Breaking Lines

It seems to happen every year at every club. Sometimes its benign and there's no real effect; a few squad members who normally have limited game time that might effect the subs bench, but perhaps no real impact on the team. Or... ...its senior, important, vital cogs in the team machinery who are all struck down at the same time and the season goes from one of immense promise and potential to a tough season, possibly staring at disaster. An injury crisis can play hell with the best laid plans of everyone at the club! So we need someone to blame done we - that's what it's about surely?! Normally the medical department are the ones getting the brunt of the ire from all corners as some fans, coaches, executive and athletes seek the reason behind why the crisis is happening! But most of the time the medical department is just picking up the pieces from situations not of their making! The performance and coaching departments are far more influence in how the athletes are prepared and maintained. Is the training appropriate, is the preparation work adequate to keep the squad resilient, is the periodisation of the season appropriate? The coordination of performance and coaching has a huge bearing on wether the crisis is, really, a crisis! And of course the athletes must take their share of the responsibility - they need to work hard, rest well, eat correctly and ensure their recovery time is used appropriately - not too much extra curricular activities!! So join us as we discuss how an injury crisis manifests and what we can do about it - if anything!!

Every season the fixture calendar is sprinkled with those large occasion games that are very much a different take on your run-of-the-mill league games - derby games, playoff matches, relegation six-pointers or giant-killing cup fixtures whet the appetitive of players, coaches, clubs and fans as the season proceeds. Yet for the manager or head coach they provide a different challenge beyond the electricity and excitement of the fixture. Navigating your way through a specific fixture is laden with both opportunity and jeopardy! Win and you are a hero; lose and your standing on the terraces and boardroom can be severely - or even terminally - undermined! Join us as we take you through the whistle stop tour of how a management team may choose to approach such games and how they strategise to come out with the best possible result from the fixtures.

In days of yore a Sheriff had a wide range of duties - mostly on behalf of a king or other powerful figure or landowner - that they oversaw to ensure that things were done as they were supposed to and peace and order was maintained. The modern elite football club is a huge organisation where the front and back office staff (as well as the players) are operating in a wide variety of departments and roles that give the team the best chance of success. And where traditionally all of the football departments' management was with 'The Manager', contemporary football clubs have chosen to follow a new model, that of the Sporting or Technical Director! This episode of the Breaking Lines Podcast explores the different types of Sporting or Technical Director roles and the backgrounds and types of people who have taken on this exciting new position. From ex-players and managers, recruiters and administrators, they job sees people from a kaleidoscope of previous roles and careers. Done well they can really benefit the Head Coach (the more modern title for the old 'manager' titles!) and those working in football departments - so much so in fact that the role itself may soon have its very own transfers! With Dan Ashworth having an alleged £20m price tag on his head to move from Manchester United from Newcastle United, are we now at a pivot point in the world of football administration?

The long season is nearing its end across the land but there's still enough games to play - and that's when an interesting anomaly happens every single year. A Unique Psychology... Teams seemingly cruising at the higher reaches of the league suddenly develop vertigo and begin to have patchy results. Meanwhile in the depths of the divisions there's a collective spark of life as teams seemingly realise it's now or never and try to get themselves out of trouble. Meanwhile in the middle of the leagues, teams hit the doldrums or worse. Sleepwalking their way into relegation trouble as results and motivation seemingly dry up or making a late surge for the top as results suddenly click! The psychology of the situation is fascinating as pressure is manifested in a variety of ways - positive pressure at the top can also be overbearing, negative pressure at the bottom can paralyse decisions and actions. Each result and performance can increase the expectation or release the valve and bring more calmness! But one thing is for sure. It's the time of the season where form is turned on its head and if you don't deal with it, the end of the season can lead to either devastation - or wild celebrations!

Analyse This, Analyse That… each and every moment of every game is hyper analysed today. A player, coach and team cant do anything without it being dissected on the studio, on social media or elsewhere. Sure it gives great insights into the game and how it is being played - and education for those interested in the nuances of the tactical challenges, but it also can be used to build a narrative around a coach or players as their performances are dissected to within an inch of its life! It's come s long way from a single video tape and a chat with the manager where essentially you (as a player) had to agree with them as a manager! As Brian Clough once quipped... And as technology and data provider continue to become even more elaborate with their understanding of the game, have we lost the true essence of sport; Decisions are made, mistakes happen because humans play sport in the moment - yet the analysis takes place using supercomputers and slow motion replays and under zero pressure! For the modern coach they need to decide what and who is relevant as they look to build a winning team Thanks for listening and please subscribe to us on your podcast player or see the episode on our YouTube channel @BreakingLines! Join us next time on breaking lines when we go behind the dressing room door once more!

