Can a team truly be successful if they don't approve of their coach?

[chapulin]

just a question i would like to elaborate on.

[pasoccerdave]

For a short time, if they all bond together against him - an us vs. him thing.

Sounds like it will backfire after a bit, though.

[ctsoccer13]

I'm inclined to say "Yes" but with the caveat that they could always be "better" if they did approve of the coach. I think it also depends on the level. In High School my coach was a History Teacher ("kick it down the wing", "runnnnn!", etc.). He tried to get us to do some things but he really didn't know much about the game and I thoroughly believe that if we listened to him we wouldn't have been as good as we were. We basically played the game that we were taught by our travel coaches. We played well and were #1 in the state (back in the day). But, at a higher level, if a coach tries to implement a certain system and the players don't approve of him or the system, you're going to have lots of problems (and losses). Morale can make or break some teams. It also depends on what gender we are discussing. I now coach girls. At the age group I coach, most girls respond better if they "approve" of the coach. Their demeanor and effort seems to be driven by that at times. But the boys next to us could really care less. They seem to be able to get past that much easier. Just my 2 pennies.

[DerbyRam54]

It also depends on what gender we are discussing. I now coach girls. At the age group I coach, most girls respond better if they "approve" of the coach. Their demeanor and effort seems to be driven by that at times. But the boys next to us could really care less. They seem to be able to get past that much easier. Just my 2 pennies.

I think you have a very good point there. I've refereed a U14G team (not from my home town) a few times where I am convinced that a lot of the players are just going through the motions and could care less about what they are doing, coaching instructions are met with rolled eyes and so on.
The same thing appears to happen with my O-30 women's team. I have one player who I don't have a good coaching relationship with, she often seems to be sleep-walking through the match, while the rest are fine and do whatever is asked.

[loghyr]

The flip side is whether a young team can be successful if the parents do not approve of the coach. They set the tone for their kids. If they don't buy into the coach's methods, then the team can sink.

I.e., even if a coach is doing the right thing developmentally and not focusing on winning, the parents may only see the not winning part and let their kids know they don't have to work as hard.

Even without trying to, they can do damage.

[BigGuy]

The answer is no.

I will not even ask why they don't approve. If you wanted us to know why you would have said why.

[loghyr]

The answer is no.

I will not even ask why they don't approve. If you wanted us to know why you would have said why.

Just a discussion point.

[BigGuy]

Just a discussion point.

Then he got his answer NO

[uniteo]

approve?

As in don't like the coach personally or don't think the coach knows what he/she is doing? And what kind of team?

Most girls will not play for long for a coach that they don't like...

Boys will play for Lucifer himself if they think he knows what he's doing

Rec players will play for George the Idjit if they're having fun.

[ranova]

How true uniteo. And it depends on what is meant by successful. But teams are really a collection of individuals with individual expectations. Some coaches get to choose their players and they choose players that are coachable by them. Most players do not get to choose their coach. For those coaches who cannot choose their players, there are always going to some problems. I would expect that lack of respect for a coach by the entire team would go hand-in-hand with failure to meet expectations. I would not assume that lack of respect caused the failure. I would not assume that the lack of respect implied a lack of technical competence in the coach either.

This is really a people-skills area. Even inexperienced and untrained coaches can succeed by managing expectations. Unrealistic expectations will cause the most experienced coaches problems if they are not dealt with.

[saabrian]

Define 'don't approve of.'

Does it mean don't like? Don't respect? Don't agree with tactically? Don't agree with stylistically? Don't agree with in terms of man management? Wouldn't want to hang out with? Don't think is 'cool'?

I think this clarification makes all the difference.

[thegeneral]

Define successful.

[chapulin]

Define successful.

champions, the best of the best