Different management styles

[themanwhofellasleep]

At Spurs, we've seen Harry Redknapp transform the club. He's adopted his usual style of management, which is to get all the players relaxed and confident and feeling good about themselves.

He's took over from Ramos, who seemed like a strict disciplinatian, obsessed by tactics and diet but who was a poor communicator and didn't seem to man-manage the players particularly well. In contrast, Harry seems to be all about the players having fun and enjoying themselves. So far he's been a roaring success.

The funny thing is, the exact opposite has happened for England. In McClaren, we had an England coach who was tactically poor but put the emphasis on a relaxed environment. Gerrard was 'Stevie G'. Rooney was 'Wazza'. We were crap. And then Capello took over, and enforced a regime of strict discipline. Players are referred to by their surname, mobiles are banned during meals and players are constantly reminded of the responsibility of their roles. And he's also been a roaring success.

In the same week that Capello has banned chips and ketchup from the England meals, Harry has apparently relaxed the Spurs rules about diet ("A bowl of pasta isn't going to make a bad player pass the ball better"). And guess what? Both managers are right.

It seems to me that there is more than one way of being a good manager. And that doesn't just depend on the manager, it depends on the group of players, the games they face, their position in the league (or World Cup qualification table) and the whole overall situation. We've all seen good managers fail and bad managers succeed. We've all seen managers who were great with one club fail at another (Allardyce at Bolton/Newcastle, Ramos at Seville/Spurs) and vice versa. We've all seen managers who are miracle-workers one season and disasters the next (look at Steve Coppell at Reading). What works with one set of players may fail with another - and what works one season may fail another.

Which brings me to Ramos. Now that the dust has settled and we're neither defending him, nor calling for his head, it's easier to make a judgement about him. I don't think he's a bad manager. I can't even say that he was the wrong manager for Spurs, but he found himself in a set of circumstances where he didn't have the skills to motivate the players or pick the right team. Had the Berbatov saga been handled differently, we might have won the game at Boro and not gone on the terrible run than got everyone sacked. Small things do matter in football. Games turn on tiny things and goals that take 10 seconds to score change the course of seasons are careers. Ramos had his own style of management, and maybe he'll be a success in the future. I wouldn't rule it out.

 

[dontcallme]

Good points in there which I agree with. I think Ramos was trying to change the whole culture surrounding the club in the way and times we train, diet and style of football. In the long term this could have seen us playing fantastic football in a style we've not witnessed at WHL or it could have got us relegated as the players couldn't change their ways of doing things that quickly.

I think what Capello is doing for England is great and is re-installing pride and professionalism into the England squad which was much needed. What Capello is doing for England is great for preparation for games but I'm not so sure the players would want to act that way everyday of the year.

It's a very suffocating atmosphere and people need some level of freedom to enjoy their life away from their career. I'm not convinced Capello would be a success at ourselves.

Like you say though there is not just one way of doing things and Ramos will likely have success if he goes back to Spain.

 

[mil1lion]

Well said. I remember thinking when Harry arrived that he would be ideal for Spurs. Its about having the right manager for the players at the Club. Ramos had a reputation for bringing the best out of his players, and for turning good players into great ones. I dont think that happened with any of our players though, but a few certainly improved under him. But i get the impression that the players could never relate to hm. He's a very distant manager with his players. He wont put his arm around players, and he wont actually speak much to them. That may work well in Spain (Capello won the title of course with Madrid.) But it doesn't seem to work the same in England for whatever reason. When you look at the top teams in England, they all seem to have a manager who is close to the players.

Sir Alex is certainly from the old school of management. He demands discipline, but he also works closely with his players. He allows them to express themselves. The players respect him and they enjoy playing for him. Arsene Wenger has a great close relationship with his team. You can tell that simply by his post match interviews, where he swears his players' innocence in situations. He also encourages attacking football and they also love playing for him. Rafa Benitez has a good relationship at Livepool too now. It was most evident when the owners were caught talking to Jurgen Klinsmann. The players stood by him. He has a strong discipline at the club, but Liverpool have been used to that over the years. They had it under Gerard Houllier too. Mourinho was also great with his players. They loved him there, and although they were also very disciplined, they also had licence to attack when they were on top. And now Scolari is there, he has a similar close working relationship with his players. He encourages more open play, and the players look to be enjoying his work there.

None of those managers would accept tolerance within the camp. But their players can approach their managers about anything, and their managers will listen. It didn't seem that way under Ramos. But thats not uncommon. It just doesn't seem to work so well in England. Its more of a culture thing really. It affects players who come into the country too. Its not just the football side of things, but the general lifestyle changes from Spain to Italy and to England etc. The most succesful managers in England have to be able to communicate well with the players. Even the foreign players who have come into England, because they adapt to our lifestyle too. Theres obviously differences between the Leagues, and without being involved myself, i cant see it quiete so clearly. But its clear that the cultural differences between Spain and England are very big. It may also be why the Sporting Director works better abroad too. It seems that, no matter how much the English game has changed over the years, there is still the old school tradition of English football which the players relate to. Harry is of the old school of management, and with so many British players at the Club, it suits us better i think.