I worked with many great assistants to Sir Alex Ferguson over the years. Yet sometimes a manager's second-in-command is more suited to that role than any other. You confide in them - you tell them things that you would not tell the manager - and they are that bridge between the boss and the players.
The way I was brought up by my parents and guided through my football life by the influences of various managers means that in some ways I am black and white.
My job is not to make decisions but to set stretch objectives and help our managers work out how to reach them.
The secret of getting successful work out of your trained men lies in one nutshell—in the clearness of the instructions they receive.
You know over 20 years I played for a number of managers and dozens of coaches. I don't know any of them that I didn't learn something from to help make me a better player.
My dad takes care of me as a manager and as a dad. That's his job, you know, to take care of me. He has my best interests at heart.
The tools used by economists to analyze business firms are too abstract and speculative to offer any guidance to entrepreneurs and managers in their constant struggle to bring novel products to consumers at low cost.
There's got to be a role for an experienced football person helping the manager; not being a threat to the manager, but helping and sorting out a lot of the hassle he has, you know? Letting him concentrate on managing the football side.
At Liverpool, Jurgen pretty much does everything, and we just follow him. Of course, we've still got leaders within the group to implement his message, but more often than not, we listen and then just do what he says.
The job of senior management is to cultivate an environment where store managers can learn from the market and from each other.
