Tony Adams; "management"

Forget about palace let's get him in the back room at Highbury!

 

I know Tony Adams is the ultimate Arsenal sacred cow, but come on.

What makes Adams think he can take a year off and walk right into a managerial spot with a First Division club? I know he's taking coaching courses, but how much can you learn in a year, especially in the classroom? And if he (or anyone else) needs proof of his folly, he should look to his rival for the Crystal Palace job, Captain Marvel himself. Could anyone - even Terry Venables - have done a worse managing job than Robson did at 'Boro. Hell, it was so bad that the highly overrated El Tel had to come in and save the team! If Robson's story doesn't dissuade, then look at Celtic and Barnes, John.

Look, hurray to Tony Adams for getting his life in order. But I'm not real sure that he's in a place in his life to take on a top managerial spot right now. Does anyone recall the new agey/spooky/weird interview he did a couple of months ago (in the Guardian or Observer, I think). I was left with the impression of someone who's full throttle in the stages of an amazing trip of self-discovery - and who's being extremely irritating about it. I'm not sure how that'll play in the dressing room with the "lads."

And personally, based on his recent year-end/second-guessing interview in which he questioned some of Wenger's lineup choices, let me say that if Tony Adams truly believes that Ray Parlour should have, in road games, started ahead of either Pires or Ljungberg, then a Tony Adams-managed team is one I have no interest in watching play. Not only will they stink, but they'll be boring at the same time.

If this move happens, here's the tragic scenario I see: Tony Adams hiring inspires supporters and players alike; Tony Adams-led Palace show some promise, but soon struggle and fall back into the pack; Palace near relegation zone by New Year's Day; dissension creeps in among same supporters and players who previously supported him; Adams sacked in late March with Palace in the drop zone; Dave Bassett hired in a bid, eventually unsuccessful, to keep Palace up. The end.

Contrast this with the approach taken by Marco Van Basten, an infinitely more talented and famous superstar who has expressed a keen interest in learning from the ground up. Van Basten has rejected several offers to be a first-team coach while he's been observing and assisting at Ajax. This is the approach retired footballers should take, not the Adams/Ruud Gullit/Vialli/Barnes approach.

 

Oof. Dan, how do you really feel? I give your credit for having the guts to throw out an anti-Adams opinion. I don't have an opinion either way on this one, but I do appreciate you bringing up Van Basten and his cerebral, thoughtful approach. He really is a student of the game.

 

Palace is too profile a team. Give him a team like Farnsborough Town or Bristol City but to jump right into First Div. football is a bit absurd.

 

I don;t think that TA should be a manger at all at the moment, even at Farnborough! He'd be much better off coaching at a big club, maybe we could line him up as a youth team coach at Arsenal? There he could learn from one of the best managers around and be ready for the hotseat when it becomes available.

 

Re: Re: Tony Adams; "management"

And even that has been an "internship" as part of a coaching course he's taking.

The way I see it, if it were possible to successfully manage a team without extensive training then there wouldn't be any professional managers as the job could just be done by the team's captain.

 

Conversely there are very few top managers who were never pro's?

 

I'm just in a bad mood.

I certainly wish the best for TA, and I'm probably just overreacting to rumors, since he himself has said he's not yet ready for a top job.

It's just that I can't think of a quicker way for former heroes to see their images permanently tarnished than for them to get into management. You stay out of sports altogether, and the mystique remains. You go into the media, and even though you're frequently wrong, since there's little accountability, your reputation stays intact. But you go into management, and you'll eventually get fired. We're all about "what have you done for me lately?" so it could get ugly if Adams gets in a situation where he's in over his head.

 

Case in point - Liam Brady !!!

 

I think, if you look at any sport, players who used to be the stars never adjust well to having to coach. They just can't seem to deal with younger and less talented players, because it came so naturally to them. Think about it: how many star players who became coaches have ever been really successful in any sport? The only name I came up with was Larry Bird when he coached the NBA's Pacers for three years and took them to the Finals. No one else has even come close.

If Tony does still want to manage, I think it might be better for him to not do so in England, as the pressure will be immense. Not to draw too much of a parallel, but let's not forget that Le Boss spent time managing in Japan before coming to the pressure cooker known as the Premiership. He has spoken glowingly in the past of how that experience helped him become a better manager, and I think TA might well want to look into something similar, not necessarily as far away as Japan, but maybe something in one of the lower national leagues.

 

Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Jack Charlton, and a handful of Brazilians whose names I can't quite remember.

 

True, playing professionally has clearly been an important part of coaching professionally. I'm just saying that it isn't all there is to it and that Tony would have a better chance of success if he spent some time studying the profession before he jumps in.