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KARREN BRADY
EFL’s first ever female manager lasted just two weeks, but women will take charge sooner or later
Forest Green Rovers appointed a female boss last year
NO ONE is suggesting that a woman should be appointed manager of Manchester United, or any other leading football club, right now.
But it could happen when a candidate is so successful in the women’s game that her skills fit perfectly for the job.
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Male prejudice appears to be a football’s castle wall to us and I found that climbing it was a little tricky when I was appointed managing director of Birmingham City over 30 years ago.
Cheeky players made comments at first and there was an incident of entry to “men only” boardrooms. Not any more.
With the barriers breached, more women moved into executive positions. Now a mix of sexes is commonplace.
But the possibility of a woman managing a Premier League or EFL team is still regarded by many men as an insult, a slap in the face with a wet apron.
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Emma Hayes capturing the Ballon d’Or this week for leading the USA to the Olympic gold medal reminds me that the day a woman leads a men’s team is closer than ever though.
Hayes, at Chelsea, won the WSL title five times while Sarina Wiegman, with England, won the Euros and finished World Cup runner-up.
Similar triumphs in the men’s game would have won a knighthood.
So why wouldn’t a club take on a manager with this record, regardless of their gender?
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I’ll tell you why. Because they are scared of being laughed at, or assume men won’t listen to a woman.
Forest Green Rovers briefly appointed Hannah Dingley as interim first-team coach last year.
Amorim confirmed by Man Utd but it's a huge gamble and delay to start is bizarre
It certainly wasn’t bigger news than Nancy Astor becoming the first woman to take her seat as an MP.
And while Astor remained in Parliament for 26 years, Dingley lasted two weeks.
It was still a tiny brick removed from the battlements but any pioneering woman will need the strongest support from her chairman and board.
No player wants to work with a manager, female or male, who does not have tactical know-how, game strategy, leadership and decision-making skills, communication skills, modern training techniques, people skills, data analysis and a long-term vision.
My guess is rebellion would evaporate as players realised the manager knew her business in all these areas.
As for supporters, a few quick wins and they wouldn’t much care if Liz Truss were in charge.
It will happen one day because women will make it do so.
Astor has been the touchstone for 263 (40 per cent) of women to win seats in July’s election.
There is no proof men are better team leaders or managers than women.
Results in industry, education and politics are at least the equals of men and in school exams a good deal superior.
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So, the day a woman leads a men’s team might be closer than ever.
Until then, we’ll keep cheering as the women’s game grows — bringing the passion, skill and tactical brilliance the men’s leagues could learn a thing or two from.
Ruben Amorim is ‘Mourinho 2.0’ who turned Sporting from ‘walking dead’ into Portuguese champs… he can revive Man Utd
WHEN Ruben Amorim took charge of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020, one club official compared their situation to the “walking dead”, writes Jordan Davies.
Optimism and hope was at an all-time low.
But the Amorim-effect was almost instantaneous, guiding the Portuguese sleeping giants to their first league title for 19 years in 2020/21, losing just once and only conceding 20 goals.
Since then, Sporting have lifted another league title in 2023/24 – as well as two League Cups – and currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term.
He may be young, but Amorim already has an eye for rebuilding and revitalising fallen super powers with his infectious charisma and intense tactical philosophy that hardly ever wavers.
The “walking dead” at Manchester United must be praying for a similar sort of revival.
And they may just get it from one of the most talented young coaches on the continent – a man accustomed to breathing new life back into crumbling institutions such as Old Trafford.
Amorim has spent the last decade dreaming of one day gracing England’s Premier League, such was his admiration for an ex-United boss in Jose Mourinho growing up.
Often nicknamed ‘Mourinho 2.0’, Amorim spent a week with his coaching idol in an internship capacity at United’s Carrington training base in 2018, going on to cite him as his “reference point”.
United should not be expecting a mini-Mourinho, as Amorim said himself: “Mourinho is one of a kind. There won't be another Mourinho. Mourinho is unique.”
And yet, you cannot help but compare the two.
For all the mismanagement in the Old Trafford hot seats over the years, this would be a real get – finally a slap in the face United’s Prem rivals have no answer for.
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