(head) coach / manager

[milan2003_07]

My question concerns soccer/football, one of the most popular games on the planet.

Karlo Anchelotti is the head coach (coach) of Real Madrid (since 2021, again), Pep Guardiola is the head coach (coach) of Manchester City. Raphael Benitez used to be the head coach of Liverpool (about 10 years ago).

Sometimes on TV or the Internet I saw the title 'Manager' instead of 'coach'. E.g., Karlo Ancelotti was called the manager of Real Madrid, Sir Alex Fergusson was called the manager of Manchester United, etc.

What's the difference? Why are coaches called managers?

 

[jutfrank]

What's the difference?

Nothing, really. Back in the last century, they were all called 'managers' and still largely are, especially by older fans like me.

Why are coaches called managers?

It would make more sense to ask why managers are now called head coaches. The answer is that there have been over recent decades some minor changes to the job profile, where the role of someone like Ancelotti has moved slightly away from managerial responsibilities.

 

[milan2003_07]

Nothing, really. Back in the last century, they were all called 'managers' and still largely are, especially by older fans like me.



It would make more sense to ask why managers are now called head coaches. The answer is that there have been over recent decades some minor changes to the job profile, where the role of someone like Ancelotti has moved slightly away from managerial responsibilities.

What is the difference between 'manager' and 'head coach' in job responsibilities? I've always thought that a head coach is responsible for tactics, strategy, discipline of players and actually everything needed for the preparation for the game and training process.

What does a manager do? Isn't a manager a person who fulfills administrative functions in a team?

 

[probus]

To inject a transatlatic flavour into this discussion, the situation is the same in baseball. The head coach has always been called the manager, for no discernible reason except tradition. The true managerial tasks such as negotiating player contracts and trading players fall to higher-ups, usually the General Manager.

 

[emsr2d2]

This thread from last year might interest you.

 

[jutfrank]

What is the difference between 'manager' and 'head coach' in job responsibilities? I've always thought that a head coach is responsible for tactics, strategy, discipline of players and actually everything needed for the preparation for the game and training process.

Yes, that's right. However, the title 'Head Coach' puts emphasis only on the coaching side of things rather than the wider managerial responsibilities. I think it's basically because the structure of football clubs is different now from how it was twenty years ago, with the relatively new position of Director Football becoming increasingly more important. Someone like Pep Guardiola does have great influence on the business side of things in terms of targeting and buying new players, and setting the style of play, etc. (not all clubs let their managers do that—think Chelsea) but still his official title is Head Coach (I think). Equally, if you consider someone like Alex Ferguson, by all accounts he didn't do a great deal of actual coaching, in terms of spending time on the training pitches. His influence was largely on managing the players as human beings, picking the team, motivating, etc. This is the way the industry is changing.

Read the article linked below, which we discussed last year. I don't have too much more to add than what it says there. What I do know extremely well is what fans, people outside of the industry, actually say, and to generalise this, I'd say that older native speakers like myself are still very likely to say 'manager' whereas younger native speakers and non-native speakers are now more likely to say 'coach' regardless of what exactly the job involves.

Head coach vs. manager – an unnecessary trend?

The title of head coach has become fashionable in the last few years, but it’s an unnecessary trend just like platform trainers. With Newcastle recently appointing John Carver in the role until the…

offsiderulepodcast.com

 

[SoothingDave]

To inject a transatlatic flavour into this discussion, the situation is the same in baseball. The head coach has always been called the manager, for no discernible reason except tradition. The true managerial tasks such as negotiating player contracts and trading players fall to higher-ups, usually the General Manager.

And the baseball team manager wears a uniform just like the players. Strange.

 

[Tarheel]

There was a time when the manager might also have been one of the players. (Admittedly, it's been a long time since that was the case.)

 

[Rover_KE]

They're still commonly found in lower-league clubs with limited funds. They're called player-managers.

 

[milan2003_07]

There was a time when the manager might also have been one of the players. (Admittedly, it's been a long time since that was the case.)

I think I remember some of such cases in soccer (football), but I don't remember the exact names at the moment. Active managers who are also players used to be encountered in football.

In 2002 the Irish coach (manager) Mic McCarthy acted as a manager and partly as a player because he participated in the training process of the Irish team as a player. But officially he was a coach, not a player.

If I remember some more, I'll come up with their names

 

[jutfrank]

Mick McCarthy was never a player-manager with Ireland. Joining training session matches doesn't count!

He was, however, player-manager at Millwall.