how much?”

over “how good?”, with some asking whether it is sustainable?

I believe the past season is proof that talent still has a major

role to play in success. And a manager’s ability to get the most

from his team and the resources available to him is vital to

achieving that.

Take David Moyes, who steered Everton close to the top

four, into Europe and to the FA Cup final. He also collected

the LMA Manager of the Year award, sponsored by Barclays,

for a record third time. Further down the league, pre-season

favourites for relegation Hull City and Stoke City – both smaller

clubs with limited funding – defied the odds and maintained

their positions in the game’s richest league. The performance

of Phil Brown and Tony Pulis, respectively, must not be

underestimated in those achievements.

Looking ahead to next season, the Barclays Premier League

welcomes Owen Coyle’s Burnley back to the top flight for the

first time since 1976. Nobody knows whether they’ll manage to

stay up, but relegation is certainly not a given.

In his ground-breaking bestseller, Moneyball, Michael Lewis

explored the success of one of baseball’s smallest teams, the

Oakland As, and its general manager, Billy Beane. The sport

may have been different, but the message is transferable: there

are always different ways to do things, to challenge convention

and get more from a team than the sum of its parts. Beane

was one of baseball’s brightest young talents as a player, but it

was in management that he really made a name for himself. He

created the vision, built the strategy and shaped a team, with

staggering results.

Pushing to find new, better ways to manage is a challenge

we all face daily, and never more so than in times of adversity.

On 24 September, the LMA will host its inaugural management

conference (www.touchlinetoboardroom.com) at the Emirates.

In the company of the likes of David Moyes, Stuart Pearce and

British Airways’ Martin Broughton, we will unite the worlds of

business and sport, and explore and debate what makes great

managers tick. I look forward to seeing you there.

RichaRd Bevan THE LEAgUE MANAgERS ASSOCIATION

R i c h a R d B e v a n

can you do BetteR?

� The Manager

tips fRom the top flightIt’s not every day you get to quiz a

leading football manager about the

highs and lows of the job. At the

inaugural LMA Business Club event,

in association with Real Business,

Fulham’s Roy Hodgson fielded

questions from host John Inverdale

and a captivated audience of some 70

invited business leaders. The theme

of the evening, “winning

against the odds” was

timely, Fulham having

triumphed 2-0 over

Manchester United shortly

before, and struck a chord

with businesses facing the

challenges of a recession.

BuRnley’s Bogof

For many companies, slashing budgets and

restructuring won’t be enough to see them

through the summer of discontent. As

customers are increasingly open to offers,

companies need to raise the bar to ensure

their client base stays loyal and spending.

While its local top-tier rivals can

reduce their ticket prices, for Burnley,

which gets a larger proportion of its revenue

from attendance, smarter thinking was in order.

At the start of the 2008/09 season, the

club pledged that everyone buying a season

ticket would get their money back the next

season should they make it into the Barclays

Premier League.

While it meant that the club would lose

out on around £2m, chairman Barry Kilby

was confident that, in the context of a £60m

promotion payout, it would be worth it. The

unique incentive proved to be a fantastic way

to boost attendance and share the club’s

success with its supporters.

KicKingoffNEWS AND vIEWS fRom the dugout

enteR the dRagonEx-Millwall chairman and now Rymans chief executive

Theo Paphitis spoke recently about the challenges of

doing business in the football industry. “You need an

asbestos suit, because at some point or other you will

get burned,” he said. “It’s an incredible industry,” he

added, “but the money it generates isn’t enough to

sustain it, so it needs benefactors. Any business that is

reliant on benefactors is a difficult one.” Now probably

best known for his role in Tv show Dragon’s Den,

Paphitis spent eight years as chairman of Millwall, taking

it out of administration into the Championship and an

FA Cup final. “The biggest challenge when you’re trying

to turn around a business is getting everyone to believe

in and follow you,” he said. “If you can achieve that then

you’ll make it a success.” Paphitis is a director of the

Football League and an FA counsellor.

23% rise in wage costs in the Barclays PL

26% growth in revenue for top 20 clubs

16% compound annual growth rate between 1992 and 2008 vs 5.4% for the UK economy

£187m investment by top 92 UK clubs in facilities

the coca-cola championship is the 3rd-best attended league in the world

Highlights from Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance 2007/08

£3.1bn net debt of Barclays PL clubs, up from £2.7bn last season

� The Manager �The Manager �The Manager

Roy Keane is getting tough with his Ipswich

Town side as they prepare to battle for

promotion next season. The manager

plans to send players on a gruelling pre-

season training course with the Parachute

Regiment, where they will be put through

their paces, military style.

