‘I think I always had it in my mind that I wanted to be a manager. I got the opportunity to coach when I was at Leicester, and that was invaluable because it was a great education to be involved every day and to see how the manager and coaches prepared, but there’s not a thing in the world that can prepare you for being the number one. When you’re a coach you think, “I can do that, I can be a manager.” But it’s when you actually become a manager and walk into the office on your first day with everyone there and looking at you, that’s when you realise they’re all thinking, “Right, what are you going to do?”
‘When I was at Leicester I got a call to go for an interview at Charlton for the manager’s job. Within twenty-four hours I was their manager, which felt great, but that’s when everything else starts to kick in and you begin to appreciate how much the job involves. There’s so much that you have to organise, and you soon realise that no matter what department in the club, it all comes to you. I think that was the biggest change for me. When I went to Charlton as manager they were in League One. As a coach you organise and do everything you need to for the day, and then you go home. As the manager that doesn’t happen. You speak to the owner, you speak to the chief executive, you speak to the head of recruitment, you speak to agents – it never seems to stop. What you do have to do is try to organise some sort of time for yourself, but that in itself is hard to do because you want to do the job right, you want to do it well and you have to get involved in everything.
‘One of the big things that hit me when I first got the job was when I walked out at the Valley for my first game there. I walked to the technical area, the whistle blew and I thought, “I’m leading this team now!” I’ll never forget it. I turned round and looked at the dugout and the main stand during the game and thought, “This is it. You always said you wanted to manage. Now this is it.” You stand there and you’re really on your own.
‘Winning as a manager surpasses winning as a player because it’s the culmination of your work through the week, and to see it come together on a Saturday with a win, especially if the performance is to the levels you expect, it just surpasses everything. But if you lose it’s terrible. There’s no middle ground. It’s so up and down, but as a manager you know that’s in front of you when you take the job. You don’t switch off, you’re forever thinking about it. Managers are quite good actors – they’ll say they’re going out for a meal with their family to relax and enjoy themselves after a match, but all through that meal they’re just thinking about the game they’ve just played and the next one that’s coming up.
‘I think the first six months I had at Charlton were invaluable. I had time to think about the next season and the restructuring I wanted to do with the team to try to get us promotion. We had a great start to that second season and didn’t lose for twelve games. We got promotion and that was my first full season as a manager, so it was a big moment for me. The next season we were in the Championship, and you have to reassess and be realistic about what you can achieve as a newly promoted team – but we managed to finish ninth and were only three points off the play-offs. The season after I knew there were rumblings in the background about the club getting a new owner, and whenever there’s a change of ownership it’s very rare that you keep your job. It has happened, but it didn’t happen with me.’
I suppose I was fortunate, because although I managed for seventeen years I was never actually sacked. But for most managers the reality is that the sack is really just around the corner, and for managers in the Championship their average tenure is about eight months, which is staggering. Managing in the Premier League is one thing and it brings its own set of problems, but managing outside of it can be very different. There isn’t the money for clubs in the Championship or lower that there is in the Premier League, but everyone in the Championship would love to make that leap up to play with the elite and enjoy all the riches that come with it. As a consequence there’s enormous pressure on a lot of Championship managers to achieve that goal and win promotion.
‘The reality is that twenty-one teams in the Championship are going to fail every season,’ Chris points out. ‘Only three teams go up, and I think with lots of clubs short-termism comes into play. They want to get that success quickly, and maybe are not prepared to plan longer-term and build. I think as a manager you have a responsibility to try to bring young players through, to try to make that happen, but you also know that you’re not always going to get time. That’s the reality, and losing your job is something that every manager has to come to terms with. As a manager I think you should have a period of two or three months out of it when you lose your job. It gives you time to live your life a little bit, and mentally and physically get yourself back to where you should be because it’s a stressful job. The stresses of running a club and dealing with different personalities is very tough on an individual. I think you need that break before you go back in. You always want to do things better next time and hope the people you work for are in line with you.’
Being a manager is tough for anyone, and what you do in your job is always under the microscope. You operate in an extremely public arena and your work is judged on a very regular basis. Chris is one of the few black managers we have in this country and as such I wondered if that brought any added pressures to what is already a very difficult job.
‘To be honest I think the added pressure will always be there because it’s such a big topic,’ he says. ‘It’s an area where people have always wondered, “Why hasn’t it happened more?” So I understand the position I’m in, and a few people who have been before me and who are in positions now. I understand how it is with regard to how I carry myself. I understand that people are looking up to me to see how I handle it, and that it may encourage others to become managers. Being a manager is a huge job regardless, but I’ve got a second job. I understand that to make a difference I have to do my job well. It may not always end up the way you want it to at a club, but as long as you’ve made a difference when you’ve been a manager at your particular club then that’s good. I know people talk about the “Rooney Rule”. That works – or has been working – in America. Maybe they’ve just got a bit more history in other sports like basketball; it’s kind of been ingrained in the mindset of people for a long time there. We have to start somewhere and that somewhere is now. I think there are more black players thinking about coaching and managing, but I think maybe in the past there weren’t too many people to look up to.’
Whenever I get asked about the job by a young manager and about how they should approach it, I always say that the first thing to do is get the expectation level right, from the chairman and from the board. What do they think would be a successful year on the budget they are going to give the manager? I think managing in the Premier League is totally different to managing in the Championship. The chances that come along for a young manager are few and far between. If you don’t give it everything you’ll regret it forever. You have to be totally consumed by it. As a footballer Chris played in all the divisions as well as for England. He had the drive, ability and dedication he needed when he was playing, and hopefully those same qualities will see him have a long and successful career as a manager.
Chapter 2
Harry Kane, Mark Noble
When fans go to watch their favourite teams and see the players walk out onto the pitch before the start of a game they are probably unaware of the different paths those footballers may have taken to get to that point in their lives. Being a first-team player doesn’t just happen, and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight. It has usually involved years of dedication, years of having to prove themselves and years of having to cope with the ups and downs the game will inevitably throw at anyone who wants to earn their living as a professional footballer.
Becoming a regular Premier League player can now offer financial rewards beyond most fans’ dreams. Players are lucky to be playing in an era that offers these rewards, but they don’t