Why are managers viewed differently to players?

Skills

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It feels like managers are viewed like some saintly figures, who are doing a public service by doing a multimillion pound job. Because they're so saint like they'll walk if they're let down.

Yet, as far as I've seen almost every manager has stuck around like a turd that won't flush when there time is over. The club has to actually pay them off to leave. Even manchester united legend OGS. So where does this misconception come from?
 

André Dominguez

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It feels like managers are viewed like some saintly figures, who are doing a public service by doing a multimillion pound job. Because they're so saint like they'll walk if they're let down.

Yet, as far as I've seen almost every manager has stuck around like a turd that won't flush when there time is over. The club has to actually pay them off to leave. Even manchester united legend OGS. So where does this misconception come from?
Cult of personality.
 

DWelbz19

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They don’t have Instagram accounts
 

In Rainbows

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I generally agree, but this feels random. How is this connect to our current situation? Maybe that will help steer the conversation in the direction you intended.
 

Skills

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I generally agree, but this feels random. How is this connect to our current situation? Maybe that will help steer the conversation in the direction you intended.
Some of our fans believes that ETH is going to walk after Christmas from his multimillion pound job, because he's being let down.
 

bosnian_red

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Some of our fans believes that ETH is going to walk after Christmas from his multimillion pound job, because he's being let down.
Because they have their reputations to protect and when you have a manager who would likely be sought after by the likes of Barca, Madrid, Bayern, PSG.... Then yeah as a club you want to keep them. A manager can walk if they feel they are being let down and set up to fail. Antonio Conte has done it more than once.
 

Skills

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Because they have their reputations to protect and when you have a manager who would likely be sought after by the likes of Barca, Madrid, Bayern, PSG.... Then yeah as a club you want to keep them. A manager can walk if they feel they are being let down and set up to fail. Antonio Conte has done it more than once.
Apart from Conte how many of them have done it? Mourinho begged us to sack him, and Ole also stuck for his pay off. Walking away from a job does more harm to their reputation than trying to navigate through a tough period - it's why clubs aren't going near Conte, because he's so volatile.
 

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Because they have a different job.
 

NoLogo

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It feels like managers are viewed like some saintly figures, who are doing a public service by doing a multimillion pound job. Because they're so saint like they'll walk if they're let down.

Yet, as far as I've seen almost every manager has stuck around like a turd that won't flush when there time is over. The club has to actually pay them off to leave. Even manchester united legend OGS. So where does this misconception come from?
It's the yearning for the next SAF. I think a lot of us still hope we will find another one like him that can steady the ship for a decade or longer, but it's pretty unlikely that this will ever happen again. But I think it explains why a lot of fans are much more willing to give managers time instead of players.
 

Glorio

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Because they have a different job.
Exactly this - a player to a large extent, has his/her destiny in his own hands. If they perform well, they're rewarded with a new contract, or even an opportunity to move to a better team. A manager needs to perform well but is dependent on others to bring their vision to life. If not given the right tools, it doesn't matter how good they are, they'll fail - so in my book, they get more sympathy.

We hear about players needing motivation to play well, if that was said about a manager needing motivation, I'm pretty sure they'd be chucked out asap.
 

bosnian_red

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Apart from Conte how many of them have done it? Mourinho begged us to sack him, and Ole also stuck for his pay off. Walking away from a job does more harm to their reputation than trying to navigate through a tough period - it's why clubs aren't going near Conte, because he's so volatile.
Bit of both though. Mourinho knew after a few failures that he wouldn't get top clubs. Ole after United was never getting a premier league club even. Our previous managers, apart from Van Gaal, essentially had nothing to gain from leaving as their reputations were in the mud already.

Also - all our previous managers apart from Moyes were backed for their first and 2nd summers. We spent a shit ton and got their targets... They didn't have many reasons to complain about spending.
 

SER19

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A player will get criticised most for things they're fully in control of - effort, attitude, work rate and failing to do the basics.

With a manager there is an unspoken contract that a) he will be supported adequately by board and b) players will do the above things at a minimum.