"We would like to thank them for their endeavours and wish them well for the future"... Cut and paste to many a club website announcing the departure of the manager or head coach from their role - add in the now infamous corner flag photo and you've got yourself a Managerial Casualty. Jurgen Klopp has managed his own imminent departure from Liverpool differently - he's chose the time, the place and the how of his future abdication of the Head Coach role. Only very few get afforded this; and normally because of the success, loyalty or connection that they have with a club. For everyone else, its a short message and the bus fare home dodging irate supporters who've been baying for blood for weeks, or even months! This episode we explore some of the strategies that managers and clubs may use to ensure that the inevitable end is beneficial to all in so far as it's as fair as possible. It doesn't always work out for a manager, but ending a reign with mutual respect is probably best for all parties!

It's never easy for a player to accept that they have possibly reached the end of their club career - not necessarily their whole career completely - but at a particular club or at a level of the game. Some are cognisant enough and know it's happening and begin to prepare; others stay in a state of denial. Their game awareness still works fantastically - but maybe the physical side of the game eventually retires you despite all the additional work, rest and individual attention received. And it's also the same with iconic players. Scorers of important goals, fan favourites, etc - the fans also find it hard to let go too! Everyone wants to remember the player as they were, perhaps not as they are. Yet managing these situations is never easy for the manager. You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't! So what to do... This episode explores how there are a number of ways to potentially come to an amicable end where player, coach, club and fans get to give each other the send off they all would prefer - but that also means everyone accepts the path that's about to be taken. And that doesn't always happen and that's when difficulties can occur.

Many a Friday night has been whittled away in the environs of a *insert name of chain* Hotel by football teams across the world as the logistics of ensuring you're in the right town or city for the following days match kick in and the motorways are clogged with luxurious team coaches. But with perhaps 20 hours to kill before kick off, what does the team do? The logistics of getting everyone to the hotel can be a challenge especially if the coach driver has their traffic radar set to Join Every Traffic Jam! The challenges of just getting out of London for example! You have a journey, before you begin your actual journey out of the capital to the other part of the country. Catering for a professional football team is complex - dietary requirements, variety across a meal and a season and ensuring the Apple Crumble has enough crumble and just the right type of custard! And then its prep for the game - the compulsory walk to nowhere, meetings galore and then off to victory… or at least thats the plan! Please subscribe to us on your podcast provider and give us a rating, and perhaps a review - we appreciate them all - and they help us climb the podcast league! Join us next time on Breaking Lines - thanks for listening!

Kenny Rogers sang it well - you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold, em... and half time in football is when the manager plays some of his big chips! It is such a tricky period for a head coach - do you make tactical changes, substitutions even. A period of calm reflection or get stuck into them with an almighty rant. These are the choices As the manager walks down the tunnel the thoughts that have been forming in their mind in the previous half begin to crystallise and the decision of what to do next are pressing Do you need to change the mindset of the players? Change the game plan or change the players? Is the formation right? What will our opponent do? All of these are options and of course there are others also adding their opinion into the mix. Coaches who may see other elements of the game, medics advising on player injuries, performance staff looking at the capacity of some players to last the pace! Maintain the status quo MAY work but you have to also be prepared that the other coach may also make changes to how they face the second half. In essence its often the strategies set out in the 5mins before the players leave that will effect the game - that is if the players actually follow the instructions!

Deadline Day - the culmination of months of preparation for recruitment teams, managers and club hierarchy as they look to seal those late deals that might make the different. Wether players entering or leaving the building, the pressure grows as the clock winds down and the window slams shut (it always slams - never gently closed!) The day can of course, be quite calm. Deals completed in the days previous and nothing is untoward. No last minute dashes to the MRI scanner, no hastily chauffeured players lost in traffic, or turnarounds on a busy motorway as the club is gazumped by a rival. Here's a lot of the grizzly details! One of the main roles of any manager is to pick the team, and while its joy all round for the team selected, for some there the ignominy of being 'dropped' - or 'rested' / 'rotated' or 'not filling the requirements posed by the unique tactical structures presented by the personality of the opponent in the transitions in their strategy'. You're out! But the psychology of communicating this to the player in question means it is fraught with danger for the head coach. Wrong tone to the wrong player at the wrong time and carnage can ensue and problems created that could have many unforeseen reverberations! Welcome to Episode 8 of Breaking Lines

