Conflicts between players and coaches are far from rare in professional football, but how can these relationships spiral out of control? And would some players take delight in a coach’s struggles?
The nature of football means that even the most successful and trusted coaches are unlikely to have the full support of the entire playing staff.
The reasons for this may vary, from the most obvious of being left out of the team, to differing philosophies on how the game should be played.
If you are winnin,g these issues can be overcome; lose and these can become terminal.
The current predicament that Andre Villas Boas finds himself in at Chelsea is very much one where the way he wants his team to play is being severely undermined by results.
Decisions like the one to relegate club legend Frank Lampard to the substitutes bench are hard to justify when performances are as poor.
However, this is far from the only problem the Portuguese has faced.
Having been appointed to overhaul an ageing playing squad and implement a fast paced attacking brand of football his job was never likely to be easy. When early struggles became apparent Villas Boas changed his tactics.
Results improved initially but have since dropped off raising the question of whether the change damaged his authority? Perhaps, but his predicament offered him little either way, win and players wishes appear to have overridden the philosophy of the coach, or continue with what was not working and he will be open to criticism of being inflexible and players will continue to lose confidence in him.
If he had no philosophy this would not matter but the Chelsea Boss has a very strong view on how the game should be played and this is central to his ability as a coach, take it away and his authority is undermined.
The first season of Ange Postecoglou’s rein at Brisbane Roar presented very similar problems to Villas Boas but he stuck to his philosophy despite doubts from some of the playing squad and emerged as a much stronger coach.
The backing Postecoglou received from the clubs hierarchy made this possible, whereas Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich’s track record of dispensing with managers allows the players to go against the manager as there is every likelihood he will be sacked.
This raises the interesting question of whether a player would endeavour to get a coach the sack.
In recent days, sections of the media on the UK have made the comment that some of the Chelsea players would be taking delight in Villas Boas struggles.
This is doubtful but there is a growing sense of a players versus coach dynamic emerging, with Villas Boas remarking that it is not important that all the players believe in his ‘project.’
When the divide between players and coach emerges success is rarely likely. I have played in teams where the coach has turned on the players, in some cases rightly so, but when they take no responsibility themselves the relationship can break down quickly.
When things are going wrong a sense of togetherness and faith in a common belief is essential to turn things around. If the coach is unable to create such a feeling there is little chance of form improving.
This is not to lay all the blame on the coach, players can easily lose perspective.
The all consuming nature of professional football makes it easy to lose sight of the bigger picture and neglect the amazing opportunity you have by getting absorbed in unimportant issues.
However, this not an excuse as the club must always come first and power battles are never going to be in the interests of the club.
A coach can lose the dressing room and hard decisions on his future have to be taken, but there is plenty that both players and coaches can do to ensure this does not happen.
The key to this is results, but a shared sense of responsibility is just as important.
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