No manager can succeed without these things and it's absolutely unfair to hammer them for failing when a lot is beyond their control. As it stands, if ten hag gets 6th with this squad - that's a success. You don't get to demand more than that from him if the means to achieve it haven't been provided
 

Skills

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Exactly this - a player to a large extent, has his/her destiny in his own hands. If they perform well, they're rewarded with a new contract, or even an opportunity to move to a better team. A manager needs to perform well but is dependent on others to bring their vision to life. If not given the right tools, it doesn't matter how good they are, they'll fail - so in my book, they get more sympathy.

We hear about players needing motivation to play well, if that was said about a manager needing motivation, I'm pretty sure they'd be chucked out asap.
So is a player. A players destiny lies in the hands of his manager - they can spend seasons on the bench getting token minutes or be played completely out of position. All of those things have happened to players at this club.
 

BarryWinks

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Fans stuck in the past looking for the next saf, which leads to a cult of personality. Also, managers get to speak with the press after every game - whether good or bad, which can be a potent weapon when used to drive agenda, as we saw with Jose and Rangnick.

Imagine if say, Ronaldo, was afforded a press conference after every game where he called Ralf shit and his assistants idiots, pretty sure the attitude towards the players wouldn't be as toxic last season.
 
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Glorio

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So is a player. A players destiny lies in the hands of his manager - they can spend seasons on the bench getting token minutes or be played completely out of position. All of those things have happened to players at this club.
I suppose. My opinion is however, if your manager is not a complete idiot (or as a player you haven't been an idiot or fallen out with the manager for some reason), if as a player you show you're better than your competition in training consistently, you'll be played.

You've raised a good point in that other factors can affect the success of a player, nevertheless, I feel the players have a much stronger sphere of control to do with their own success than a manager. The game is after all, played by players.
 

Pogue Mahone

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"like a man in silk pyjamas shooting pigeons
Some of our fans believes that ETH is going to walk after Christmas from his multimillion pound job, because he's being let down.
Well the huge and obvious difference is that a player can be 100% responsible for their own performance. A manager can’t manage without the right tools for his job. A manager walking because the club are being obstructive when it comes to signing the players the manager needs is the equivalent of a footballer walking because nobody will give him a pair of boots to play in.

Side note. Players can and do walk all the time if they’re unhappy at the club. Look at what happened to Pogba and Lingard.
 

Skills

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Well the huge and obvious difference is that a player can be 100% responsible for their own performance. A manager can’t manage without the right tools for his job. A manager walking because the club are being obstructive when it comes to signing the players the manager needs is the equivalent of a footballer walking because nobody will give him a pair of boots to play in.

Side note. Players can and do walk all the time if they’re unhappy at the club. Look at what happened to Pogba and Lingard.
The vast majority of managers in football work with the players the club chooses to give them. They might occasionally get thrown a bone, but clubs don't go out and spunk 10s of millions of pounds because manager needs X player.

If a manager is so limited, that he can't function without a specific set of players he's requested that will cost the club the best part of 100m pounds you need to be rethinking whether it might just be cheaper to be on the market for a new manager instead.

That's my point - players are much more likely to walk than managers. Managers from my experience at United are only here for the money. They'll sign extensions, and then drag the club through the mud to end up sacked.
 

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Most other clubs don't view them differently. Cult of the manager is more pronounced in England than on the continent, and even moreso at United than other clubs.
 

Skills

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I suppose. My opinion is however, if your manager is not a complete idiot (or as a player you haven't been an idiot or fallen out with the manager for some reason), if as a player you show you're better than your competition in training consistently, you'll be played.

You've raised a good point in that other factors can affect the success of a player, nevertheless, I feel the players have a much stronger sphere of control to do with their own success than a manager. The game is after all, played by players.
I'd say the players are helpless in the most important factor that influences their success - that's whether they make it on the pitch or not. And the second most important factor is whether they are being used in their correct position.
 

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The players kick the ball, the managers tell the players to kick the ball.
 

