The association football manager is traditionally a creature of habit and routine. After matches, he will speak in proverbs, cliches and phrases that will be vaguely relevant to the match, but often he will talk nonsense. Before matches, football managers will be guarded and defensive but some will speak their mind truthfully and engage the listener.
Managers are the voice of their team and will often be caught up in the emotion of the sport as they become agitated and aggressive about probing questions from interviewers. This article will go through some of the most interesting interviews, comments and answers given by some of the best, and worst, managers of past and present.
One of the most charismatic and fascinating managers of recent years is the former Chelsea and Porto and current Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho. He regularly provides intelligent, humorous remarks that shock, confuse and delight in equal measure. Referring to himself as 'a special one', Mourinho was introduced to the world's media when he became Chelsea manager.
Mourinho's interview technique would lead to him being regarded as arrogant, although his arrogance would sometimes appear to be a persona he adopted. Mourinho would use analogies to describe performances and his players, such as 'we all want to play great music all the time, but if that is not possible, you have to hit as many right notes as you can.'
On describing how to build a good football team, Mourinho compared his players to eggs. 'In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes.' Comparing his players to eggs reminded the media of the unforgettable Eric Cantona press-conference where he spoke of seagulls following the trawler.
'When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.' Cantona was referring to the British media following his behaviour closely, waiting for him to make a mistake. Cantona and Mourinho are perceived in a similar way by the media, arrogant but with amazing talents that seem to allow them to make such outrageous and abstruse comments.
English football managers are generally more obvious and lucid in their interviews, although they too will often make remarks that make no sense at all. One of the least successful England managers, Graham Taylor, filmed a television documentary while in charge of the national team for the 1994 World Cup Qualification campaign.
Taylor would often be caught on the camera making questionable comments, and was vilified in the press for the team's poor performances. When England lost to Sweden in a Euro '92 group match, Britain's best selling newspaper ran the headline 'Swedes 2 Turnips 1' with Taylor's head manipulated to look like a turnip.
'Do I not like that' was Taylor's response to his underachieving side while England manager. This phrase was picked up by advertisers who would paraphrase it for a TV commercial where Taylor is sent something he doesn't like. Graham Taylor's previous achievements were undermined and forgotten by his performance as England manager, but this failed to stop him making strange comments.
When asked about what being the manager of England was like, Taylor stated 'Very few of us have any idea whatsoever of what life is like living in a goldfish bowl,except, of course, for those of us who are goldfish'. It's nothing on Mourinho's omelette and egg analogy but this is from the man who said 'In football, time and space are the same thing.'
Football managers often give interviews when emotions are running high and so are forgiven for outbursts sometimes. However, some of the silliest phrases and quotes cannot be excused. Former England and Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan is regularly responsible for some of the best quotes recorded including 'He's using his strength. And that is his strength - his strength.'
England managers seem to be the victims of speaking the most nonsense as demonstrated by Taylor, Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson. Following a defeat by a poor side, Robson defended his tactics with the infamous phrase, 'We didn't underestimate them. They were just a lot better than we thought.' I present to you the association football manager.
