Source: Telegraph
Weak bosses using players to do dirty work
Even if those weren't the exact words, that seems to have been the swing of things. Is this the way to treat a World Cup-winning football manager? Is it the best way to run a sports team? [LNB]It's not just football. England and Wales Cricket Board director of operations Hugh Morris admitted to having a 'ring around' of the England players before the removal of Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores. How did the vote go, we wonder? A split decision? Too close to call? Enough evidence, apparently, for the board to sack them both. [LNB]It's player power, we are told, that is the real problem. Almost any crisis can be blamed on the modern players, with their big egos and eye on the big bucks, the precious stars who only look after number one and don't leave home without their entourage of agents and hangers-on. Which begs the real question: if players are so untrustworthy and selfish, why are they pandered to by executives, boards and owners? [LNB]Player power is nothing unless it is allowed to be. You don't hear about player power at Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, or at Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, or in Warren Gatland's Wales. [LNB]Isn't the uncomfortable truth that blaming 'player power' provides a convenient excuse for administrators when they want to shift the blame, or when they haven't the will or the conviction to support the incumbent they have just appointed? Rather than admitting that the fault lies above, why not just heap the blame on 'player power'? In truth, player power isn't just a cause, it's a pretext. [LNB]How many successful captains or coaches would have survived a 'ring around' at the wrong moment? Nasser Hussain was widely credited with turning around England's fortunes, but I doubt he would have won a popularity poll. [LNB]The great Australia captain Ian Chappell might have had the common touch, but he could be a fearsome presence. Imagine if you had let the ball through your legs and lost Australia the match off the last ball. The next morning, the chairman of selectors calls: 'Hi mate, it's the chairman calling – we're thinking of relieving Chappelli of the captaincy. What do you reckon?' A few players would have blurted out:, 'Yes, do it! Anything to save me from having to face up to him at practice on Tuesday.'[LNB]It's the same beyond sport. How would General George S Patten have fared in a 'ring around'? His motto was 'never yield ground and never dig in'. You kept moving towards the enemy. Don't you think there were a few times when his men might have been ready for a switch at the top? 'Hi, it's FDR calling. How do you think Patts is doing? Time for someone else to have a go?'[LNB]We shouldn't only question the legitimacy of 'consultation', we should also wonder about the consequences. For any decent leader, a central part of the job is making tough and potentially unpopular decisions. A manager is less likely to do the right thing if his boss is hovering behind him asking for a show of hands. [LNB]So if the random axe-wielding of 'player power' is a bad business model, what alternatives are there? [LNB]Stability, obviously, is a good place to start. Since Ferguson took over at United in 1986, he has accumulated two Champions League titles, 10 Premier League crowns, the European Cup-Winners' Cup, five FA Cups and two League Cups. Meanwhile, in the same period of time, 923 Football League managers have come and gone. The evidence is overwhelming that the best guarantor of success is settling on a course and holding your nerve. [LNB]But alongside stability, you need some kind of agreement about where the team are coming from as well as where they are heading. If a sports institution is to embrace change – hard enough at the best of times – then it needs to understand why change is essential. This is obviously not the case at Chelsea. [LNB]Why was Jose Mourinho sacked? Was it for footballing reasons, or due to a personality clash with a billionaire? Uncertainty over that clouded the entire tenure of the next incumbent, Avram Grant. One reason why many Chelsea fans turned on Grant so quickly was that they weren't sure why he had been foisted upon them in the first place. And why was Grant himself then sacked after being one kick away from winning the European Cup? [LNB]There are salutary lessons here for English cricket. There is little use heaping on the platitudes about 'united front' and 'moving on' until everyone understands why we have to be on the move at all. So it is crucial that the ECB explain more fully why the last captain was sacked and what needs to change for the future. Laying the firm foundations for winning requires straight talking and bravery from the outset. [LNB]The next time you hear the excuse 'player power', substitute the phrase 'executive wobbliness'. The two go hand in hand – and lead to the same place. [LNB]