Pogue Mahone

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"like a man in silk pyjamas shooting pigeons
The vast majority of managers in football work with the players the club chooses to give them. They might occasionally get thrown a bone, but clubs don't go out and spunk 10s of millions of pounds because manager needs X player.

If a manager is so limited, that he can't function without a specific set of players he's requested that will cost the club the best part of 100m pounds you need to be rethinking whether it might just be cheaper to be on the market for a new manager instead.

That's my point - players are much more likely to walk than managers. Managers from my experience at United are only here for the money. They'll sign extensions, and then drag the club through the mud to end up sacked.
To be honest, I don’t understand your point at all. Managers stay round too long? So do footballers. Look at Phil Jones. Or any one of dozens of other footballers that ran down their lucrative contracts at clubs over the years, knowing they weren’t in the manager’s plans. Or how about this summer’s number one transfer saga? A footballer who is refusing to leave a club at which he’s obviously not wanted because they owe him money. When was the last time a club had to basically force a manager out in the same way that Barca are trying to get rid of De Jong?!
 

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Most other clubs don't view them differently. Cult of the manager is more pronounced in England than on the continent, and even moreso at United than other clubs.
Pretty much. At this stage it’s in the club bones, when we’ve had giant all consuming managers like Bubsy and Fergie it can’t be anything else.

While all the current talk of structural change is interesting, if Ten Hag is to really succeed here then he will have to become the guy who control everything.
 

Chief123

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It feels like managers are viewed like some saintly figures, who are doing a public service by doing a multimillion pound job. Because they're so saint like they'll walk if they're let down.

Yet, as far as I've seen almost every manager has stuck around like a turd that won't flush when there time is over. The club has to actually pay them off to leave. Even manchester united legend OGS. So where does this misconception come from?
Not the only factor, but one of the reasons is if a player is unsuccessful you can sub him off/drop him or even sell him for a transfer fee. You can’t sub or transfer a manager. You don’t get a transfer fee for a manager but you do for a player.

So by its nature, a manager would require more patience and time as you can’t keep chopping and changing a manager. If you get rid of a player, it just affects that player. If you get rid of a manager it has a knock on effect on every single person in the club.
 

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  1. Manager's don't earn as much as players
  2. Manager's aren't/weren't our role models
  3. They rarely use Social Media
  4. They can be removed from a club much easier than a player can
 

united_99

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Most other clubs don't view them differently. Cult of the manager is more pronounced in England than on the continent, and even moreso at United than other clubs.
Because United fans have only seen success primarily based on / because of the managers. Once board members start making good decisions and being successful this will change. But so far this hasn’t happened.
At most other clubs where their boards are proven and capable of course fans would rather side with them than with most of their managers.
At United the board first needs to earn this trust. So naturally fans will rather side with the new manager or give him a chance. And as fans don’t trust the board some would rather have the manager staying longer in the hope that he can turn things around.
 

JPRouve

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So is a player. A players destiny lies in the hands of his manager - they can spend seasons on the bench getting token minutes or be played completely out of position. All of those things have happened to players at this club.
If anything players have more to lose, past it managers get chances at big clubs on similar wages until almost the end of their careers. A player often has one chance to fail at a top club, maybe two, after that you will have to take a massive pay cut.
 

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They're not the ones on the pitch. The players get all the glory, the manager just a well done.
 

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"Managers are overrated." Right from the horse's mouth.

Precisely what a good leader would say, to make the players feel more important. But in truth, the managers and his team are underrated. Ask any top sportsperson and they will tell you the opposite of what baldie is saying here. It's very good man management though
 

bosnian_red

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"Managers are overrated." Right from the horse's mouth.

People say a lot of dumb things. The manager is the single most important role in a football club. Just look at the difference pre and post Sir Alex. And wait and see the impact Ten Hag will make. Or look at Spurs before and once they appointed Conte. Or Liverpool with Klopp. Or Pep wherever he goes.

The problem is there is a huge group of "decent" managers who don't suit big clubs. These are often interchangeable. The pool of managers who can be successful at big clubs is tiny though, and isn't consistent club to club between these big managers.