It's tough being the manager of a football team. Not since children were sent up the chimneys and down the coal mines has so much been expected of so few in such a dirty job. But, then someone's got to do it...
A Day in the Life of... A PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL MANAGER
Yes, it's tough, all right. Just ask Kevin Keegan. The expectations of the fans; the interference of the club chairman; the bickering, back-biting and petty jealousies of the players; the ill-informed comments and speculation in the press. They all add up to one thing. Pressure. Stress. That's actually two things. Which just goes to show how difficult a job it is. We were invited to spend some time with a top Premiership manager, and reproduce below his itinerary on what he assures us is a typical day... 7.30am: Alarm goes off. Woken up from a strange dream. The chairman was offering me a rise. Roll over to turn it off before it wakes up the wife. Go back to sleep. 8.00am: Woken up again by the kids playing. Yell at them to get ready for school and make me some breakfast. 8.15am: Go downstairs in dressing gown. Kids have left two slices of burnt toast on the worktop. Throw them away and put two fresh slices into the toaster. Remember to turn setting back to normal. Open fridge. No milk left. Or orange juice. Bloody kids again! 8.30am: Take breakfast and the day's papers up to bed. Read all the sports pages for an hour. 9.45am: Get car out for drive to ground. It's an hour and a quarter's journey at this time of day. The roads always seem to be very busy. 11.00am: Players already out on the training ground. I like to see that. Shows they're keen. Set up some circuit training for them and finish off with a bit of five-a-side. I like to join in with that. Show them how to score goals. And tackle. It's nice to know I can still do it and show these youngsters a thing or two, even at my age. 12.30pm: Players go for lunch. I usually grab a sandwich and a piece of cake which the club secretary buys for me from the sandwich bar in town. 1.30pm: Half-hour talk on tactics for Saturday's game. Let the lads go. 2.00pm: Into my office, where there'll be a pile of mail waiting for me. And the phone is usually ringing as soon as I walk in. 2.05pm: After dealing with the post and returning my phone messages, I pop into the Chairman's office for a quick chat. 3.15pm: Have to leave to pick the kids up from school. Sometimes I leave them to make their own way home. That's when I have a meeting with a player's agent at a service station on the M6. I always wear my long overcoat then. It's got very deep pockets. 4.00pm: Back home after another hard day. Relax in armchair. Usually have a snooze. Unless it's Sunday and there's a live match on TV. Then I drive over to the studios to provide expert summaries. 7.30pm: Woken up for Coronation St. 10.30pm: Time for bed. I'm usually asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow. It's a real pressure lifestyle that just knocks me out. I'm not sure how much longer I can take it. One more season perhaps, and then I'll have to find something a little less trying. Issue 030 - April 1997