I’ve wanted to write that headline all season so I was pleased to read Phil Cadden’s piece in the Independent on Saturday, “Are Swansea City the best-run club in the top flight?”
Phil makes a number of very good points about the club and how it’s run. In my opinion he is right to declare them a model for other clubs who make it to the EPL promised land. Not only have they achieved success they have turned a huge deficit into a substantial profit.
What I think is remarkable is that this isn’t the whole story. It’s not just the ownership structure and balance sheet they’ve got right. They have also defined the style of football they want to play and the type of manager they want to lead the team.
Unlike any other team in the premiership they appear to search for a manager with inspiring qualities. So many clubs look at track record and experience. My club Aston Villa have a good owner, he is genuinely a supportive and takes a long term view. But he and his Chief Exec have selected the uninspiring trio of Gerard Houllier, Alex McLeish and now Paul Lambert. All three have impressive successes on their CV and their tactical acumen is in no doubt. But there is no consistency of footballing philosophy and all of these men exhibit a pessimistic language style which in the eyes of many Villa watchers have failed to get the best out of the players
Contrast this with the last three Swansea Managers, Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers and now Michael Laudrup. These three men not only produce skilled footballing teams they are three of the most inspirational managers in the Premiership. All three regularly feature as impress Coaching Manager of the week and consistently unlock a level of performance from their players never released by the Villa trio.
Laudrup’s comments after this game are typical. As quoted on BBC Sport he described this win as the biggest of his career. which is not a bad thing for his players to hear, this from a world class player who’s trophy cabinet includes a European Cup, five leagues titles in Spain – with Barcelona and Real Madrid – and an Italian league win with Juventus.
In typical style he described his sides performance in impress Formula language
The players did great, played with a lot of confidence, patience. Winning was the most important thing, but the way we did it was a great performance.
Swansea’s 5 – 0 win over Bradford City is a fascinating story on so many fronts and is well covered in the media. Their rise from the brink of ignominy ten years ago; that Gary Monk and Leon Britton have played for them over that period in every professional division of the Football League and their appearance in next years Europa League all justifiably filling the headlines. And great stories they are too. But for me, it’s the behind the scenes management, financial, structural and what they seek in a manager that is the biggest news. Swansea are a model for other clubs all right and this success will not be a one off. They are here to stay and will get stronger and stronger. Barcelona look out!
impress Inspiration SurveyI would estimate a score of four for Michael Laudrup on our Inspiration survey questionnaire. Try it for yourself and see what this means and measure your own innate inspirational qualities.
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Great point regarding their managers, Martinez, Rogers and Laudrup. I wonder what they wouldn’t have achieved with Mancini and Mcleish?
Ha, ha, Andrew. As you know that is the whole point
From Mick Rose:
Re Laudrup, just to add to his cv, he also won the Dutch league with Ajax. I can’t think of another player who has won major league titles with 4 different clubs in 3 different countries. His admission over the penalty taker (forgetting to nominate one as they hadn’t been awarded a pen all season) also illustrates his willingness to take responsibility. Some managers would not have displayed such humility, particularly in victory.
Mark – I’ve just discovered this blog and find your perspective really interesting, and can’t really disagree with your assessment of the Swansea v Villa managers. I’d be really interested to know how you rate Sir Alex Ferguson in the grand scheme of things.
Thanks for your comment Bob. Hope you keep coming back. To answer your question Fergy in my opinion is unique. The power of his personality counts for more than most managers. I remember him complaining about the crowd at Everton influencing the ref. Baring in mind the reputation of Old Trafford only Fergy could say something like that & be taken seriously. He seems to keep his motivational stuff for the training ground – he’s very private in that regard. He uses his public comments to get into the minds of opposition players. Does this fit with your perceptions?
Absolutely Mark. His pre-match comments often contain what I would regard as subtle (and sometime not so subtle) attempts to get into the minds of his opposing manager, or the match officials. In his post-match comments, he never criticizes his players and indeed defends them even when they seem indefensible, No doubt he dishes out criticism where it is warranted, but behind closed doors, never publicly. His management of Eric Cantona was excellent, given Eric’s previous track record with managers and other authority figures, and marks Ferguson out as a brilliant man manager. What I also admire is the fact he will move a player on as soon as he feels they are disrupting team harmony, no matter how good or important that player is considered to be. Something Mancini could learn from?
Yeah, Cantona is a good example of his ability to manage ‘difficult’ players and get the best out of them. His players have to play their part too and I agree with you on his intolerance of disruptive influences. It’s an approach he shares with England Rugby coach Stuart Lancaster. As for Mancini, I am on record for saying he is one of the least inspiring managers in the football league. If you were to swap Mancini with the mgrs of say Norwich, Reading, Wigan those teams would sink without trace and Man City would win the league!