The Manager: Inside the Minds of Football's Leaders

by Carson, Mike

  Where the Story is Headed: Keeping your Purpose in Mind

  At some stage of a manager’s journey to becoming a true football leader, he realises the significance of knowing his own mind. He begins to ask questions: What do I really want from all this? What will I stand for? What will I become known for? He may have developed self-awareness and self-belief, but the future can still cause anxiety.

  As Rodgers grew at Reading, those answers became clearer. ‘I had a pretty straightforward objective: to make a difference. I knew if I wanted to coach at the highest level, I would have to be able to have real impact. I had grown up with a wide range of football influences. My father and grandfather were big lovers of Liverpool in the 1970s and 80s, Brazil in the 1970s and 80s, the flair, the creativity – so I grew up with that. Then I was told British players aren’t technically or tactically as good as European players – “British players can’t do that”. So as a young player I spent more time without the ball than with it. The process of knowing myself began with understanding that I couldn’t make a difference as a player, but that I could do as a manager. Could I provide a different pathway for young players to get to the top, and maybe one day leave a trail to follow? But to begin with I held a simple objective: could I make a difference to the young kid who is told he isn’t technically good enough and he’s just got to run and fight? Could I merge the great qualities of the British personality and also the technical qualities he certainly has? That was the beginning.’ Rodgers was beginning to understand himself. His career goals were forming.

  Some 20 years later, Rodgers has emerged as a thoughtful, determined and optimistic leader who inspires through purpose and vision. ‘I love the challenge and the excitement most of all. I’ve spent my life always being comfortable in the leading role. I’ve played and I’ve been a loyal assistant in a variety of roles, but I’ve felt most comfortable when I’ve been leading a group. My start point when I come across any group of people – but in particular football players – is to find a right, or better still a cause, which the people will fight for. I believe that people will fight for a right, and even die for a cause. So I try to find a cause, which the group can sign up to. After that I seek to provide the vision and the pathway that allows us to defend that cause. When I arrived at Swansea I tied in the city to the feeling, the emotions. My mission was inspiring the city. That was it really. That is the journey that I’ve wanted everyone to be on.’ A taxi driver outside the Liberty Stadium unknowingly proved the point when he told me: ‘I love Brendan Rodgers. He gave us all something to believe in. And I love the style of football we play.’

  In recent years, Sir Alex Ferguson inspired many through his determination and will to keep on leading and keep on winning. Shortly before his 70th birthday, he commented that he was ‘too old to retire’! José Mourinho, for whom Sir Alex is another significant source of inspiration, loved this: ‘When I heard Sir Alex say this I was laughing because I was not surprised. He has an incredible humour, but at the same time brightness and common sense. For me he is amazing as he is the same person I met in 2004. I have more white hair and more wrinkles, but he is exactly the same. When I am in my 50s or 60s, I also see myself still in football with the same ambitions and desires. I understand why Sir Alex wanted to continue. It was the same with Mr Robson and I see myself continuing for many years.’

  Why it works

  For Rodgers it’s about making a difference. For Sir Alex it was about keeping on winning. For Mourinho it’s about staying at the top of the game for 20 more years. Rodgers, Ferguson and Mourinho all have purpose and drive. Just as a mark on the horizon offers a compass bearing, so a clear purpose keeps a leader’s career on track.

  Foundation One: Staying True to your Philosophy

  These managers clearly illustrate the first three essential components of the leader’s story: the inspiration, which often kicks it off and acts as a reference point; the career progression and handling of defining moments, which creates foundations for self-awareness and self-belief; and the career goal, which creates purpose and drive. The next component that underpins a leader’s story, and one that football managers speak of with enormous passion, is philosophy. How I think. How I think about my work, my people. How I think about football.

  Ancelotti explains its importance very simply: ‘When your 11 players run on to the field, it is your philosophy that they are about to act out.’ José Mourinho concurs: ‘I think it is very important for every manager to have their own philosophy for everything – the way you want your team to play, the way you want to lead your team, the way you want to work every day – everything must be very specific. To have a mentor is one thing; to try and copy is another. With a mentor you can improve and have a base for evolution, but when you try and copy, the copy is never the same as the original. So I think you have to learn from people with more experience who have had success, but always keep your own personal identity.’

  Being Reading’s first-team manager did not work out for Rodgers. In essence, it was a turnaround task that went wrong. Reflecting on the painful experience of his short (seven-month) tenure, Rodgers lays the blame squarely on his own shoulders: ‘I got the timing wrong. I tried to create a lull in the club, and build over three years. I never really grasped the club’s expectations, and I set them some unrealistic targets.’ This may well be right – and sound leaders tend to accept responsibility rather than deflect it. But the root cause is worth examining. Under the pressure of career expectation – sensing the judgements being made of him as a coach and manager – Rodgers made a dangerous error: he moved away from his philosophy. ‘We just weren’t getting the success. It was too sporadic. We’d play really well, see lots of elements of the philosophy, then we’d lose again. The defining moment for me came at Loftus Road against QPR. I went for a team that was steadier, more solid. I remember standing watching the game, and the players were terrific there – they were real good, honest players. But it wasn’t a team of mine I was watching. We lost that game 4-1. I had gone away from my beliefs. I hadn’t inspired the team. We had a mismatch between what the players were trying to do and what I was trying to do. I had lost my integrity as a manager.’

