Lessons for picking a manager

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Back in January we discussed Mauricio Pochettino, who yesterday left Southampton to become manager of Tottenham Hotspur.  He is without question the hottest management property in the most bloated league in football.

He was also an unemployed flop a little over a year ago.

In reality, Pochettino is a good manager but he is also the latest in a long line of faux guru-managers, the aura of divinity around him is illusionary.  He was sacked by Espanyol in December 2012 with the club bottom of La Liga after 13 games, after propelling them up the league from a similar position two years earlier.  Espanyol’s problems were not Pochettino’s problems.  The club strategy had been failing for years, Pochettino was not the first manager to suffer as a consequence, in fact, he was the club’s third manager in a season when he took over.

He joined Southampton, who were on a different trajectory.  Southampton have been producing some of the best youth talent in the UK for a decade but a series of self-harming boardroom battles saw the club competing in the third tier of English football.  In Nigel Adkins the found a man who won two consecutive promotions and had them comfortable in the Premier League.

Then, in January last year, Southampton made one of the ballsy-est decisions in football history.  They sacked the successful Adkins and replaced him with the aforementioned unemployed flop.

Chairman Nicola Cortese, who was an outsider to the football industry, figured that Adkins could only take the club so far and that, with the appointment of a man in-tune with the new strategy, Southampton could make a real breakthrough at the top of the Premiership.

Pochettino did what Cortese wanted, not through obligation, but through instinct.  Unfortunately for Southampton, Markus Liebharr, who appointed Cortese, died, and his daughter-and-heir, Katharine, figured the family had spent enough of their fortune on an English football club.  With strategy tending towards a breakeven point, Cortese resigned.  It was inevitable that Pochettino would follow.

What are the lessons for us?

Forget looking for a guru, it’s all about the strategy.  Get the strategy right, only employ people who are instinctively aligned to it, and employ an intelligent, tactical student, even if he can’t speak the language.

CQN Event in London

Lisbon Lion John Hughes is joining Brogan Rogan, Auldheid and Angela Haggerty for a CQN Question and Answer evening at the Manor Club, Wimbledon, on 21 June.  The event is ticket only, so let me know if you would like to attend, celticquicknews@gmail.com

Visit the CQN Bookstore to get Tommy Gemmell to sign your personal copy of his tome, All the Best.

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  1. Scotland 0 v 3 Holland

     

     

    Q PROMES (26, 40, 42)

     

     

    Outstanding dutch talent Promes, watch out for this young guy he has it all

     

     

    If only Celtic could afford him

  2. twentyfirstofmaynineteenseventynine on

    Winning Captains

     

     

    cheers, its always been something thats hacked me off, should have mentioned our current custodian though, FF one of the best we’ve had

     

     

    HH

  3. Snake Plissken on

    starry plough

     

     

    Scotland have a history of manky away kits.

     

     

    Remember the Salmon pink strip.

  4. mullet and co 2 on

    Foxy, if you are still there who said Roy Keane is the new Celtic manager at the bbc?

  5. Snake Plissken on

    starry plough

     

     

    In fairness this one is boggin anaw

     

     

    Away back oot.

     

     

    Nigeria were pretty average before they got that deflection

  6. Snake Plissken

     

     

    I think this is an amalgamation of the last 5 away strips.

     

     

    Jeez Oh! Kris Boyd!

     

     

    The BBC “just can’t get enough” Hunz!

  7. lennybhoy…supporting the dam 5 and cfc until i die

     

     

    20:42 on 28 May, 2014

     

     

    I think we will probably go foreign.

     

     

    I Keano!

  8. TheOriginalSadiesBhoy on

    Is it only me who thinks that BBC Scotland were tremendously disrespectful by introducing tonight’s programme from the pitch while the Nigerian National anthem was being played. Notice Nevin had nothing to say about it.

  9. The strip is in the racing colours of Lord Rosebery.

     

     

    Its so all the players think they are at the races when they put their 1/2 time wagers on.

  10. Now I try not to swear

     

     

    What the F— are they talking about that league for ?

     

    HUNbelievable

     

     

    Hail Hail

  11. Just dipped in befor Corrie, cough cough to say……

     

     

    See a lot of Lenny in Roy Keane.

