Stars in Their Eyes

Blinded by the light

With the arrival of former star defender Ciro Ferrara as manager at Juventus and the recent announcement of talented ex-Milan maestro Leonardo at the helm at AC, the current trend of club owners turning to retired superstar players in a bid for success defies logic.

Ferrara, the players, soaks up the adulation

In recent times many former greats have tarnished their reputations by failing to live up to their billing. The arrival of legendary Toon striker Alan Shearer on Tyneside late last season did little to halt their downward spiral to the Championship. It is too early to predict what will happen with Shearer’s long term managerial career, but in the short-term he’s taken a battering. Man Utd icon Roy Keane enjoyed a superb freshman year at Sunderland before quitting during his second season at the Stadium of Light under a cloud of player discontent. Leading Ipswich back to the Premiership would go a long way to re-establishing himself on the football circuit.

Very few great players have over the years become great managers. In fact, if you look at the current crop of top managers, very few of them enjoyed more than a modest career. A young Jose Mourinho failed to make the grade at youth level before turning to coaching. Arsene Wenger played only eleven professional matches, all with his hometown club Strasbourg. Rafael Benitez won a single Spanish Tercera Division title while at AD Parla. Of course there are exceptions to the rule. Josep Guardiola’s recent Champions League triumph as Barca manager mirrors his European Cup victory as a player with Barca in 1992.

Van Basten struggling to juggle management

Club owners hire these former legendary players to boost supporter and player morale. As with all new managers, the initial impact tends to be positive. But the long term consequences can be catastrophic to team unity a fan attendance. The jury is still out on several big names including Marco Van Basten, Jurgen Klinsmann and Mark Hughes.