Building on the culture you inherited
A new manager can mean tension on the touchline
How does an incoming manager or coach strike a balance between old and new? Respecting the history of the club or team while also seeking to innovate and make changes?
In the 2024-25 season there have already been a flurry of high profile appointments including the new England coach, Thomas Tuchel, Arne Slott stepping into big shoes at Anfield and Manchester United's latest shot at stability with Ruben Amorim.
Sometimes it is not the ‘new’ manager’s first time trying to invigorate the club - at the time of writing David Moyes has just returned to lead Everton having left in 2013 to take over from Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. How can Moyes forge a fresh path on his return to the club? Times have changed. The club has changed and Moyes himself has changed in that time.
A new manager is almost always brought in to primarily turn the results of the team around. However, often the biggest challenge that any incoming manager has is not only assessing which elements of the culture need to be retained (not necessarily the players) but also how to address the elements that have been failing.
Navigating culture as a new manager in a football club is incredibly challenging.
In the business world, when an organisation replaces the CEO the underlying organisational structure doesn’t change. It is therefore much easier for the incoming person to look at who they have around them, review existing operating structures and then take time to assess how the culture is performing before deciding on the action required to change it.
Football managers don’t have that luxury.
The first challenge often involves the backroom staff within the club's existing culture.
Second time around
Sometimes a new manager is a familiar face. Danny, right, pictured with returning Everton manager David Moyes
Managers often have substantial backroom teams who follow them around and this can create chaos in an existing structure. Clubs can end up with two staff members for every job and it's often the pre-existing staff who have nothing to do. This creates tension within the club and challenges old loyalties.
The staff a manager brings with them will often not understand the desired culture but will be fiercely protective of the manager’s vision for improving results.
This is both important and problematic at the same time. Any manager in a new environment needs to feel supported in the decisions they make and have allies to implement change; sometimes the price for this is division within the club (and occasionally with supporters too).
On top of this, new managers are rarely given the time to assess what needs to be changed, let alone change it, before pressure is brought to bear on expected results.
Not only that, if the club often has done little work on defining their culture in the first place (which most have not), then the foundations to build on do not exist.
Some clubs may have values or philosophies around how they play, but these are often not well understood or else are applied in an inconsistent manner.
Add to that the different social culture mix that athletes and staff provide and you have a recipe for miscommunication along with a ‘fighting’ culture where different factions within the group vie for superiority. All of this before you even get on the pitch!
Cultural differences also come into play when integrating change. Different countries have completely different ideologies in many performance disciplines and there can be huge differences to reconcile. Some countries don't believe in strength training for example, while it's a mainstay in many cultures. Navigating or establishing these norms takes the aforementioned (un)available time!
Ultimately change is a delicate balance for any club and manager.
The culture (and the club) is bigger than one individual. No-one - owner, manager, staff member or athlete - should be allowed to have undue influence over it. Allowing them to do so will simply create a mess for someone else to inherit and the time required to change it will increase dramatically.
Many clubs have lost the culture that once made them unique. New managers often create their own culture and disregard the culture of the area and club. This has created a big disconnect between fans, the club and the team and no one benefits from that except the opposition.
Team Code takeaways
The club is always bigger than any one person. A well established culture can guide hiring and shaping management teams.
Existing loyalties are tricky to navigate. Focus on the overall objectives of the team rather than personal peeves.
Set expectations from day one - and act consistently to reinforce them.
