Oh how are the mighty fallen...

[david in sweden]

There is a fallacy in the footballing world that great players will...almost certainly ...become great coaches - WRONG !

Of course there are exceptions .  Going back many decades, one recalls that Alf Ramsey (former Saints, Spurs and England captain) did manage the team that

we brag about to our grandchildren, who actually won the only trophy that England can rejoice in  (A.D. 1966.) and some of we " oldies " can still name that side.

 

Sadly many of that  side failed miserably in their attempts to become managers, and so it has often been ever since.  Most recently, we saw a number of former

100 cap England greats (Gerrard, Lampard are examples) who have followed the same fate, and their own careers have paled into insignificance in the mists of time. 

Wayne Rooney (another in that group) is hanging on by his teeth having picked up his first win at lowly Plymouth (apologies to Argyle fans ) thanks to a last minute

winner on Saturday.  Just how long he will survive is in the hands of the local fortune-teller.  So why do these great names fare so badly? perhaps the memory of 

their own successes is merely a concept in their own mind which they try to convey to a younger generation who lack their skill and experience.

I write this having read of a recent game in Holland, where the once great (and universally feared) .. Robin van Persie  watched his side lose 1-9 at home.

( Tell us about it Robin, at least your mob scored one).. but the fact remains that " greatness"  is not an infectious quality that easily rubs off onto others. 

 

Those "greats" who can boast about their own careers (Guardiola , Mourinho etc, ).. have proven that you can win things - if your club throws enough money

at it, whilst others (Wenger and Klopp) are examples of men who had no real playing career of their own, but were " theorists " who fathomed out the problems -

and ..did win  things.  In a week when Sweden buried its own footballing hero (Sven-Göran Eriksson) with almost Royal dignity,  it ended the footballing life  of

" another theorist "  who had no playing career himself to speak of,  yet won 18 trophies for clubs in various European countries over a period of 40 years.

but who was brutally mistreated by the English media, who had no-one else to exploit ...before moving onto the Royal Family.

 

So where does this leave Saints and Russell Martin ?  Like Rooney he hopes for an upturn in form using the tactics he knows and on which his career depends.

Looking back to 1966.. (first time Saints won promotion to the top tier) Ted Bates was the first of  a very few, who achieved that  feat amongst the several dozen

men who later succeeded him, and of whom Russell Martin is the latest.  The " not-so old " amongst us recall that Lawrie McMenemy inherited a top-half team

( from aforementioned Bates) in 1972, and promptly got the club relegated, but the Board of that time had patience with him, he stayed on and three years 

later he guided Saints to the only trophy that we can brag about...when winning the FA Cup 1976... ( and many of us can also name that Saints side.) 

 

It remains to be seen if the Board of Sport Republic keep faith with Martin ...and give him time, or if (like Rooney) he will await his P45 after the next defeat. 

How long that " time" is likely to be is....another question for the fortune-teller. 

Edited September 16 by david in sweden