Last night, MOTD2 (that’s Match of the Day 2!) a revelation, premiership football teams are just like project teams. We were watching the Man City game (the only team to watch if you live in Manchester) and talking about the latest news about two of the players not getting along. The team dynamic is threatened when you have one hard working professional versus the prima donna superstar but of course team harmony must come from the manager and his ability to gel the team. Mark Hughes (the manager) thinks he’s the programme manager of Man City but sadly he’s just the project manager really. Why a programme manager? Well the programme manager has to manage down (to the team) as well as up (to the board) but the reality of Hughes’ role is that he only has real responsibility for making the team work – he can’t influence the board (can you imagine him telling the board that the Brazilian superstar goes?). I asked the question last night, is that why the Director of Football role was introduced in Premiership football (in effect a programme manager)? Someone who has the skills, gravitas, influence and business savvy to manage the board and their expectations?
So what will become of City’s season with their current manager? Will the project manager dig in his heels and concentrate on team dynamics – working with what he’s got rather than bleating about what he’s inherited? We can only watch each week and see…..
