goon wrote:
Out of interest, why do you guys think Madrid and especially Barcelona have gone down the route of hiring relative unknowns? They can clearly afford the best but have chosen not to. And it’s worked very well for them. You could point to the quality of the players but it’s all relative.
Who do you mean - the likes of Guardiola, Enrique & Zidane?
If so then whilst they may be unknown to the general public they aren't unknown by the clubs, which is where it matters most.
The ideal scenario for any successful club is to be able to replicate something that is proven to work. This can be either a system of play or a managerial strategy. SAF & AW are examples of the latter, whereas Ajax & Barca as examples of the former.
The ultimate test is in being able to replicate a system / strategy under different managers, and the best way to enable that is to be able to promote from within with someone who already understands the strategy, the club culture, the players and the supporters. All 3 of Guardiola, Enrique & Zidane are all products of their clubs internal management development and all 3 had stints at managing their B sides in lower divisions in the league.
Promotion from within used to be the norm rather than the exception, and it's easier to name the managers who have not been appointed from within since Chapman - Swindon, Wright, Neill, Burtenshaw, Graham, Rioch & AW. Of these Swindon, Neill and Graham are all former players.
IMO the 2 most successful examples of business continuity in English football under different managers are The Boot Room Era at LFC that covered the best part of 3 decades from Shankley through to and including Roy Evans, followed by the Chapman Era at AFC that dominated from the 1930s despite his death in 1934.
