Managerial Discipline?

[Darthter 542]

Managerial Discipline.....what does it really mean??

 

My understanding is that the Manager is the man in charge of the team....he trains the players, develops tactics & selects the team to play. The manager's word is final...or is it??

 

We have seen several examples over the years, most recently with Kenny Miller & also Michael O'Hallaran, whereby the Manager apepars to make a decision - for whatever reason - but that decision gets questioned by everyone with the ultimate outcome being that the Manager gets the sack.

 

Taking Kenny Miller as an example - this is just MY view on how things proceeded.

- Pedro made a decision to drop Miller from the squad

- Info is "leaked" via social media & mainstream media about the managers decision & how it is disrespectful etc to a player with Miller's experience etc.

- Miller's agent makes several comments via social media about how badly his client has been treated

- Several weeks of discussion follow on forums & radio phone-ins

 

As a result, the manager receives constant questions about the situation, resulting in increasing irate, flippant & deflective answers, for which the manager gets more flack for avoiding or refusing to answer question on the matter.

 

All the while that this is going on, the manager is standing by his decision & trying to enforce his discipline on the squad - trying to show that if you step out of line, there will be consequences.

Eventually other members of the squad are allegedly told to stay away....yet it is the manager that gets the flack for again (I assume) trying to enforce some discipline.

 

Ultimately, the manager is sacked & the players return to the 1st team, and all carries on as "normal"

 

So how can ANY manager properly enforce discipline, when players & their agents immediately run to the media etc when something doesn't go to their liking. The Manager's decision should be final, whether it is viewed to be right or wrong by the fans or media. It's like a young wean getting dropped from the local team, runs home greetin' "Mammy....the coach isnae letting me play this weekend...", the Mammy then storms up to the coach shouting & screaming as to why her Son (who's already better than Messi & Ronaldo put together), ain't playing this weekend.

 

I believe that the players nowadays get everything too easy.....they get paid huge wages compared to any other professions and generally work considerably less hours - they believe that they are better than the rest. They believe that no-one has the right to drop them from the team or criticise their performances. They they should get constant contract extensions & juicy bonus'....but when someone tries to tell them otherwise, they go greetin' tae Mammy (agent) about how badly they've been treated.

 

Remember the hooha when players were told to report for training early doors??

Remember the hooha when previous managers tried to run double training sessions??

Remember the hooho when players were dropped coz they were playing poorly??

 

How many players have been sacked in recent years due to disciplinary issues??? How many managers have been sacked for "losing the dressing room"???

[Frankie 8,150]

You're right but unless the board (and in our case arguably the DoF) back the manager then he's onto plums - especially if the issue isn't limited to one player.

 

And I think this is where Pedro had serious problems in that he not only fell out with Kenny Miller but various other players which made his position untenable. Ultimately, it's much easier to start afresh with a new manager than sack 20+ players.

[Uilleam 5,429]

You're right but unless the board (and in our case arguably the DoF) back the manager then he's onto plums - especially if the issue isn't limited to one player.

 

And I think this is where Pedro had serious problems in that he not only fell out with Kenny Miller but various other players which made his position untenable. Ultimately, it's much easier to start afresh with a new manager than sack 20+ players.

 

And the new manager will want to rid himself of x and bring in y players. How many new faces were recruited in the summer window?

 

How many players did PC actually alienate? 20+? Really?

MO'H, KM, LW, it is clear. Who else?

[Darthter 542]

You're right but unless the board (and in our case arguably the DoF) back the manager then he's onto plums - especially if the issue isn't limited to one player.

 

And I think this is where Pedro had serious problems in that he not only fell out with Kenny Miller but various other players which made his position untenable. Ultimately, it's much easier to start afresh with a new manager than sack 20+ players.

 

but the point is that the Managers decision should be final......it shouldn't come down to a falling out or anything like that. The manager, and not just PC, makes decisions that they feel are correct and in the best interests of the team. However, all too often the players believe they are bigger than that or more important and suddenly the "story" is all over FB, twitter, forums, newspapers, phone ins.

 

The manager falling out with players should not raise a problem - they're not there to be pals. If a player doesn't like a managers decision then they should keep their heads down & train harder....not throw their toys oot the pram & go squealing to the the media.

 

Note: This is not a dig at any particular player or situation, but more of a general observation with recent examples. I see it as a problem that affect the whole of modern football & in many cases beyond football.

[Frankie 8,150]

And the new manager will want to rid himself of x and bring in y players. How many new faces were recruited in the summer window?

 

How many players did PC actually alienate? 20+? Really?

MO'H, KM, LW, it is clear. Who else?

 

I'm not saying that he alienated 20+ players but if you fall out with/lose the respect of around five senior players (Miller, Wallace, MOH, Niko and Dorrans) then the problem doesn't look like it comes from the playing side. In that respect, if you still back the manager then you risk frustrating the rest of the squad.

[Frankie 8,150]

but the point is that the Managers decision should be final......it shouldn't come down to a falling out or anything like that. The manager, and not just PC, makes decisions that they feel are correct and in the best interests of the team. However, all too often the players believe they are bigger than that or more important and suddenly the "story" is all over FB, twitter, forums, newspapers, phone ins.

 

The manager falling out with players should not raise a problem - they're not there to be pals. If a player doesn't like a managers decision then they should keep their heads down & train harder....not throw their toys oot the pram & go squealing to the the media.

 

Note: This is not a dig at any particular player or situation, but more of a general observation with recent examples. I see it as a problem that affect the whole of modern football & in many cases beyond football.

 

Again, I don't disagree but post-Bosman the players are all too aware of the power they have and you'll always have one or two that will be selfish.

 

In that sense it's up to the manager to ensure he doesn't sign such players and/or at least handle the situation well enough to show the player is wrong. In this example, I don't think Pedro did handle it well - first of all he extended Miller's contract before banishing him and his comments about MOH were also silly. Add in what happened latterly with Wallace and Niko then this wasn't an example of a manager's decision being correct - never mind final.

 

What was worthy of noting though was Alastair Johnston's comments over what happened and it's obvious to me the board should have stepped in earlier. Perhaps the DoF also.

[union 0]

J Barton was another who told them home truths, not a thing that endeared him or does anyone else either.

All about refusing to face the reality that the day murray succumbed to player power it was a slippery slope.

 

As for KM, mercenary short and sweet,doesn’t make him a bad person just a mercenary.

[craig 5,199]

And the new manager will want to rid himself of x and bring in y players. How many new faces were recruited in the summer window?

 

How many players did PC actually alienate? 20+? Really?

MO'H, KM, LW, it is clear. Who else?

 

He definitely alienated Forrester too, and possibly Dodoo - and these are only the ones we know about.

 

But I suspect Frankie was just talking about a "squad" rather than getting into specifics.

[Barrheadboy 16]

Here’s the thing respect is earned it is not given to you with a title be that Manager , Director ,Captain etc.

The scenario you mention ,no player would have dared go against Walter , Jock Wallace , Alex Ferguson ,they had the respect

of the players ,and they earned that respect because they kept putting winning teams on the pitch.

They made training that suited the players as well as the managers credo.

If you ask any player that worked under Walter a look was all he needed to give he didn’t need to banish players ,or attempt to humiliate them by making them train with the weans, bottom line and for whatever reason Pedro lost the dressing room.

He did not have,or managed to lose the respect of the players new old ,Scottish,Portuguese ,or Mexican

[JFK-1 1,674]

So do we think O'Halloran who was obviously not a favourite of Pedro will now be returning in January? Are we looking at an all slates cleaned fresh start scenario?