Player power is real and is here to stay.
With Torres emulating his Argentinian pal Mascherano in
Trying to engineer a move away from Liverpool ,or Rooney double bluffing Sir Alex, or Tevez doing it every six months, the evidence is there for all to see.
However player power is now moving to a new level,and this new trend threatens the role of managers as currently perceived. The obvious example is the demise of Roy Hodgson at Liverpool.
On the 5 Jan 2010 I was in a pub in Bootle watching Blackburn v Liverpool when Gerard stepped up to take a penalty, every scouser in the place was adamant he had deliberately missed it. Nobody has satisfactorily explained Chelseas alarming dip in form after the bumping of the popular Butch Wilkins.
We now come to the case of NUFC and the much reviled Mike Ashley.
Which takes us to our current situation.I am sure Ashley was aware of the well documented player power rise at SJP and having observed at first hand the positive side of it vis a vis the rapid return from the championship became a convert.The bond between responsible senior players who clearly care and a passionate fan base is an awesome thing to behold.
The trick is to have a management figure to preserve its good aspects I guess that Hughton had lost the balance somehow .However it was realized that a managerial headliner might do more harm than good. Enter Mr Pardew who’s role is in truth I think more of a chief coach than a modern manager.Having learnt an expensive lesson from his dealings with Kevin Keegan , Ashley has someone who will toe the party line ,but unlike many I am not sure this is a bad thing.
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