Feb 13 2008
Keegan
Kevin Keegan took over as manager of Newcastle United in mid-January and the Magpies have mustered exactly 0 wins and 2 goals in 5 matches. (If you don’t follow the EPL I’m sure none of this makes sense but hang with me, I’ll get to baseball soon). Being a Toon fan myself and hailing from the capital of the world, New York City, I got to know many of the ex-pats and die-hard Newcastle fans that were living in the City. Listening to them speak after Keegan was signed to replace Big Sam Allardyce (who was sacked after less than 1 year) you would think Newcastle had finally broke their Chicago Cubs-esque trophy drought that night. I deferred to their knowledge as they brought up stories of Keegan, as a player, saving the team from dropping to the old 2nd Division and then, as a manager, bringing them the closer to a title than anyone has in half a century. But in my mind I asked some simple questions: How is this going to save our season? Is Keegan a defender? Can he keep Michael Owen from pulling a hammy while sneezing? Will he be able to fill the void in mid-field Newcastle have had for years?
This brings me to my larger point: Sports managers/coaches are almost without exception vastly overrated in terms of their impact on team performance.
Joe Torre is a classic example. No one can ever take away his accomplishments as a manager (4 titles, countless division titles, largest nose is sports) . And if you followed them at all you would likely agree that his greatest strength was managing egos, media, crazy Steinbrenner, and being able to cope with working in the pressure of NYC and the Bronx. I do not mean to belittle this at all and it is exactly why he is considered to be a great manager. However, he was managing a team that was consistently the most talented team in baseball, often by miles. I think most objective people would be hard pressed to state that Torre had an impact in the Yankees on the field play. The skill of the players is what mattered and all Joe had to do was write in all-star after all star in the lineup and give the ball to Stanton/Rivera to close it out. I will be very interested to see if Torre has some type of dramatic impact on the Dodgers this year, outside of perhaps calming a quasi-crazy clubhouse. My guess is it’s unlikely.
For the record I believe this applies to almost every baseball manager. Looking at other sports, a few NFL coaches have an impact (e.g. Bellichek) but the small number of games in the NFL can make a mediocre coach look brilliant if the team gets hot at the right time (e.g. Tom Coughlin who was hated across the tri-state area until late Dec. 07).
Hockey….couldn’t tell you.
The one sport where I could hear an argument would be in basketball. It seems from college to NBA you can have a coach position players and develop schemes that makes a team greater than the sum of their parts. However, I wouldn’t count someone like Phil Jackson. Obviously his triangle scheme is very successful but he also has surrounded himself with the best NBA players of my generation (Jordan/Pippen, Kobe/Shaq). But, I’ll defer to others that follow basketball more than I to make a final ruling on that.
I suppose the way to analyze my theory would be to list managers that were able to have a direct impact on team performance by getting significantly greater than expected performance from minimally skilled teams. The first one that pops into my mind is one of those baseball examples I said was rare:
The 2 003 Marlins were a shit team that floundered (get it) until McKeon took over and led them on an improbable WS victory, over the Yankees no less.
4 Responses to “Keegan”
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In my opinion, until Newcastle ponies up the cashola to bring in some big name players who are currently in top form, they are going to have a tough time challenging for anything. I used to be a fan of Newcastle’s high powered offense when Alan Shearing was there netting goals in his sleep. But since then, they have had a hard time getting top talent and have been hamstrung by lackluster players and performance.
The big 3 have been funneling in the top talent in the world, and La Liga has been doing its part to siphon off some of the top Premiership talent (see Thierry Henry).
Now on to Owen.
Owen was a bust for Real and I think the poor guy is way past his prime. He was probably the most exciting player to watch in the 98 world cup, scoring this unbelievable goal for England against hated rival Argentina:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCGkiwQqp3o
When he was at Liverpool he was exciting to watch, but with a plethora of injuries, I think at the end of the day, the screams of “Go On Fucking Owen!!!” are over…
Regardless, here’s a pretty sweet Owen goal compliation from his hay day, gotta give the man his due:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYqG2Bt7V9A
I’m by no means a hockey expert, but I would say that NHL coaches have an impact on a similar level as the NBA. They have to match up guys to create different lines(offensive and defensive), change lines around when things aren’t working, decide what kind of ice time to give each line, choose who is going to run power plays, and penalty kills, etc. etc. I think a common link that hockey and basketball have is the unlimited substitution ability. It introduces countless different scenarios and options, whereas futbol and baseball, a manager is lmited in his ability to substitute….perhaps that makes each substitiution that much more valuable and meaningful, but at the same time it minimizes a managers ability to directly impact a single game.
On an entirely different level, you left out a key factor about futbol managers. Most, in the European leagues, are responsible for what American sports would consider the GM role. They are the ones who select players to sign and transfer in or out. Now, the teams transfer kitty obviously plays a huge role and can tie the managers hands or allow him to spend freely, but I think that aspect is probably where managers make their biggest impact in the game.
Regarding Owen, the guy is only 28 but he is a broken down Vagina. I ahve never seen a guy besides myself with more soccer…. errr…. Football related injuries. I guy does not have the explosiveness that made him a typical overrated English cunt. He doesn’t play very well with the back to his goal so now he is just another guy against good competition.
Newcastle is stuck between the teams hoping to stay in the Premiere league (gotta stay up for the TV revenue) and the big four (not big 3 Liz - Arsenal, Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool). The have the same issues that other teams such as Everton, Man City, and Tottenham. They are big clubs with huge following in England but no real international appeal. Newcastle has like 60K at every home match. They spend money, the last 3 years they have bought Owen, Duff and Alan Smith. At one point 3 very sought after players. They are perennial underachivers. They hire Keegan who left them in the 90s where we on to have less than stellar stints at Fulham, Man City and the England National Team.
Its easier said than done but they need to take the Everton or Blackburn approach and hire an up and coming manager and take the time to bring along younger players. Paying for over priced players who are coming off dismal spells at other clubs is not a prudent approach(Owen, Barton, Duff, Smith ect).
[…] More importantly Newcastle were officially removed from the relegation battle and can now focus on building their team for next year in the top flight. Their performance over the past 6 matches and revitalization under Kevin Keegan has also shown that some interweb’s bloggers, who shall remain nameless, don’t know shit. […]