Manager (association football)

Kenny Dalglish, an example of an association football manager.

In association football, a manager is responsible for running a football club or a national team. The manager of a professional club is responsible directly to the club president. The position of manager is almost exclusively used in British football.^[1] In the majority of countries where professional football is played, the person responsible for the direction of a team is awarded the position of coach or "trainer".

The manager's responsibilities in a professional football club usually include but are not limited to the following:

• Selecting a lineup of players for matches.
• Planning the strategy, and instructing the same on the pitch.
• Delegating duties to the first team coach and the coaching and medical staff.
• Scouting for young but talented players for eventual training in the youth academy or the reserves.
• Buying and selling players in the transfer market, including loans.

Some of the above responsibilities are shared with the director of football or sporting director, and are at times delegated to an assistant manager or club coach.

Additionally, depending on the club, some minor^{[citation needed]} responsibilities include:

• Marketing the club, most especially for ticket admission, sponsorship and merchandising.
• Growing turnover and keeping the club profitable.

These responsibilities are more common among managers of small clubs.

The responsibilities of a European football (soccer) manager tend to be divided up in North American professional sports, where the teams usually have a separate general manager and head coach, although occasionally a person may fill both roles of general manager and head coach. While the first team coach in football (soccer) is usually an assistant to the manager who actually holds the real power, the American style general manager and head coach have clearly distinct areas of responsibilities. For example, a typical European football manager would have the final say on player lineups and contract negotiations, while in American sports these duties would be handled separately by the head coach and general manager, respectively.

See also

• Caretaker manager
• Player-manager
• List of managers and coaches who have qualified for the UEFA Pro Licence

References

1. ^ "Manager or Coach?". Football Italia. 2008-09-05. http://www.football-italia.net/blogs/sw48.html. Retrieved 2011-01-30.