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A quick look at the top managers in the English Premier league shows that the top managers are usually NOT former great players. Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, and Jose Mourinho were average players (at best) but have excelled as managers.

There are some exceptions. Glenn Hoddle was a great player and a decent manager. Martin O'Neill was a decent player, as was the late great Brian Clough.

There are, however, lots of great former players who have been classed as failures as managers. David Platt, Tony Adams, and Bryan Robson spring to mind.

I guess it's not really surprising that so many of the top managers were average players. They have a motivation to succeed to compensate for their lack of playing success. And they also spent a lot of time sitting in the stands or on the bench waiting games, and learning from the managers that they played under. And their professional contracts will often have been terminated whilst they were still quite young, meaning that they are forced to either go into coaching or else quit the game.

The unfortunate thing is that when a club finds itself looking for a new manager, there is often a clamour for a former playing great. Clubs would perhaps achieve much greater success if they looked at the lower divisions for managers who weren't household names as players but who are carving out successful managerial careers.

Learn more about this author, Simon Wright.
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