Violent Managers

Yesterday, in a Premier League soccer match that  may possibly be witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, we encountered the unsavoury spectacle of a football manager head-butting a player from the opposing team.

Press reports appear to have overlooked that this act of violence was in itself a serious criminal offence.  A complaint to the police may yet result in a prosecution for an offence of assault.

If an incident like this occurred in a private or public sector business, one can imagine the immediate consequences.  The manager could expect to be dismissed instantly for violent conduct, frogmarched from the premises and the police summoned.

But for some strange reason soccer seems to be different.  Within hours the employing club announced that the manager was to be fined a substantial sum and that, so far as they are concerned, appears to be the end of it.

One could be forgiven for thinking, perhaps, that this action was to head off, or at least mitigate, any further action by the Football Association.

No doubt the FA will wish to consider the case under its own disciplinary procedures, but at the time of writing it is not clear.  If past performance is anything to go by, however, the penalty for this highly paid manager is likely to amount to no more than a slap on the back of the hand.

The manager has apologised publicly for his actions, but there is history.  Already this season he has apologised for a foul-mouthed touchline rant at another manager and on an earlier occasion faced disciplinary action for pushing a match official.

So what chance is there of running a disciplined team when the manager is unable to keep control of himself?  When faced with violent or unacceptable conduct from his own players, what is he to do?  One would have thought his position is quite untenable.

It is perhaps unsurprising that many soccer players are viewed by sections of the public as overpaid, underperforming and ill-disciplined.  If this major sport of ours is to retain the description of “sport” and if it is to flourish, the time has come for the game’s regulators and employers to impose discipline and take robust action where it is called for.