The manager is no longer the most important person at a football club – perhaps it is time for those above them to front up to the media “Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst because many people didn’t support us ” and “I came here to be the manager, not to be the coach ” will ultimately be the managerial epitaphs of Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amorim. Maresca instigated a chain of events at Chelsea that resulted in his departure , while open sourness between dugout and hierarchy at Manchester United rapidly descended in a civil war which ended with Amorim’s abrupt sacking on Monday . It is the nature of being a head coach – sorry Ruben … manager – that they are required to face journalists potentially four times a week in press conferences. Additionally, they need something to say to rights-holder broadcasters, who conduct separate interviews. Not many embrace the challenge; for some it is an entirely irritating aspect of the role, a distraction from the training pitch, especially when results are not going well. Continue reading...