90 Minute Manager – Trouble & Squeak

Coping In The Dugout – Part Two

March 10, 2014December 8, 2019Posted in FootballTagged 90 Minute Manager, Chelsea, Galacticos, Jose Mourinho, Liverpool, Longevity, Luck, Paddy Vipond, Pressure, Roy Keane, Sir Alex Ferguson, Strength, Teamwork1 Comment

Welcome back, and welcome to part two. In part one we looked at the culture of a club, the treatment of its staff and the ambition and hunger of the manager. As was the case in part one, any quotes, unless otherwise noted, come from The 90-Minute Manager. The clock is ticking, let’s get back to the action.

FOCUS ON STRENGTHS
Unless you are at a very talented club, or have hundreds of millions of pounds in the transfer kitty, it is very unlikely that you will have world class talent covering every position on the pitch. The best managers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their team and they set up the team to maximise the strengths and minimize its weakness.

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Coping In The Dugout – Part One

March 1, 2014December 8, 2019Posted in FootballTagged 90 Minute Manager, Ambition, Barcelona, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Culture, David Bolchover, Hunger, Jose Mourinho, Liverpool, Manchester United, Paddy Vipond, Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson, Staff3 Comments

Continuing with my football related posts I have now turned my attention to the figure in the dug out. Arguably the most important, and the most difficult role in modern football, the football manager needs to be inspirational, tactically astute and calm under pressure.

A book I have recently finished reading, named the 90-Minute Manager, looked to compare the running of a business to the management of a football team, and although the book has its flaws and is a little dated, it is a pretty decent read. It has provided me with the inspiration for these articles where I focus on the role the manager plays, outside of the implementation of tactics and beyond the lone figure we see on match day.

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Manchester United: Ferguson’s Poisoned Chalice

February 2, 2014December 8, 2019Posted in FootballTagged 90 Minute Manager, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, David Moyes, Inheritance, Legacy, Manchester United, Matt Busby, Old Trafford, Paddy Vipond, Sir Alex Ferguson, Success, Successor, Wilf McGuinness8 Comments

As much as it pains me to write about Manchester United – being a die-hard Liverpool fan – I feel that the almost, inevitable failure of David Moyes is a forgiveable topic. Whilst reading The 90-Minute Manager I stumbled across some valuable insight and historical analysis. It led to me believe that the recent below-par performance by Manchester United is not only expected, but it is set to continue. I may well be forced to eat my words one or two years from now, but if the day comes when Moyes gets the sack remember that you read it here first.

The 90-Minute Manager is a book written by David Bolchover and Chris Brady, it compares and analyses football management in relation to business management, concluding that successful football clubs should form the basis for how businesses are run. My inspiration for this piece comes from this book, and all quotes are taken from its pages, unless otherwise noted. I plan to write about this book in more detail in a later post, so for now let us just focus on the topic at hand. The current and future failure of Manchester United under David Moyes.

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