Winning the Press War - The Manager's style counts

Article by e-Football Correspondent John Hannam

I've been listening to the radio this morning and also watched a couple of press conference clips and it struck me how important it is now for a manager to be good at managing, or at least controlling their relationship with the press. Just this morning I've watched or heard three different managers, all with very different styles and all with different degree's of success and outcome.

Harry Redknapp was interviewed on the radio and did what he always does. He exudes rough, gruff, man of the people charm. He is full of clichés, says very little that is genuinely insightful or new but charms his way through his press face offs and comes across as a genuine guy that you'd love to have a beer with. Underneath all of that of course must be a shrewd brain, and one suspects, a man who if crossed would probably not quite be as friendly, lovable and easy to get along with as it seems. However Harry's "personality" is now firmly etched in the public mindset and to some extent this is also mirrored in the press. Harry is portrayed as a cheeky, chirpy, chappy who is loved by his players, the fans and who's teams reflect his nature, sunny, funny and good entertainment.

Contrast that with Andre Villas Boas......This is a man who at all times seems to be deeply serious, thoughtful, intelligent, but perhaps somewhat hard work. He appears to be a man on a mission and someone who is always slightly defensive. To be so young and have achieved what he has at that age marks him out as someone of huge talent, but he appears to feel that he is slightly undervalued or perhaps not quite yet confident in his own skin, and as a result is always a bit prickly and often reacts in a heated way when perhaps some humour or just ignoring a comment would be the better approach. His reaction to the Lloris situation has been interesting. He was obviously in the wrong, the world and his wife know that the player should have been taken off but rather than either ignoring it and letting it blow over he has chosen to attack, and in doing so stirred it into a much bigger controversy. He seems to be out to prove the point that he is in control and is more than happy to pick fights with his critics or the press to do so. The problem with that is that if you keep picking fights you are bound to lose some, and you also antagonise the press in doing so. That becomes a dangerous place to be if results begin to go against you. Newspapers, TV sports reporters, interviewers etc have long memories and are very likely to stick the knife in if given the opportunity to gain revenge for some ancient spat. At the moment he is doing a good job, spurs are playing well and he therefore is escaping the flak. However in my view he would be better off winning some friends and stocking up on some good spirit while he can.

An interesting player of the media was the recently departed Fergie. His method was based completely on his success and on the back of that his use of power and intimidation. Fergie attained a position of such elevation and status in the game that he became almost untouchable. The fact that he was also at one of the three biggest clubs in the world meant that in effect the press were running scared. They could not afford to alienate either Utd or Fergie, and on the rare occasion that someone tried it they were immediately banned and shunned. It was a style that only some can use and combines personal strength of character and an intimidatory manner with the background knowledge that only the foolhardy will dare to oppose him.

The current master (although I would say that wouldn't I) is Jose Mourinho. Yes he often oversteps the mark, says the controversial, or does the unthinkable. However he often does this with such a sense of style and more importantly a use of humour, that he gets away with it. Chelsea have been vilified (often quite rightly) over the last few years and as a result have built up many enemies in the press, media, game generally and amongst other supporters. We have probably been the most hated club in football. However since the return of the special one this summer I have sensed a slight thawing in the frosty relationships with the rest of the world. Jose has been on a charm offensive and it appears to be working. His press conferences are often mobile comedy show's. He answers questions with a twinkle in his eye and tongue firmly in cheek, he deflects critical remarks with a self deprecating pun and pokes fun at himself and his questioners. I've just watched him handle the question of Hazard missing training which would previously have resulted in negative back page headlines, by cracking a couple of jokes, castigating the player in a gentle way but at the same time making the whole thing seems a trivial matter....and the press accepted it, not only that, they all laughed along with him.

I'm sure it won't last , Jose's nature is that at some point he will erupt and controversy follows him too closely to disappear forever, but for now he seems to have the media and press in his back pocket, and as a result Chelsea's reputation is better than it has been since Carlo Ancelotti was in the hot seat. Long may it continue.

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