A couple of years ago rumours began circulating in the mainstream British press that Pat Rice had decided to retire. The rumours proved to be false and Pat continued as Wenger’s trusted No2.
Rumours have again begun to circulate suggesting that Rice has now decided he will indeed retire and so the inevitable speculation about a successor has begun.
The role and function of a manager’s assistant is probably one of the most undefined and in some ways mysterious in the whole of football. There is most definitely no handbook that spells out the A-Z of being an assistant manager.
If one looks back at the history of successful teams one can see a whole array of managerial combinations that led to success. So lets just look at a few example to try to glean some perspective on the role of an assistant.
Take the situation at the Arsenal in the late 1960s and early 70s – a period that included the Gunners’ first double winning team. The manager was Bertie Mee – he had virtually no backrground at all in playing football nor managing football teams prior to his appointment – his work had been up til then in mainly in the role as a physiotherapist. Mee’s assistant throughout that time was Don Howe. He was the real tactical and technical brains behind the team’s success. Mee left most of the track-suit work to Howe.But Mee was clearly a good manager of people. Howe was the footballing man. The combination worked well.
Another example.
The famous Brian Clough – Peter Taylor combination, again of the 1960s and 70s. Together, at Hartlepool, Derby and Nottingham Forest they achieved great success. However that brief, infamous period, when Clough joined Leeds United, when he went it alone – Taylor refusing to join Clough there – was an unmitigated disaster.
Clough was brash, straight talking, flamboyant. He knew his football but he upset people very easily. Peter Taylor, was different.. Unlike Clough he shunned the limelight, but he knew his football, and by all accounts had an uncanny ability at identifying exactly the right players to buy in to improve and make their teams successful. He also acted as a buffer between Clough and the rest of the world, minimising to an extent some of Clough wilder traits.
Without Taylor beside him it seems Cloughie, for all his apparent self-confidence, was all at sea. With Taylor as his assistant, Clough functioned well.
Just one other combination from the 60s-70s period. Joe Mercer and the (sadly recently departed) Malcolm Allison at Manchester City.
Genial Joe – as he was invariably referred to – was an ex- England captain so well grounded in the game, He had a very laid-back easy going approachable manner and allowed Allison to get on with doing what he was good at. Malcolm Allison was then one of the game’s up and coming thinkers – he had new ideas about training, about fitness regimes, about tactics and he also had what one would describe as a very big ego – the opposite of Joe.
Joe let Allison get on with the job – and again that combination worked well, Under their joint charge Manchester City enjoyed the most successful period in the club’s history.
If we now look at the issue in hand – who could replace Pat Rice successfully?
Well, what jumps out in looking at the above three managerial partnerships, is that in all three examples, Mee-Howe, Clough-Taylor and Mercer-Allison, each person in the partnership fulfilled a very different role to the other – and there was very little overlap of duties. Importantly, in all three partnership, there was without question one individual who was the boss and one who to took a subservient role.
An anecdotal account goes that when Wenger first came to the Arsenal, during half time in one of the game, Rice laid into some of the Arsenal players who were performing poorly. That kind of outburst from Rice has apparently never happened again and Rice was made to know from then on that this approach would not be taken nor tolerated.
Wenger had laid down the rules – he was the boss, Rice must not take matters into his own hand. And so now one has only to look at the comparartive body language and behaviour on the touchline of Rice and Wenger to see Rice rarely if ever ne stands up, whereas Wenger does and Rice never shouts out advice or criticism to players on the pitch. Rice is the perfect submissive assistant.
So whatthen is Rice’s function in the Arsenal set-up? One has to smile and say – the answer to that is I don’t think anyone outside the inner circle of the dressing room really knows! But we do know one thing – Wenger is boss.
Maybe Rice fulfills a role similar to one that Butch Wilkins seemed to have filled at Chelsea – ie an intermediary between manager and players? Maybe.
Lastly, us now examine Wenger – he likes to be involved in every aspect of the club – the team, the training, the tactics, the players that are bought, the medical side, the dietary regime, the design of the stadium, the finances, the lot it seems – he was even apparently involved in the choice of cutlery to be used in the dining rooms at the Emirates.
This does not therefore leave much territory for an assistant to be involved in. Pat Rice is indeed the perfect assistant for Wenger – he does not seem to want to be anything but an assistant to work at his master’s bidding.
The universally acknowledged weakness in Wenger’s teams in recent years has been the defence – so one might suggest – the obvious replacement then for Rice is someone with good defensive tactical acumen. But given Wenger’s character, I do not believe he would be willing to take on board an individual who either through strength of character or who through superior tactical know-how, would seem to be undermining Wenger’s standing in the club.
He is not, like say Joe Mercer, going to allow anyone but himself to decide overall how the team will play or be organised.
He alone decides these things it seems.
So – let us conclude. In my view Wenger will never choose someone who is going to upset the apple-cart, someone who is not already trained in his ways of doing things, someone who will attempt to usurp his authority. And so the choice of candidates will be limited.
What would change things dramatically (but this will not happen) would be if an outsider with strong ideas about where things need to be drastically changed, came in.
So the choice as Wenger’s assistant?
There will still be a role for a defence coach etc as at the moment,but operating under Wenger’s overall oversight but the role of Wenger’s assistant ? well, in my view Wenger might even decide it is now is an unnecessary role – and if anyone is appointed it will be given to no-one of much importance, unless of course Wenger decides to appoint who he thinks should be his chosen successor as Arsenal manger – and who may that be, you may ask?
That it seems is Wenger’s secret…
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
