It’s all about them.

By “them”, I mean football managers. One of the most significant changes in football has been the increased importance of managers. Today’s announcement that Jose Mourinho is to take over at Manchester United is far bigger news than the arrival of any star player. Of course, we always knew who Bob Paisley, Terry Neill or Howard Kendall were but, with the exception of Brian Clough, football was always about the players not the managers. But next season, all we’ll hear is “It’s Mourinho v Guardiola” or “It’s Wenger v Klopp”. No mention of the teams or the players. And of course, one of the biggest selling video games in the world is “Football Manager”. So yes, football is more and more about the bosses and less and less about the workers. But doesn’t that reflect society as a whole?