Football News: Is it ever a good idea to give a playing legend the reigns as manager?

Image from: thesecretfootballer.com

Looking at Nottingham Forest's slide down the table, with bizarre decisions galore from club legend Stuart Pearce, and it does make you wonder if it is ever the right choice to appoint a legendary player to the position of manager. Recent examples that also bring this into question are Ally McCoist at Rangers, who played some of the worst football I have ever seen under his leadership, always looking like they were less fit that the part time opponents they faced, and Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool.

McCoist was clearly appointed to be a lift to the fans as the club hit problems financially. On that basis he was a success. He did lift the fans initially, and even when they started again down at the bottom of the Scottish Football League, he was able to get them behind the team. Unfortunately he was just not able to do the same thing with the players, opting to bring in over the hill pros on big money, even though the opposition were part time clubs, and consistently failing to get the team to play good football.

Dalglish is a little different, he had enjoyed prior success as manager of the club, but he did also preside over the beginning of Liverpool's decline from the height of European domination it had enjoyed. Following his shock resignation, he returned to the game to enjoy more league success with Blackburn Rovers, but after that his time at Newcastle United and Celtic was not successful and he had been a long time on the sidelines watching prior to his appointment.

Bringing him back seemed on the face of it the right thing to do, the fans wanted him and his prior spell had brought scintillating football, as well as success. Sadly it didn't work out second time around, but removing him has left a bad taste in the mouth that club owners FSG are still struggling to remove now. Was this the lesson that Fawaz, Forest's owner should have learnt from?

Stuart Pearce's record in management is far from impressive, though he can point to mitigating circumstances for that. His time in charge at Manchester City was prior to the arrival of Sheikh Mansour's wealth, the club was in a period of financial hardship and he was expected to cut costs at every opportunity. The team's performances were uninspiring, the tactics bewildering and he may have struggled, but it wasn't all his fault.

His time with England was mixed too, the U21s under his control had access to possibly the most exciting crop of youngsters since the 70s, with the core of the team that had seen success at U17 level available to him. Unfortunately he was also faced with losing many of his players to the full England side, and his team selections were badly hampered, as often happens at that level. So it is again difficult to judge his prowess as a manager, with so many difficulties surrounding his reigns.

But should that have been a warning to Forest and the fans that were so desperate to see him succeed? Great managers thrive in adversity and make the best of what they have to succeed, despite the odds being stacked against him. One thing is for sure, it is unlikely he will get the time to prove it either way, as Forest's struggles with FFP mean a drop into League One is far too dangerous a proposition to give any man the time needed.

Written by Tris Burke January 12 2015 15:11:42