Being a football manager can be like trying to build a city out of glass. No matter how much time, care and patience you put into it, the fragile nature of the structure makes you vulnerable; it’s only ever a couple of minutes away from being shattered.
Take Arsene Wenger, for example. He may have introduced a whole new culture to English football, he may have signed terrific players, he may have brought trophies to the club. But Arsenal have not won anything for a while and Wenger is under fire from all angles.
While Wenger’s sulky manner on the touchline and lack of vision of key events in matches involving his side can be irritating, it is only because he is protective of his club and has a huge desire to win. Nobody can question what he has brought to Arsenal and the game of football in England. He has been an inspiration.
Wenger once went a whole season undefeated in the Premier League and he has introduced players of the calibre of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas to England. It has been sad for myself, as a neutral, to see Wenger receive such stinging criticism from all quarters – particularly the media – because he deserves more respect.
Perhaps it is easy for me to enjoy Arsenal’s football because I do not hang on their every result like the diehard. But I see similarities to Wenger in Sean O’Driscoll, the manager of the club closest to my heart.
Dave Penney did a terrific job to take us from the Conference to League One but O’Driscoll’s tactical awareness and eye for a player allowed us to take the next step. He transformed us into a side that has mixed it with the Championship’s best for three seasons on a shoestring. We have been labelled the ‘Arsenal of the North’ as a result.
Now, four games into the new campaign, we sit at the foot of the table with a lengthy long-term injury list including key duo Billy Sharp and James Hayter, one goal and no points. We have not won a league game since March 1. Already, like in Wenger’s case, there have been calls for O’Driscoll’s head.
I’ve been watching Doncaster since 1993 and if anyone thinks this is bad, then they can’t have stood among their own piss at Northampton’s old ground, or witnessed the 1-0 defeat at home to Forest Green Rovers at Belle Vue. My goodness, I have seen some shite over the years. These are still great days at Doncaster Rovers, I promise you.
We always knew this year was going to be tough. In the first season of the Championship, we were bottom on Boxing Day with barely a point or goal to our name and we stayed up comfortably. I’m not saying we’ll do that again but there’s no reason why we won’t start to pick up points once players start coming back – and even before then.
Although that is heavily dependent on a good squad of players, I have belief in O’Driscoll, for he has installed a culture at Donny that goes beyond individual results. His focus on performance may appear obsessional to the neutral but it was that approach that kept us afloat after promotion.
We have learnt and accepted that you can play well and lose. That, to many, is no good – I can understand that. But a football season is a 46-game marathon, not a four-game sprint. Sure, it is better to have a good start to the season than a poor one, but how you begin is neither here nor there. League tables at this stage, quite frankly, are a nonsense. Maybe that’s easy to say when you’re bottom but O’Driscoll would laugh it off if we were top.
Although Arsenal and Doncaster may well go on to have poor seasons – and the definitions of that will vary widely – they each have a manager who has transformed the working environments at their clubs. They each have managers who invest in people as much as players; leaders who are prepared to invest in youth and cast the net far and wide to find their latest rough diamond.
I don’t quite know when and why but football has become win-win-win to the extent that managers are now ten-a-penny rather than valued. There is always a bigger picture. Doncaster Rovers will be said to be facing a crisis but we nearly went out of business in the 90s. Losing four games is disappointing but the situation is not irretrievable.
Wenger, meanwhile, has had to say that he’s not a quitter after taking one point from two Premier League games. Does he really have to fight for his job after two league games? Do his achievements since taking over in 1996 count for so little?
I appreciate the frustrations of Arsenal fans but Wenger’s method is proven to work and he built those exceptional Arsenal sides that brought glory in the past. Arsenal won with an identity. Doncaster achieved promotion and survival with an identity. It is increasingly difficult to do that in a game where money talks, but it has been done before. I, for one, admire the fact that both Wenger and O’Driscoll believe it can be done again.
I’m not suggesting that either manager is flawless, or that supporters and journalists cannot ask questions. But if both managers were to leave tomorrow, would it really improve the long-term fortunes of either club? People who disagree with me will argue yes, and, that when change is needed, it’s a switch at the top.
But would it be change for the better or simply for change’s sake? Sometimes, you have to be careful what you wish for because glass cities, like Rome, cannot be built in a day.
