Managers can lose the dressing room – but players don’t ever down tools or force them out, says Sun columnist Deeney
WHEN a football manager’s job is under threat, you will often hear the expression ‘he’s lost the dressing room’ being casually tossed around.
And then the idea that a team are ‘no longer playing for the manager’ - as if they would down tools, hoping that their boss gets the sack.
You may also hear about the idea of ‘player power’ and get the impression that a struggling squad might club together and force out a manager.
In reality it isn’t like that.
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I certainly can’t imagine that there’s any sort of dressing-room revolt happening at Chelsea, where everyone knows Frank Lampard is under pressure.
But footballers can be selfish and a football club is always full of egos.
And that is always more apparent when a team is struggling and a manager is fighting for survival.
In that situation, footballers almost become ‘self-employed’, it’s each man for himself.
When things are going badly, you will rarely hear players taking personal responsibility and saying ‘it’s my fault’.
If a striker isn’t scoring, then he’ll tell you he isn’t getting the right service or that the tactics aren’t right or that training sessions are poor.
Footballers can be selfish and a football club is always full of egos
Troy Deeney
Some will have reasons of self-interest to want a manager to stay in their job.
Others won’t have the same feeling, especially if they aren’t playing regularly.
But managers can ‘lose the dressing room’ for all sorts of reasons.
I’ve known managers who have been overly negative, even when they’ve been winning games.
You would go into team meetings, after a decent victory, and the manager would dwell on the negatives.
As players you would say to each other ‘here we go again, what did we do wrong this time?’
That can cause an atmosphere of negativity, where it is no fun to go to work in the morning.
I’ve known managers who are well-regarded as coaches but who have lost the dressing-room because of their personality. The size of his ego, that it’s all about him, that he always needs to be the biggest star.
And I’ve also known managers to lose the dressing-room because they are relentless at cracking the whip.
Players aren’t lazy but there are times when you genuinely need a break in the intensity, the carrot of a day off or a lighter training session. If your boss is a slave-driver, again you can lose faith.
Footballers don’t plot to get a manager sacked but, of course, they do talk.
It’s usually schoolyard stuff - like Chinese whispers.
In gym sessions, on coach trips or while running warm-up laps, players might discuss a manager in pairs, or slightly larger cliques.
It’s natural, in any job, that if you feel your boss is making illogical decisions, you’re going to talk to colleagues because if you don’t, you might feel like you’re imagining things, going a bit mad.
I’ve been captain for much of my time at Watford and while these things do happen, I know how divisive talk like this can be. Part of my role has been to limit that talk and support the manager.
So what do players want from a manager? Chiefly they want a boss to be honest, straight and logical. They want to feel he is making decisions for the right reasons.
Even if things are going badly, I’ve never known players to deliberately down tools. Players never want to lose football matches
Troy Deeney
But even if things are going badly, I’ve never known players to deliberately down tools. Players never want to lose football matches.
There can be a sub-conscious dip - but sometimes players can try even harder, some out of loyalty to a manager, others to prove a point to this manager, or maybe the next one, that they should be playing regularly.
During 11 and a half years at Watford, I’ve worked under 14 managers.
It’s strange because we all tend to believe that managerial stability brings success - but we had four different bosses the season we were promoted to the Premier League.
And until last season’s relegation, Watford enjoyed a very successful decade.
Chelsea have been through a lot of managers too and have been enormously successful. Lampard will know that better than anyone.
Some clubs go for a long-term ‘project’ - like Liverpool with Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, with managers setting the whole footballing culture of their club.
Others, like Chelsea, will buy players and bring in the manager who they feel best suits the squad they’ve assembled.
Lampard will know Chelsea is not a club renowned for its patience.
But I really hope he is given more time. He did an exceptional job last season, when there were zero expectations, qualifying for the Champions League, reaching the FA Cup Final, while promoting youngsters.
Of course the pressure gets ramped up when you spend a lot of money on new players.
But I hope Lampard is cut a bit of slack because of the unique circumstances of managing in a pandemic.
Think about Kai Havertz - a 21-year-old kid, in a new country, who has suffered a nasty bout of Covid. Because of lockdown, he will not even have been able to get to know London, to have any sort of social life.
And yet because he cost £70million, we just expect him to hit the ground running.
When you bring in six new players, then a team is hardly ever going to click straight away.
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Some will feel more loyalty to the manager than others, but they won’t be slacking off and they won’t be trying to force him out.
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Yes, footballers can be selfish and egotistical but they all want success.
The best bosses manage those egos and create unity. If Frank Lampard is given time, I think he is capable of doing just that.