  This was a career-defining moment for Rodgers. A leader’s philosophy is so significant that, if he departs from it, then he departs from his true self. Not long after – just a few months into the job he had so wanted – Rodgers left Reading. Crucially, he remained in learning: ‘I came away after that and did some reflecting and soul searching. I needed to go back to my beliefs, whether or not we pulled it off. If I was going to go down I was going to go the way I wanted to. For the first time in my life I had veered off the track I was on, and I couldn’t accept that. From that day I was in a better place.’

  This demonstrates the power of reflection. Rodgers returned to his deep instincts and his true vision – the self he really knows. It was too late to save his post at Reading – but he had his integrity back. And that would be his springboard to success. Six months later he was offered the manager’s job at Swansea City, the ambitious Welsh club looking to reach the Premier League for the first time. He had learned some real lessons: ‘By the time I began at Swansea, I had renewed belief in my philosophy. In fact, that belief was probably greater than before: but I had to be more clinical in my decision-making and get to the end point much quicker than I had at Reading.’

  Why it works

  Leaders who stay true to their philosophy – true to themselves – are inspirational. They’re almost unshakeable – which can be inspirational in itself.

  Swansea came as a great opportunity for Rodgers, but it certainly carried a feel of ‘now or never’. ‘It was a hand-in-glove fit. The club had started out on a comprehensive cycle [of renewal] five or six years before, and the board wanted a certain way of working and playing. So I came in and now I had to show my character. I had thought my career as a manager was over before it had started and I hadn’t known whether I was going to get a
chance. But now I knew the rules of the game. The experience at Reading had taught me that. I now knew I was in the business of winning.’

  Strongly held philosophies work. Swansea and a complete commitment to his dream appear to have been the making of Rodgers. Building on foundations laid, among others, by Roberto Martinez, he crafted a side that distinguished itself playing fluent, passing football. In his first season, Swansea won promotion to the Premier League via the play-off final at Wembley where they beat Reading 4-2. The pressure was relentless. The bookmakers immediately installed Swansea as favourites for relegation, and the talk was of a season of ten points. Instead, sticking to Rodgers’ attractive brand of flowing football, they finished a notable 11th – highest of the season’s three newcomers, a mere seven points behind Liverpool, and claiming such notable scalps as eventual champions Manchester City along the way.

  The offers were bound to come, and within weeks of the season ending, Rodgers had made the big move to Liverpool. On his first day, he began publicly to rally the club and the city behind his philosophy and vision: ‘I promise I’ll fight for my life and for the people in this city. This is long term, and that appeals to me. I am very proud. I feel I have been blessed with the opportunity to manage the club. I am really looking forward to working with some of the greats of this football club. For me it will take a bit of time to introduce how I want to play and the philosophy I want to bring.’

  Foundation Two: Remaining in Learning

  The final component of the leader’s story is a mindset for continued growth and learning. Great leaders never stop learning. From the beginning of their story there is an appetite for their work that drives them on; and throughout their career, they remain committed to growth.

  Building a solid foundation of skills

  At some stage in their career journey, all successful football managers build a skill base that will eventually ensure they are equipped to handle the demands of a career at the top. These technical capabilities and the ability to communicate, teach and coach will form the basis for what they do each day and will give them credibility among professional players, regardless of age. As Sam Allardyce says, ‘You need to know how to plan and make the sessions the right way because footballers are very quick to pick up on what you do wrong!’ Beyond the daily work, this deep understanding of the game will be a bedrock at moments of high pressure. Like Mourinho showing his players that he has reliable knowledge in every relevant area, Allardyce comments, ‘I know this stuff. No one knows it better than me.’

  As a young man, Rodgers invested in building a solid foundation. For ten years he coached young players at Reading in a sequence of appointments that took him from one age group to the next. ‘It was a constant progression, growing in each role and moving up every two or three years. Every season was a step forward. The club was growing, the players were growing, the staff were growing and obviously then I was growing with them as well. There was no single defining moment – it was a lot of hard work from many different people that allowed us to grow and grow our way of playing and working.’

