Should West Ham take a leaf out of Barca’s book?

This summer has seen many different clubs employing new managers for the 2012/13 season, with 6 clubs opting to go with new managers to take their clubs forward. There has been a bit of a managerial merry-go round in the Premier League, with Brendan Rodgers going to Liverpool, Michael Laudrup taking the space left by Rodgers at Swansea City, Paul Lambert moving from Norwich City to Aston Villa with former Newcastle manager Chris Hughton taking the reins at the Canaries. AVB moved down the road to take over at Spurs and Steve Clarke, former assistant at Upton Park, finally has the top job, with West Brom.

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Not only were there moves in the Premier League, but perhaps the most interesting was the appointment of Tito Vilanova at FC Barcelona. Pep Guardiola announced his resignation from the club towards the end of last season and it was announced that his successor would be the man who was his number 2 during his time at the club. During Guardiola’s 4 years at the club, he instigated a style and philosophy of football which set the world alight, launched players such as Sergio Busquets and Pedro into the first team, guided a player dubbed “too small” to international stardom, Lionel Messi and took his team to 14 trophies in his 4 year tenure.

The boots to fill seem more like giant flippers for Tito Vilanova as he has the inconceivable task of taking down Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, who had the perfect start against Barcelona in winning the Spanish Supercup on away goals. It looks even more difficult when you consider that Xavi and Carlos Puyol are starting to struggle to complete a full match, there is still a distinct lack of depth in certain positions and teams are starting to develop styles to combat Barcelona’s “tika-taka” football. Couple with this the fact that Vilanova has never had the top managerial job at a club, not to mention the biggest club in the world.

What Vilanova has on his side is his club knowledge, his attention to detail and the Catalan blood that runs through his veins. Vilanova spent 6 years as a youth player at Barcelona, playing 52 matches for their ‘B’ side, before moving to lower league clubs around Spain. His coaching career started at Terrassa FC as a technical director before moving back to Barcelona, to be Guardiola’s number 2, overlooking the “b” side he once played for. Vilanova became Guardiola’s number 2 for the first team after the sacking of Frank Rijkaard. The two then enjoyed the most successful years ever in Barcelona’s grand history.

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One of the interesting factors behind Vilanova’s appointment at the Nou Camp is his previous employment, ten years ago, working with the “Cadete” youth team at Barcelona. Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi all played in that team during Vilanova’s time in charge. They sound quite familiar don’t they? Vilanova has been a huge influence for Messi especially, as he knew him as a 13 year old and he has been a key part of his development into one of the greatest players of all time and a consistent goal scorer.

Not only does Vilanova have the required credentials to take Barcelona to the next level, he is brave. Around 8 months previously, Vilanova required an operation to remove a tumour in his saliva gland. Add this to the stress that Guardiola was under during his 4 years in charge, Vilanova must be commended for his bravery, not only for the possible health worries, but also because he has such a difficult task on his hands. Added to this that it was his idea to change Barça’s formation last year from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3 and even at times 3-3-4, you can see that Tito doesn’t do anything in half measures.

The reason the Vilanova has been discussed in such depth in this article is because it is not the first time that a big club has promoted a coach at the club to the managerial role. The likes of Paisley at Liverpool, Fabio Capello at Milan, Walter Smith at Rangers and Del Bosque at Madrid were all promoted from the number 2 role. These names shone at their clubs, winning titles galore, but can Vilanova replicate the success of his predecessor, Pep Guardiola? Only time will tell.

It raises an interesting question, should coaches already at clubs have a chance to take the top job after a manager leaves the club? The names mentioned above show that it can lead to great success, but there have been some failures, such as Wilf McGuinness at Manchester United, but the assets that these number 2s had before taking over aid them greatly, for example, their knowledge of tactics which suit the club and the players currently playing for that team. Also, coaches already at the club will have a greater motivation than new managers to succeed, especially if they have been at the club for a considerable amount of time.

 

One person who springs straight into my mind is Tony Carr. Carr joined the West Ham academy in 1966, but he never made a professional appearance for the club. In 1973, he was appointed as the Director of Youth Development at West Ham and has since overlooked the development of some of the greatest players to ever play in the famous claret and blue. During his 39 years at the club, West Ham have seen countless managers come and go, but Carr has been one of the most important and influential figures at the club. Why has he never made the step up to manage the first team squad?

The benefits seem numerous. He, like Pep and Tito, has worked with the youth players at the club, so he would be determined to promote youth players and integrate them into the first eleven. He knows the young players very well and he has aided the development of great players such as Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole, so he would be influential when promoting youth players to the first team and adept at creating an atmosphere at the club where youth players feel at ease and are motivated to compete for a place in the first team. Moreover, he knows which formations would fit the players and would be able to instigate a philosophy in which the whole club, from the under 12s to the first team can follow.

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However, the great fan favourite could succumb to the pressures of the managerial job at Upton Park, with fans demanding results week in, week out, which could see his reputation as a Hammers great ruined in the blink of an eye.

With Sam Allardyce seen as the man to bring the club forward, it seems as if Carr may never get the chance to take over as the manager of the club he has served for more than forty years, both as a player and as a youth coach. Could Carr have taken the club forward? Does he still have a chance to manage the club, or would it be too much of a risk for the club to take him on?

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