Why succession is a tricky business in football

Globally, football coaches, ahem, managers, are celebrities. Paid in millions, feted in media and scanned obsessively by fans, these managers can also have widely different tenures in the clubs they coach. Manchester United was run for a staggering 27 years by the legendary Alex Ferguson. Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea, has been known to fire more than one coach in the course of a year — often for no earthly discernible reason. Sometimes, coaches like Ferguson and football legend Johann Cruyff, who coached Barcelona, leave a deep personal imprint on the clubs they run. But more often than not managers are playthings for the owners of a club.

However, this season, Manchester United and Barcelona, two of the most valuable clubs in the world, are going through two different phases. Both brought in new coaches at the start of the season. Barcelona got Argentine Gerardo Martino and United got David Moyes. Under Martino, Barca changed tactics, but continued to win: it tops the domestic league. United, under Moyes plays as it did under Ferguson, but is struggling in the English league, where it is now ranked ninth. Ferguson, famous for his tantrums and flying teacups, seems to have been a better manager than talentspotter. After all, he hand-picked Moyes as his successor.