(SabaSports) The Athletic recently wrote about the changing status of the manager in English football, taking an in-depth look at the decline of the culture of manager worship and the changing role of the manager in the modern game. There was a time when the culture of English football was all about the cult of the manager. From Matt Busby to Alex Ferguson, from Herbert Chapman to Arsene Wenger, from Bill Shankly to Jurgen Klopp, These great managers are seen as the makers of the club’s history, even a symbolic presence.
In the past, the head coach was considered one of the last bastions of the 19th-century “great man theory”. As Thomas Carlyle said, “History is but the biography of great men.” Many of the greatest managers have even had statues erected by clubs outside the stadium to honour their achievements, such as Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley at Liverpool, Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, among others.
However, as football has developed and modernised, the role of the head coach has also changed. The success of the club is no longer completely dependent on a single manager, more is the embodiment of teamwork and the overall system. This shift has made the absolute authority of the manager in the club gradually weakened, and the culture of worship of the manager has been weakened.