WHO IS THE BOSS HERE?

It has long been talk of what should be the functions of a coach in a football team. I will speak, only, about professional teams, then, in the amateurs, the budget and the number of volunteers/officials gives the tasks. Not surprisingly, in these categories you can see the President's Club selling tickets before starting the game.

In professional Clubs, however, there are many people around the Coach: Technical Managers, Technical Secretaries, etc. And, the questions are: Who's the Boss? Who should make the decisions? Who decides how the team has to play? Who decides who to sign or who to sell?

Well, any option can be good. At the end of the day, if the team wins, everyone will be happy. Only, however, one condition: that everyone has clear on what should be the operation of the Club. There has to be a clear idea of ​​the type of player or style of playing. There are clubs that, by its character, hire Coaches in a certain way of playing, which is used from the Grassroots to the 1st team. There are clubs where the 1st team (and maybe the 2nd), depending on the Coach, play one way, and the other Grassroots Teams play another way. There are clubs where each team plays one way. There are clubs where the Technical Secretariat takes the players they think more appropriate and then it’s the job of the Coach to put them in place. There are places where the coach demands what he wants to have. There are Clubs signing players only from a certain geographical area. There are clubs that only want players on loan or no transfer fee.

But now. If things do not work, the first thing is to fire the Coach, right? So, is not this one who should have the power? Or, at least, enough power to decide about a number of things?

1) The style of playing. When you hire a Coach, you know how he plays. Therefore, if the club has a game model, why are we looking for someone who plays different?

2) Players that are there must be some features to play in this or that way. The Technical Secretariat should have a list of players that “fit” the way of playing and the coach will decide the ones that he wants.

3) Here comes the economic factor, obviously. The Club has a budget. Therefore, the coach should know what the options are, in order to assess whether it is better player "A" for this function or "B" for that, knowing that you cannot have both and that can be a player "C" useful, because it's more important "A" than "B" and "C" can do the job of "B".

4) If you cannot have the players needed to play a certain way, to what extent is the responsibility of the coach if not achieved the objectives set?

There are many ways to work. All they should have, as a clear starting point, the role of everyone involved in. And, who should take the decisions and the consequences that follow from that.

There is only one formula that I do not like, and it is that the President and/or the Board make the signs because they like this or that player. I’ll never understand why to have a Technical Staff, if later you make a signing without knowing if it is the most appropriate or necessary for the team. And then, comes this sentence: "We have given him the best players." Yes. But, were they the needed ones? However, as he is the boss...

Jordi Pascual

You can follow me on Twitter: @JordiPascualP