Football books are a wonderful salve for the rare condition known as non perago libri. Given the fact that theyare usually composed and edited for a market that is less demanding with regards to syntax, it’s easy to devour texts within a couple of days. I remember Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography being a great fillip for a flight back from Australia once, although I woudn’t be able to remember any of it. By and large, the autobiographies churned out by ghost-writers are woeful, given that the footballers themselves are dull figures. The best are usually written by writers themselves, and whilst his prose does reflect his journalistic background, it is hard to think of someone as fluent as Brian Glanville, who is an outstanding figure of the game.
His subject, often called “the hardest job in the world” is given an authoritative turn by the fact that Glanville has been present at most of the games concerned from the late 50’s onwards, and as a journalist, has had considerable contact with all the managers involved, from Walter WInterbottom right through to the present incumbent of the job, Fabio Capello. His writing style and approach to the subject leaves us with little indication of the subtle nuances of each person, preferring to concentrate on the tactical decisions that each manager made. More than anything, those that have come and gone in the job, apart from the rigid yet visionary Alf Ramsey, have never managed to find the tactics or right combination of personnel that would provide the succour for a restless English nation eager to repeat the much trumpeted success of 1966.
As in many of the sports it established in the 19th century, England has found itself playing catch-up, mostly due to a combination of rigid officialdom and myopic patricianship, against continental sides that have flowered since the War. Before 1950, England were generally acknowledged as the best team in the world, although they had not competed in the FIFA World Cup due to a fallout with the organisers in 1928 leading to their exit from the Association. With the exception of 1966, when they were generally seen to be the deserved winners of a competition that outside of this country was seen as dismal and 1970, when an Alf Ramsey side was honorably beaten under inhospitable conditions both physically and pyschologically by what is acknowledged to be the best ever team, they have to put it simply, struggled. Reading through the book makes for somewhat depressing reading as a fan, as the stark nature of Glanville's assessment of England performances means that it's probable, that against credible opposition, since 1966, they have managed perhaps 10 decent performances, and of those, at least 3 have been honourable defeats.
Glanville takes no prisoners in his succint dismissal of each manager, although he gives much praise to Ramsey for producing a worthy team under distressing conditions. Much of "England's Managers" is littered with references to players who hinted at greatness, but never found a place in the dour, workmanlike atmosphere that England managers seemed to unconsciously generate. After Alf Ramsey left under a dark cloud in 1974 following the mishaps of their 1-1 draw with Poland, most of those appointed have had excellent credentials. Don Revie came with glowing references following the creation of the now legendary Leeds side of the late 60's and 70's, Ron Greenwood fashioned a innovative and somewhat continental way of playing football at the then distinctly unfashionable West Ham United and Bobby Robson, like Ramsey before him, had marshalled scant resources to take Ipswich to European glory and a inch away from the League title. Only Graham Taylor, who had scaled the heights of domestic football by hoofing the ball up in the air despite having the talents of John Barnes at Watford, was, to put it mildly, unsophisticated when it came to what he wanted his players to do and achieve on the pitch.
This is where the book's fault really lies though, in that for much of it, we are treated to the same fulminating and dismissive tone of the author, who reels off lists of could-have been players who came and went. Alan Hudson, Peter Osgood, Frank Worthington, Tony Currie, Glen Hoddle, Matt Le Tissier to name a few. All creative maestros who never fulfilled their potential for the national side, but no real reason is given, or at least any profile of the manager given that might indicate why they struggled. To be fair, Ramsey is given a fair crack of the whip, but his profile was greatly enlarged by his victory in 1966 and his subsequent elevation to the attention of the world's press in 1970 when cast as something of a villain. This, combined with the internal struggle he had with the FA that ultimately led to his downfall in 1974 makes for the most compelling reading of all those mentioned. Elsewhere, especially with the media circus that attached itself to the Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, it is difficult to get to grips with why things went wrong.
Like his eminently readable History of the World Cup, Glanville is at his best in the fast, flowing descriptions of matches, often describing players in a simple sentence, but providing drama where needed. His strength has always been as the stern, neutral observer, never failing to criticise, but also providing eulogies to spirit even when natural talent seemed to be in short supply. More importantly, he recognises that for all the systems in the world, only players can win matches, and it is England's consistent failure to produce world-class players that has been their main source of frustration since 1966. Their 3 greatest players, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Gordon Banks, were the spine of a team that would dominate World football for 4 years, and since then England have failed to produce anyone similar.
England's Managers is an enjoyable scan through the history of the national side, but fails to produce anything more insightful than a tactical analysis of England's failure to achieve.
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