Source: Daily_Mail
Football managers will pay the price if they don't look after their health, warn experts
In the wake of Gerard Houllier's hospitalisation, experts have warned that Football managers have a 'price to pay' if they do not look after their health. Dr Dorian Dugmore, who helps run the League Managers' Association's 'Fit to Manage' programme, says former players who become managers have a tendency to neglect their own wellbeing, which can have disastrous consequences. Enlarge Pressure: Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier was admitted to hospitalHe said: 'It's a very stressful job, which is echoed in terms of heart rate response. That's the effect of adrenaline - it can force the heart-rate to go very, very high indeed. 'There's also a lot of stake, in terms of finances and qualification for Europe, for example, so the stresses and strains are considerable. 'Many managers are former players and the lifestyle shift from being a player, when the focus is just on looking after yourself, is huge. 'Suddenly everyone else is more important and, if you're not careful, you forget to manage the one person who really matters. 'Managers work extremely long hours, often don't get enough sleep, may not have a diet that is low in saturated fats and could drink too much alcohol or caffeine. There's a price to pay - and that price can sometimes be their health.' Dr Dugmore, president and founder of the Wellness International Centre, encourages managers to look at factors such as cholesterol and blood sugars to help prevent health problems. 'An ounce of prevention is worth a tonne of treatment,' he said. But it's not just the managers; it's the fans, too. Dr Dugmore said a study in February 2008 in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and found more than 100 'cardiac events' occurred during the host's 1-0 win against Poland. The pattern was repeated in the quarter-final against Italy. Stressed out: Allardyce (left) and Hughes (right) need the craving of management but it is a deadly fixFormer Bolton Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce's heart-rate quadrupled during a match, a 2001 study found. Allardyce's resting heart-rate was 46 beats per minutes (bpm), but rose to a 162bpm during a 2-2 draw against Leicester City. This far out-stripped even the manager's heart-rate when running on a treadmill, which was 146bpm. Before the match, Allardyce's heart-rate rose to 90bpm and then 95bpm when Bolton had a player sent off after 18 minutes. It climbed another three bpm when a second player saw red and reached 155pm when Allardyce's side scored a stoppage-time equaliser. MANAGER'S VIEW: MARK HUGHES (Fulham) Football is a drug and when you've had a taste of it, it's a craving that needs to be satisfied. People have to understand what this game does to you. This is what we've done for 20 or 30 years or more. When I was sacked at Manchester City I was out of football for the first time since I started my career. It was OK for a month, but then you crave to get back in because football is what you do, that's what you know, you love to be part of it. It's hard to take a step back when you've experienced what this game has to offer. It's hard to replicate in terms of emotion and stimulus. That's why we keep coming back.MEDICAL VIEW: MARK LEATHER (ex-Liverpool physio) Being a manager is stressful and incidents like the one involving Gerard Houllier are down to all the shouting on the touchline, previous medical history, age group and fitness - and the position that your football club is in. People only see managers on a match day but the hours they work are incredible. They're endlessly travelling the country, have to be guarded at press conferences and have tough discussions with players' agents. It adds up to a very stressful lifestyle. For some it's a drip, drip effect with many 'minor' traumas before the straw that breaks the camel's back. Houllier's Aston Villa job in doubt as illness returns to put Frenchman in hospital Pressure point: Is Houllier a victim of extra stress on bosses?All the latest Aston Villa FC news, features and opinion Explore more:People: Sam Allardyce, Gerard Houllier Places: Liverpool, Poland, Germany, Italy, Europe