"Come on you little fighter & Get back up again!" Supertramp sang - and perhaps the rise of Manchester United is only around the corner! For INEOS and Sir Dave Brailsford, Carrington and Old Trafford is the next stop as the multi-sport organisation looks to enhance the performance of the teams at Man Utd. And while being famous for the 'Marginal Gains' mantra at British Cycling and TeamSky, Brailsford is now taking on a beast with huge global standing in Manchester United. But it's not the first football club to explore using other sports and practitioners to influence their organisations. From Sir Clive Woodward and Steve Redgrave to MSG group and Barcelona many organisations have pooled knowledge across sports. And as its winter in Northern Europe, the cold snap has returned and provides more challenges for clubs in simply trying to train - and then there's the games too! Wind, rain, snow, ice and, believe it or not, even sun have caused games to be postponed or curtailed. So what's there to do... well small areas of pitch are decimated, stadium steps are conquered and professionalism rains down - until we all get too cold and go back inside! Enjoy this episode of Breaking Lines - please subscribe and if you enjoy the show, leave us a 5* rating and perhaps even a positive review! Thanks

'One Of Our Own' is the refrain from many a terrace when the bright and shiny new young player is unleashed before a naive but excited fanbase. With more leeway than any other player, mistakes are forgiven at the altar of gaining experience. But managing emerging talent requires more than just providing opportunity. Planning for the longer term - technically, physically, emotionally and psychologically - is something a manger must do. Too much too soon and the player may go off the rails, or the jump up is too big, too soon. Integration into training is relatively easy compared to integrating into a squad and dressing room. Talent only gets you so far... And then there's the parents, agents, media, other clubs! Is every away ground a tough place to go - surely there must be some easier places to visit. Ensuring you come away with points from fixtures at the opponent's ground may mean employing unusual or different tactics. From playing the crowd to stifling the opponents tactics, its a different beast away from home. And that's before you even have the joy of the travel and hotel logistics to deal with!! And why did Trevor Francis not know he was in the theme tune for Only Fools and Horses?!!

The Mid-Season or 'January' Transfer Window offers clubs, coaches and fans the opportunities to shape the 2nd half of the season -for better, but sometimes for worse; nothing is guaranteed when it comes to building teams! This episode Gary and Dave explore how a manager will work in the time before the window opens to begin to target new recruits to come in and how working with the recruitment teams can work. Meetings, videos, web conferences, travel abroad all crammed into the time also required to keep the current team performing as highly as possible! Further we look at some recent comments from Michael Owen on whether players from the past could play in the modern Premier League. And then we postulate as to the robustness of current players to have coped with time travel in the opposite direction! More insights, more stories, more context on the world of football management!

Christmas is a time for families, festivities... and football! Well it is in the hectic world of British football, where talk of Winter Breaks and a mid-season break are banished like the ghosts of Christmas past. From the inevitable planning of the Xmas parties for the players, for staff its logistics, rotation, travelling the roads of the country while sane people are tucking into the excesses of the Yule time. This episode we explore why it can be a period, dense in games that can set you up for a positive second half of the season - to mean you're battening down the hatches and getting the recruitment team in overdrive for a busy January! From debates on whether to train on Christmas morning, evening or at all, its a unique challenge in the football calendar. Over the years we've seen it all ways! So let us guide you through the run up to the Christmas Festive Football Celebration!

Few places in a football stadium have more mystique than the technical area! Prowling the perimeter of the pitch, or sat in comfort on the reclining, heated padded seats, this is where the emperor coaches survey the battlefield on the pitch. After the niceties of the pre-match talk its onto the pitch where communication with the players is tested in the cauldron of the stadium. Afterwards, in the tranquility of the managers room, pleasantries are exchanged; well sometimes! No shows and long visits, when the match is done the staff get to mix together and share information and friendships are renewed. Finally we turn to some things which have left the game - Bovril and Baths. Mainstays of dressing rooms for decades they are now practically extinct. And while their replacements may have more scientific benefit, the old school ways give rise to some better stories than Isotonic drinks and individual showers! Please subscribe, give us a like and share with others! Thanks for listening!

Gary Rowett & Dave Carolan return for the next episode of Breaking Lines and this time we focus on Social media pressure & press conferences. There's reflection on social media and its effects on athletes, managers and officials! England Rugby International Owen Farrell has decided to withdraw from the Six Nations and the pressures of press and social media commentary and abuse seem to be linked to this; are we at a point where top people in sport may turn their back on it if online abuse and punditry don't calm down? And speaking of communications, the post-match press conference is often the source of traditional media and fans' opinions from the managers and players at football clubs. Yet the thoughts that are delivered, the stories that then are told, can often be used as a form of propaganda at both ends. The art of the 'presser' - knowing how to answer questions effectively (or not!) - is shaping the information for the target audiences! We hope you enjoy this episode. Please subscribe via your podcast provider and give us a rating and review! The more positive, the better!

Join Gary Rowett and Dave Carolan, on our journey into the heart of football, exploring the ins and outs of the beautiful game. In Breaking Lines, we go beyond the surface and shed light on the backstage world of team management. Combining our collective years of experience and expertise, we promise to offer an immersive experience, discussions and expert insights into the world of football. Whether you're a seasoned fan or a curious observer, we invite you to come along for the ride!