The Manager: Inside the Minds of Football's Leaders (34 page)

Moyes did well not to feel sorry for himself. In his recollection, he doesn’t dwell on what could have been: he doesn’t bemoan his fate, he doesn’t beat himself up, he
doesn’t catastrophise. Instead, he puts it into context: ‘I don’t think there was anything specific that I could identify to work on. With the quality of the players we had, we
should have been good enough to get through. Maybe the disappointment of losing the Champions League game, which would have got us into the group stages, had a big effect on the players that night.
Either way, we just got caught out. It wasn’t for lack of preparation. People who are leaders of companies will always know there will be days when – for whatever reason – it all
goes wrong. It’s how you recover and how you get back on track that counts.’

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Finally, it is valuable for a leader to have some place of refuge – either physical or mental. Moyes simply says, ‘I have an inbuilt thing in me that I know where I
have to go when it’s not going well.’ For him, it’s about personal foundations, something akin to a belief wall: ‘It’s very difficult to turn to other leaders in the
sport because it’s a competitive world. My staff were helpful, but in the end it was inside me that I found the drive to go back out on the training field and carry on. That night certainly
was a test for me.’

Staying Centred in Success and Adulation

Dealing with setbacks is no fun; dealing with success can be just as difficult. The world watches how a leader responds, and generally does not appreciate anything that looks
like arrogance. The common theme among the great football leaders is to enjoy the moment, then return to the task at hand. Glenn Hoddle contrasts his experiences of success as player and as
manager: ‘When I was a player I would bask in it a fair while. As a manager I would have the night. The next day I would get the recognition and the congratulations, then two or three days
later that’s in the history book and you are actually planning for your next season, or your next goal.’

McCarthy’s approach could best be summarised as pride where justified, but always softened by humility: ‘Probably my greatest moment in football was as a player. Quarter-final of the
World Cup in Rome, captaining the team. I don’t think I’m eloquent enough to describe how it felt. I would say it’s fantastic, amazing, brilliant, but it’s better than that:
the pride, the emotion, the hairs tingling on the back of your neck. Being on the pitch in Rome – Mick McCarthy, in the quarter-final of the World Cup in 1990 – no way! What was I doing
there in the first place? Everybody told me I wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t play, well b******* to that! I had the captain’s armband on, leading them out, and it was just
amazing, and it was wonderful. Even when we lost and I walked off that pitch in tears, I was full of pride. Franco Baresi came after me to swap shirts. I admired him so much – even more so
when he ran up to swap shirts with me!’

Alex McLeish recalls with deep satisfaction his Scotland side’s 1-0 away win over France in a World Cup qualifying match: ‘We were pretty sure that they would go 4-4-2 with Claude
Makelele and Patrick Vieira in the central midfield. We opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation – James McFadden up front with support from Darren Fletcher and Barry Ferguson – to cover our bets.
It worked really well. France had a lot of possession, but rarely threatened our goal, and James scored the famous goal and it was brilliant. Great memories. But we didn’t paint the town
tartan that night – we came back home. Work to do.’ In the final analysis, Scotland failed to qualify for the World Cup finals, despite the victory.

At club level, McLeish’s high points have been even more poignant. ‘The highlight in England to date would have to be the Carling Cup final [with Birmingham in 2010] – winning
that, and coming ninth in the league the season before. A few guys said, “You should have lost the last few games because you made a rod for your own back – the directors will expect
you to finish higher than that next season.” It’s not in my nature to lose a couple of games! It’s in my nature to win every single game. So we got the Carling Cup, and then for
many reasons we end up relegated. I went from an extreme high to an extreme low, and believe me in football the highs and the lows are absolutely massive.’

For David Moyes, the greatest team performance of his career so far came in qualifying for the Champions League in 2005: ‘The night that we played Manchester United, we needed to win to
get into the Champions League – and we did. Everton’s got a tough football club image and I think that night it matched that. The night – the level of the game – matched
what Everton stands for, and we had to play probably the best team in the country and we were able to get a result against them. It was a night where the football club itself showed what it stands
for and what it’s made of.’ It’s as if Moyes and his team didn’t do anything extra special that night. What they did was bring together all they had, stood up for what they
believed in and played with passion. And Moyes did not get carried away. Wisely so: despite this memorable achievement, their painful Champions League exit came only six months later.

For Hope Powell, it was the night in France when England’s women qualified for the 2007 World Cup: ‘We had to at least draw the game, we hadn’t qualified in 12 years. We went
to France with a crowd of 19,000, we came away with the result and we qualified for the World Cup. That was great.’ But she takes equal delight in the 2011 World Cup campaign: ‘We
wanted to top the group, we had a strategy, the players implemented it, we weren’t expected to beat Japan [the eventual champions] and we won the game. There were some really good
performances – players owning [our philosophy] and delivering.’

All of these managers admit to great elation at the point of triumph. And all of them are quick to put it into perspective, to remind themselves of what needs doing next and get back to business
as usual. This is a key behaviour for the successful leader – both in football and in business.

Not Passing on the Pain

More than half the battle in dealing with setbacks is within the leader. But once he has understood his own reactions and has chosen his response, his next challenge is how he
will impact his team. This is an area where leadership is at its most visible. In the heat of battle, a ship’s company look to their captain. When a team loses – especially when it is a
heavy or unforeseen defeat – the players look to their manager for clear leadership. At that moment, the manager is probably dealing with deep emotions – anything from regret,
inadequacy, failure through resignation and despair to anger and resentment. The watching public – and especially angry and upset fans – can sometimes feel that the manager takes things
lightly and moves on too fast. In reality, this is rarely the case. When McLeish describes his ultimately unsuccessful battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League with Birmingham City, the
pain is palpable: ‘Relegation hit me really hard – as hard as anything has ever hit me before. It was a real horror.’

