Leadership the Sven-goran Eriksson Way: How to Turn Your Team Into Winners - Couverture souple

Birkinshaw, Julian; Crainer, Stuart

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 184112589X ISBN 13 : 9781841125893

Editeur : Capstone Publishing Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

Unusual book

A propos du livre

Extrait :

Chapter One – Enter Svennis

‘Every game has its own story.’ – Sven-Göran Eriksson

1966 and all that

In 1966 England won the World Cup for the first and only time. They have never looked like winning the most prestigious football trophy on the planet since. Defending their trophy in 1970, they were undone by an injury to their goalkeeper and the high altitude of Mexico City – not to mention inadequate replacements for some of the 1966 team and German persistence. In 1974 they failed to qualify – thanks to an inspired Polish goalkeeper and more inadequate replacements for fading heroes. In 1978 they again failed to qualify. In 1982 they scored quickly and then faded gently away, their only world class player, Kevin Keegan, appearing for a matter of minutes – long enough to miss a crucial chance. In 1986 England performed gamely before being beaten by Diego Maradona. In 1990, they reached the semi-final. It took some miraculous comebacks and a change of tactics (brought about by the team rather than the manager) to get them that far. In 1994 they failed to qualify. Then, in 1! 998, they once again stumbled after looking set to make progress.

For the English, reading this litany of under achievement is a depressing experience. The depression, however, appears to be only momentary. When it comes to football, the English suspend normal mental functions. Their memories have the longevity of those of goldfish. And so, the English expect their team to win the World Cup no matter where it is held, who is in their team or who they are playing. When the World Cup is held in Japan and Korea in 2002, all of England will expect the England captain David Beckham to hold the trophy in his hands.

The decades of dismal performances are overlooked. The fact that England have only won the World Cup with home advantage is completely ignored. Throw in the fact that the English team also attracts a significant number of hooligans and you have a thoroughly depressing spectre; mindlessness and forgetfulness.

At least the Scots have realistic expectations – they expect to lose – and dedicate themselves to alcoholic pleasures and exposing their genitals to foreigners untutored in what Scots wear under their kilts.

The English football team and its supporters has no such saving grace.

Little wonder then that the job of manager of the English football team has long been a poisoned chalice. Success has proved as elusive as the expectations are immense. The English manager is on a hiding to nothing, drowning in the goldfish bowl of expectation. It is like being made CEO of a loss-making company in a decaying market with indifferent staff and plummeting morale and being expected to deliver double digit growth tomorrow while cutting costs. ‘The days of the England manager lasting six or eight years are long gone. It is so instant now. Here you go, it’s your job, get on with it and you had better be successful,’ reflects Kevin Keegan.

Given this mission impossible, managers have come and gone in pursuit of the English dream.

The success story was the unlikely figure of Sir Alf Ramsey (manager from 1963 until 1974). Ramsey managed the 1966 team. He spoke in an unfeasibly refined accent, had little time for the media, and, for the most part, resembled a slightly portly bank manager. Nevertheless, he was blessed by a cohort of world-class players from which he selected Bobby Moore as a natural leader. Ramsey left – treated shoddily – when he found it difficult to replace the greats of 1966.

At this point things went downhill fast. The English Football Association (FA) selected Don Revie, then the manager of Leeds United, as the new manager. Revie was the obvious choice. The alternative was the outspoken and eccentric Brian Clough. Revie was dour and serious, but had turned Leeds from no-hopers into the English champions. The club had few footballing admirers – they were never pretty – but they were successful. For a shrewd club manager, Revie proved inexplicably clueless when in charge of the national team. After only 29 games he departed to coach in the United Arab Emirates, footballing purdah.

Then came Ron Greenwood, an ageing but safe pair of hands. Greenwood stabilised things but England still lost. He was followed by another successful English club manager, Bobby Robson, who managed to lead England to the heady heights of a semi-final place before he, too, left, exhausted by press expectations and continual sniping.

Graham Taylor, another club manager, followed. Patently intelligent and decent, Taylor was a dismal failure. His selections were, at times, bizarre, displaying a preference for limited journeymen over players with international ability. Terry Venables, the former Barcelona coach, added much needed flair and tactical coherence, but then left to fight a legal case. A former England star, Glenn Hoddle, entered the fray and built up expectations until they were dashed once again. Hoddle departed after an ill-advised comment to the media. Luckily another English playing legend was on hand, Kevin Keegan. The former European footballer of the year brought enthusiasm but admitted that tactics were a mystery. He left in autumn 2000 immediately after a dismal, damp defeat to Germany, the last game played at the original Wembley stadium where Bobby Moore had paraded the Jules Rimet trophy 34 years previously.

So what does this long and lengthening litany of disappointment add up to? What can we learn? Well, first, no-one has a right to success – not even someone with three lions on their shirt. Second, continuity is important. There has been little continuity since Ramsay’s departure in style, tactics, outlook or leadership. Third, as England have struggled they have become more and more insular. Their performances appear constricted by history, contained by their feelings of disappointment and fruitless optimism. They have played with the heavy burden of history on their shoulders and have not had the leadership to set themselves free.

Quatrième de couverture :

Sven-Goran Eriksson has transformed the English football team from under-achievers with no tactical nous to one of the most feared teams in the World. The 5-1 demolition of Germany and subsequent qualification for the World Cup have already elevated Sven-Goran Eriksson to the status of national hero. How has Eriksson achieved this? What special qualities has he brought to the job which have allowed to get so much from his team? Are these lessons we can all learn? In Leadership the Sven Goran Eriksson Way, Julian Birkinshaw and Stuart Crainer illustrate and analyze the leadership and management skills which Eriksson has demonstrated. Placing them in the context of sports leadership, they also draw out the lessons any manager or leader can learn from Eriksson. These range from one-to-one coaching and building an atmosphere of trust and commitment to strong decision-making and handling talented individuals. Eriksson has proved that any team can be improved by a subtle combination of leadership, analysis and incisiveness. Now we all have the chance to do the same.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Capstone Publishing Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2004
• ISBN 10: 184112589X
• ISBN 13: 9781841125893
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 2
• Nombre de pages: 174