At the Merville Barracks training centre in

Colchester, a potential venue for the pre-

season training, courses are designed to

promote team cohesion, develop leadership

skills and improve physical fitness. The centre

is currently used in the recruitment of young

soldiers. Keane will be hoping its motto,

“Ready for anything” proves to be justified.

Fighting talK

Having each managed 1,000 games, Steve Coppell and Graham Turner have entered the LMA’s elite Hall of Fame, the 1,000 Club. Coppell took on his first managerial role aged 28, becoming the youngest to ever manage in the Football League. During his career, he achieved three promotions and one FA Cup final and has twice been named LMA Manager of the Year. Graham Turner received the LMA Service Award, sponsored by Coca-Cola, recently. His achievements have included two promotions and three league titles.

1,000

�The Manager

On the mOney

BOx cleveR“One more round” wrote James J Corbett, World Heavyweight boxing

Champion from 1892 to 1897. His poem of the same name now sits in the

office of QPR performance manager John harbin, for whom those three

words have provided a constant source of inspiration and motivation.

“I’ve used the saying for the past 20 years,” says Harbin, a former

rugby league coach who has also worked at Oldham Athletic, Crystal

Palace and Coventry City. “It means that no matter what your situation

– be it in sport or life – there’s always one more round to fight.”

calling time SPOtlightJoe Royle, who recently turned 60, returned to Oldham

Athletic as caretaker manager in March. During his

previous 12-year spell at Boundary Park, Royle guided

the club to the Premier League, two FA Cup semi-finals

and a Littlewoods Cup final.

Royle moved to Manchester City in February 1998,

and in his first full season in charge the club achieved

promotion. A year later, they went up into the Premier

League. Having taken charge of Ipswich Town in

November 2002, Royle led the club to the play-offs in

2004 and 2005.

tony Pulis (left) ran this year’s London

Marathon on behalf of the Donna Louise

Children’s Hospice. Management, staff and

players at Stoke City have been supporting

the charity for several seasons.

alan curbishley recently unveiled a £2.5 million

sports facility in the London Borough of Bexley.

It is hoped that the new outdoor sports changing

pavilion and education and leisure facility at Hall

Place will give a considerable boost to sport in the

local community.

Watford FC’s Brendan Rodgers (right)

has been delivering some motivational

words to aspiring footballers.

Speaking to students on the football

excellence programme at West

Herts College, he emphasised the

opportunities that coaching can

offer as a career, should they not

make the grade on the field.

As part of the LMA’s Community

Fund, Spurs manager harry Redknapp recently

attended the first leg of the Special Olympics

Great Britain (SOGB) Unified Football Roadshow

alongside striker Robbie Keane.

The event was hosted by the Tottenham

Hotspur Foundation at the club’s training ground.

The LMA Community Fund works in partnership

with several charity and community partners,

including the Special Olympics.

This summer, les Reed will be hoping to steer

the GB team to victory in one of the world’s largest

sporting events by participation – the Maccabiah

Games. Although primarily for Jewish athletes,

Arab Israelis can participate in the games, which

like the Olympics are held every four years and

are sanctioned by the International Olympic

Committee and World Federation of Sports.

extRa time

� The Manager

After 14 years in charge, Graham Turner leaves his post as manager of Hereford United at the end of this season. Turner, who will remain chairman and director of football at the club, is currently the second longest-serving manager in England behind Sir Alex Ferguson, CBE. He has managed clubs in each of the top five tiers of English football, resulting in 30 years of managerial experience.

In its first year, the cancer charity

founded by Sir Bobby Robson has

raised more than double its goal

of £500,000. According to a Press

Association report, the Sir Bobby

Robson Foundation achieved the initial

target in the first seven weeks, topping

£1.2 million within a year.

The charity was set up to

provide early cancer detection and

treatments, and to trial new drugs at the Northern Centre

for Cancer Care in the Freeman Hospital.

“As long as the commitment and belief is there, I’ll

continue to help for as long as I can,” said Sir Bobby.

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