     

    He will take no bull from the authorities , has no inferiority complex.

     

    On the other hand I can see similar persecution lined up by hurting Huns similar to what happened to Lenny.

     

     

    On balance I still would like a continental approach…

     

     

    1. Laudrup/ Wieghorst

     

    2.Larsson/Jansen

     

     

    I just hope to Ghod whoever it is works out fir us

  12. Roy Keane is a fabulously wealthy former football player.

     

     

    He has very many large gold buckets filled with money just lying around his magnificent house.

     

     

    If Roy Keane wanted to describe himself as almost anything, he probably could…..because he can afford to.

     

     

    I like that Roy supports our club, but imo Roy is not a Manager and certainly not a manager of the Famous Glasgow Celtic.

     

     

    And anyway – the rumour linking him to us is just made up shengus by sleekit journalists who would like nothing better than have him comfortably in their sights every week till he was mutually consented amidst failure and disharmony in the Celtic camp.

     

     

     

    Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrummmmmmmmmmmmmmmph!

  13. Scotland look quite decent.

     

     

    A phrase I never thought I’d say ever again.

     

     

    WGS. Respect big mhan.

     

     

    HH jamesgang

  14. smoke and mirrors on

    mullet and co 2

     

     

    20:50 on 28 May, 2014

     

     

    Foxy, if you are still there who said Roy Keane is the new Celtic manager at the bbc?

     

     

    It was Chick hun Young….no confidence in his voice……clutchingatstraws.com

  15. Celts climb to 37th in the top 50 brands in WORLD football, according to reknowned valuation experts “Brand Finance”, who take a range of economic and football factors into account before awarding clubs credit ratings.

     

     

    Here’s what they say about Sevco:

     

     

    “Hmmmmm… optimistically?

     

    Provided it can establish a solid, scandal-free, financial footing and return to the top flight, they could be challenging for the title of Scotland’s most valuable brand within the DECADE.”

     

     

    The “Hmmmmm… optimistically?” was me reading between the lines.

     

    Ha ha ha

     

     

    Gardez

  16. Theoriginalsadiesboy

     

    Pat Nevin leapt to the defence of Andy Goram when pics of him with known UDA gunmen appeared in the Sunday Mail.

     

    Pat went round to the Goalie’s house immediately to offer support and went on the record the same day to back his player.

     

    Pat the rat knows which side his bread is buttered on.

  17. Dallas Dallas where the heck is Dallas on

    Goalkeepers what about big Peter’s understudy, Roy Baines

     

     

    Dmitri Kharin then again maybe not.

     

     

    Barry John Corr had a great part of a game v the maroon balloons at Tynecastle. I’m sure we won that game 4 2. A scoreline that has a nice sound to it but not as good as 7 past Niven. I don’t know if its ture Barry John Corr is Flanders’ son in law.

     

     

    Andy McCondichie I’m certain played against Dundee in what was Lubo’s first home game.

     

     

    Roy Baines has one bit of fame in a Celtic goalie’s strip. He saved a penalty taken by another goalie, Dundee United’s Hamish McAlpine, at Celtic Park in March 1977. We went onto win 2 nil. Joe Craig & Ronnie Glavin.

     

     

    It set us up nicely for winning the league that season.

  18. TheOriginalSadiesBhoy on

    Roy Keane will not be the next Celtic manager. It would be inevitable that he would come into conflict with referees and, as a consequence, the SFA. We had this with Neil. The Celtic Board will not want to see that particular episode in our recent history repeated – imo.

  19. TheOriginalSadiesBhoy on

    big nan

     

     

    21:03 on 28 May, 2014

     

    Theoriginalsadiesboy

     

    Pat Nevin leapt to the defence of Andy Goram when pics of him with known UDA gunmen appeared in the Sunday Mail.

     

    Pat went round to the Goalie’s house immediately to offer support and went on the record the same day to back his player.

     

    Pat the rat knows which side his bread is buttered on.

     

    ………………………..

     

     

    Aye, he’s a “ferret faced fecker”. Still laughing at your use of that expression the last time we talked about the wee nyaff. :-))

  20. Why is Alan Hu’n in this squad, never mind actually getting a game Scotland? Offers absolutely nothing.

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