  Dario Gradi provides a perfect illustration of how to remain in learning even after decades of experience. ‘You have to keep learning. I always say that to the coaches and players. Even when I’m coaching the under-12s, I tell them “you haven’t come here to have fun – you’ve come here to learn. So listen, learn and work at it.” I’m still learning. I’m not just having fun. I do enjoy it, of course, but I tell them “I’m here to teach you and it’s not much fun if you don’t learn. My fun comes from you learning. I know I’m a good teacher because I’ve taught a lot of people to become good players. But I’m no good if you don’t learn so you’ve got to play your part in it.”’

  This message of hard work and determination is the common thread to high-achieving managers as they lay the bedrock of their skills – however and wherever they happen to build it. Allardyce says, ‘You can get a job without coaching badges, based on your experience and what you’ve done as a player throughout your career. Coaching badges are a good way forward, but I always felt I could coach – I could decide on my experiences in football what I had to do. I was 28, and I realised that what I most needed to get was a skill in management. I found out that the PFA ran management courses from a business school in St Helens, adapted for football. The lectures were generic, teaching us to manage in any industry – which I liked. They had a sort of crash course – we had little or no time then as we were still playing so we only got that small summer period. I had to adapt it to football a bit myself – think about what happens for a manager when he gets his job – and that was the interesting bit.’

  For the ones who are deliberately building something over time, there is a danger of frustration and wanting to seize the reins too early – not a mistake that Rodgers made: ‘I was fine because I was so young. I had time to grow. I was a sponge for knowledge, and I had an inherent belief in young players. My ethos was always to find them, to care for them, and to develop them. The only frustrations I ever had in that time were wanting to have the best facilities, wanting to have the best players. But the challenge was hugely formative. I was asking the players to play differently, and all the time there was questioning from senior officials at the club: why would we be playing that way when the first team play like this? I stuck with it. It wasn’t conflict; it was education. I learned to be happy with the sense of thinking differently. Exercises were different, team management was different, how I was preparing the team to play was different.’ When others might have felt hindered, Rodgers saw it as learning.

  For David Moyes, learning and self-development is – and always has been – a driving passion: ‘I think you have to have a real desire to go and find it. You can read books and you can learn and you can pick up things, but I had a real passion. I wanted to get out on the road and I wanted to find new things. I qualified as a coach very young, but my reason for becoming a coach was really to become a better player. Then the more I went on the coaching courses, the more I started to think I really enjoy being around people who talk about football. I couldn’t wait to be standing at the side listening in – talking to the Scottish coaches about football.’

  Moyes studied for and achieved his UEFA pro licence not once, but twice – in England as well as Scotland. ‘Once you are qualified, it doesn’t matter which country you become a qualified coach in. But I wanted to show that I could do it in both countries and I wanted to see if there was a difference in the two badges – and there was! Again, I was trying to educate myself. I was a player and I played all season, and when you got four to six weeks in the summer you had to take a big chunk out of that to do your coaching. But it was sort of a holiday for me because I really enjoyed being around and listening to football people.’

  A real and lasting commitment

  As Moyes’ summer programme testifies, truly to adopt a learning mindset requires a real commitment. In 1998, at the very outset of his career as a professional coach, he desperately wanted to go to the World Cup in France to observe training and preparations first hand. ‘There was a period of time [around the 1998 World Cup] when I wasn’t a wealthy footballer by certain standards. To be fair, I had support from the English PFA who helped pay for my tickets to the games because they understood that I was trying to be involved with some coaching in the national side and they helped with funding. But I just didn’t have that level of cash to be in a different hotel each night. So I hired a car and I drove myself, two or three times sleeping in the car. That year I had gone to a lot of the countries to ask if I could go and watch training, but found that it’s not easy to get into the international training camps – they can be a bit guarded and security conscious. Strangely enough the only people who said I could come and watch were Craig Brown and his team at the Scotland camp. No disrespect but, in truth, the last people I wanted to see were Scotland – I knew these guys pretty well already! But I ended up going and watching Scotland training and preparing for t
he World Cup and it was very valuable.’

  Moyes would also argue that the commitment must not waver over time. It’s important to remain in learning, whatever the circumstances. Now rewarded with the manager’s role at Manchester United, as recently as summer 2012, determined to see at first hand the European Championships unfolding in the Ukraine, he ended up staying in a youth hostel when he was too late to find a hotel. ‘Just because you get your job, you can’t put your feet under the table and say “I’ve made it now and this is it.” Self-learning and self-development is essential for me. I watch a lot of football just because I know there are a lot of things I can pick up. If I was out of work I’d go to South America and have a look at what they are doing – at why so many players now in Europe and the Champions League are from Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina ... I’d love to get out there for a couple of months and see if there’s anything that maybe I’m missing and that I could introduce to what we do.’

  He concedes it’s a challenge to find enough time for this when you are leading a professional outfit full time. ‘There are other things happening closer to home too. When I see how Spain have improved, and how Germany are bringing on all their younger players on a conveyor belt – there is so much I would like to do given more time. I don’t think I’ll ever find the complete answer to all of it, but to go and have a look is always a good beginning.’