McClaren Out of His Depth? Formula for a Good Football Manager Revealed

As England coach Steve McClaren faces up to another defeat, the formula for what makes a successful football manager has been unveiled by researchers at Edge Hill University - and it doesn't make pretty reading for McClaren!

L - Long term strategy/philosophy that everyone buys into U - Understanding players at every level C - Communication skills K - Knowledge of the game at a technical/tactical level I - Innovative and inspirational E - Experience and expectancy R - Recognising and recruiting talent The formula has been devised by Graham Smith, Programme Leader in PE and Coaching at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, who was previously Everton's youth team coach under the reign of Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey. Smith believes he has devised a formula to construct a profile of the perfect manager and that the game's governing body should take note. "An unnamed manager was once asked what makes some managers more successful than others and he said that they were just luckier than the rest," Smith said. "Graeme Souness took it a stage further and said, 'Far better to be a lucky manager than a talented one!' My research shows that while this might have been said in jest, there is an element of truth in it. Great managers possess some or all of these qualities and the most successful managers are not just luckier, they are also better!" He also believes that as well as impeccable football credentials, the best managers also have individual character traits that make them stand out from the others in their field and which would make them just as successful in business. "There are Paternalists like Joe Mercer and Bobby Robson and Disciplinarians such as Clough and Reid whose style of management is in decline; sometimes great players make great managers, like Dalglish and O'Neill; there are Marketeers like Atkinson and Fry and Charismatics such as Mourhino and Venables, who duck and dive and bob and weave; then there's Tacticians, the best being Wenger, and Media Magnets like Docherty; finally, there are the Alchemists, the quick fixers in the Redknapp and Bassett mould. It takes all sorts to make a manager!" Smith also has one interesting conclusion from his analysis. "The one manager who overlaps all of the above is Sir Alex Ferguson - and I'm afraid that McClaren, as good a coach that he is, falls short under this formula for good management." If you would like to follow up with Graham, please contact him directly on 07811 595326 or 01704 878958.