Tottenham Spurs played Liverpool Football Club yesterday at Anfield stadium in Liverpool. It was a big game for both teams and the game ended 4-0 in favour of Liverpool FC. It was an entertaining one-sided game with some comical defending from Spurs gifting Liverpool at least 2 goals. “Where is our manager?” chants reverberated around the stadium as frustrated Spurs fans watched their team get humiliated on the pitch.
Tim Sherwood, Spurs manager, could be found seated in the directors’ box watching as his team got hammered 4-0. What was he doing up in the directors’ box instead of motivating his team from the touchline below? He claimed he had a better view from above. He also argued that his presence away from the touchline enabled him to stay out of trouble.
Sherwood had lost his cool a few times at the touchline in the last few weeks. It is worrying that a manager feels that he has to stay away from his team to control himself. If he can’t control himself, then what the heck is he doing managing a football team? A leader without self control is a liability to his followers.
I have watched football most of my life and I have never encountered a manager who voluntarily goes to sit in the directors’ box instead of staying at the touchline to watch his team play a football match.
I blame the chairman, Daniel Levy, for allowing such behaviour. He clearly doesn’t see anything wrong with his team’s manager sitting two rows above him in the directors’ box to watch the game. It is not a good sign when a football club’s fans are chanting during a game “where is our manager?” and yet both the chairman and the manager sit in the directors’ box ignoring their fans’ protestations.
Sherwood may not believe that he was shirking his managerial duties by watching the game from the directors’ box but that is exactly what he has done.