The leader’s question then is around how much to share. Integrity says share everything. The vulnerable leader has a particular power and, in any event, keeping back information from the
team can feel in some way dishonest. But courage can sometimes demand that the leader deal privately with pain that would only adversely affect the players.

After the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford, Wenger centred himself as he always does, by taking the long-term view. Then he connected with the players: ‘At that moment you come back to the team
and say that is important for us, that is our culture, that is us, so let’s come back to what we are good at and what we want and that sometimes helps get the team back on track.
Unfortunately, at this moment, you have to begin in the emotional place. When you go out of a game like that you know that now you face a storm. The storm is in the media, the fans, the
disappointment that you will have to stand up to. That’s the moment that you have to show leadership qualities and show that you are strong and show that you don’t panic. So basically I
don’t say anything profound to the team like that on the day because they are hurt, and I am as well. Anything you say in that moment could be even more detrimental. I try to get them to pick
up, individually I speak to them, and give them two days off and come back on Monday and we start fresh again.’ The weekend then allows everyone to be a little more calm and long-term
focused: ‘The drama is strong enough at the weekend that you don’t have to add any more to it, you do not need to say they were absolutely disastrous, they know it. And I believe as
well that the big results don’t have that much significance in the long term. They have an emotional significance, but no great footballing significance. Against Manchester United we conceded
four goals in the last 20 minutes, we were down to ten men and we had played three days before at Udinese. Of course, people don’t want excuses, but I can put it into context myself, and I
know that this team is not as bad as the result was.’

McLeish believes in holding on to the pain himself: ‘When we were relegated I was absolutely devastated. I was trying to find the positives in it and the only positive I could find was
such was the quality of that league that season that I don’t think any of us deserved to be relegated. I think the only ones that were far below everyone else were West Ham; they were
completely out by about six points or something. That’s when you start to beat yourself up and that’s when you start looking back. But I definitely try and keep all the pressure away
from the players. Some players hide it, but there is definitely emotion, there’s a few in tears and I think you just have to say, “Look guys, thank you for your efforts through the
whole season.”’

Walter Smith always endeavours to approach the highs and lows of football management with equal measure. ‘There are periods of turmoil in management when there’s a lot going on. I
just try and manage as best I can. I think it’s an instinctive thing that you have in you to lead. You have to hold your nerve in front of the team, protect the team from stuff that
shouldn’t be coming their way and provide stability amidst the turmoil. I think that’s a natural part of the job – one of the natural aspects that you shouldn’t really take
a great deal of praise for putting in place. You have to do this as a leader.’

In times of upset, McCarthy deliberately steadies himself before dealing with his players: ‘I try and maintain or regain my centre. I think if you are up and down they have no chance. I
treat people consistently; I’m consistent in my behaviour. So even when we went to Preston looking to end our run of 11 defeats, I’m still preparing the same way I prepare for every
match. Saying we have to win this only adds pressure to the players and that’s not fair. They can see if you panic. If they see you treating a game differently, they detect your anxiety and
that does them no favours.’ David Moyes would agree: ‘[After a setback] I have to go back to work on my own behaviours and my mood. I think you need to correct yourself first, so that
in turn you are able to correct the group of people you are working with and help to fix them.’

Glenn Hoddle agrees with the protective role of the leader, but is also committed to taking lessons from the pain: ‘I would want my players to be upset and sad that they have lost, I
wouldn’t want them to be too jovial if they have just lost the final! Then together, under pressure, we can find out so much more about ourselves and each other [teammates and staff] than
when we are winning and life is easy.’ Leaders in business as well as football will recognise this: the greater learnings come out of the tougher times.

Passing on the Joy

Most leaders would not hesitate to share joy and pride at moments of triumph. As manager of the Republic of Ireland team in the 2002 World Cup campaign, McCarthy took a couple
of small steps to ensure his players shared his pride in the team and the campaign. ‘I had always felt the match shirts needed to be more than just a shirt. I have all these shirts at home
but I haven’t a clue which one’s which. So we had the occasion printed on our team shirts – the opponents’ name and the date. That way the shirt meant just a little more to
the players.’ Then there was the national anthem. ‘So many people over the years had accused members of the Irish team of being “not real Irishmen” and had pointed to how
players didn’t sing the anthem when it was played. One man wrote to me with the anthem in Gaelic phonetics! I loved it. We all learned it and sang our hearts out. I wanted them all to
celebrate what they were doing and what they were standing for as players.’

One important consideration though is when to celebrate and when to refocus. Glenn Hoddle takes great delight in the shared joy of a team: ‘It’s really important that the players and
the manager celebrate success together. There’s a great feeling of camaraderie that comes from working together as a unit for a period of time when it’s gone really well. The players
will take their lead from the manager. They’ll enjoy the feeling, then when it comes round to the next season or the next match, they’re looking to the manager to lead the refocus. But
for the manager, you are planning again almost as soon as you’ve enjoyed the success.’

Keeping a successful side’s feet on the ground while encouraging proper celebration is an art. Wenger again takes a long-term view: ‘Again it comes back to values. When you have a
team like we have with 18 different nationalities you have first to create a culture, a sense of who we are as a unit, what makes us different from other people, how we can create something that is
common to all of us. So you have to recreate a new way to behave – an Arsenal culture. To define it, I go through what is important to my group. It’s explicit. We sit down and we go
through how we want to behave. That counts also for our response to success.’ Wenger understands that his long-term values as a leader will dictate his team’s behaviours in the face of
both temporary triumph and temporary despair.