tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/sam-allardyce-30160/articlesSam Allardyce – The Conversation2016-10-03T12:46:38Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/662192016-10-03T12:46:38Z2016-10-03T12:46:38ZHow England manager’s red card could net a win for the future of football<p>The inglorious end to Sam Allardyce’s brief reign as manager of the England football team, after just 67 days in charge, sparked <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/26/sam-allardyce-fa-newspaper-sting-england-manager">national embarrassment</a>. But, despite Allardyce <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/09/30/fa-could-ban-sam-allardyce---as-its-chief-exec-says-arsene-wenge/">facing a ban from the sport</a>, it could yet represent a significant victory in the fight to safeguard the integrity of football’s future.</p>
<p>Recent years have painted a bleak picture of the so-called “beautiful game”. Away from the Allardyce case, allegations of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/13/cyprus-match-fixing-coach-guardian-fine">match-fixing</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32897066">corruption crises at FIFA</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-next-fifa-president-could-do-to-tackle-child-trafficking-in-football-52016">reports of child trafficking</a> have sent shock waves through football’s global governance. </p>
<p>Against this backdrop, one could be forgiven for reading the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/26/exclusive-investigation-england-manager-sam-allardyce-for-sale/">Daily Telegraph’s expose</a> on Allardyce’s alleged impropriety as further evidence of the game’s freefall into disrepute. </p>
<p>Here was the England manager apparently discussing a £400,000 fee as he offered advice on how to “get around” strict regulations on something called “third-party ownership”. </p>
<p>But what exactly is third-party ownership and why is it so controversial?</p>
<p>Third-party ownership refers to the involvement of <a href="http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/02/49/57/42/tpocircular1464_en_neutral.pdf">any third party</a> – be it a football agent, investment firm or private company – in partial or full ownership of a player’s economic rights. Such ownership makes that third party entitled to a percentage of any transfer fee accrued if their client is sold to a new club. </p>
<p>The practice came to global prominence in 2006 after Premier League club West Ham United agreed the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/mar/03/newsstory.sport8">controversial transfer</a> of two Argentinian players, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, from a Brazilian team. It later transpired that a third-party investment firm, Media Sports Investment, headed up by an Iranian businessman, owned the full economic rights to both players. </p>
<p>The Premier League subsequently <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/26/what-is-third-party-ownership-in-football-and-why-is-it-controve/">fined West Ham</a> United £5.5m for “acting improperly and withholding vital documentation”, before instigating an <a href="http://www.danielgeey.com/third-party-player-ownership-a-uk-perspective/">outright ban</a> on third-party involvement in player transfers. </p>
<p>Beyond the English Premier League, however, third-party ownership has become “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/23/fifa-third-party-ownership">deeply ingrained</a>” in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lionels-messy-tax-affairs-are-part-of-a-bigger-problem-in-football-62184">political economy of football</a>. In South America in particular it is part of the lucrative trade of young players to clubs in Spain and Portugal. In 2013, during the transfer of Brazil captain, Neymar, to FC Barcelona, it was revealed that his previous club had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/21/neymar-barcelona-fifa-third-party-ownership-brazil">outsourced over 40% of his economic rights</a> to a Brazilian supermarket mogul, who stood to make a £4.7m return on a £1.4m investment just five years earlier. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/21/neymar-barcelona-fifa-third-party-ownership-brazil">reports carried out for FIFA</a>, a consultancy firm found the estimated market value of players under third-party ownership was approaching €1.1 billion (£860m). Up to 90% of the players in Brazil’s premier division, often as young as 15, were said to be involved in third-party ownership schemes.</p>
<p>In April 2015, after years of lobbying by UEFA and FIFPro, the world player’s union, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/29373456">FIFA announced a worldwide ban</a> on third-party ownership.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://uefaawareness-blog-blog.tumblr.com/post/45867992109/uefa-no-place-for-third-party-ownership">words of FIFA president, Gianni Infantino</a>, third-party ownership raises a number of “ethical and moral questions”. A major one relates to transparency. The identities of third-party owners are often shrouded in secrecy, with schemes registered offshore enabling private investors to avoid scrutiny of potential conflicts of interest. </p>
<p>Then there is the issue of the growth of third-party ownership coinciding with a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/nov/28/players-arrested-match-fixing-english-football">match-fixing epidemic</a>” across European football. Some argue that private “ownership” exposes young players to the risk of coercion and manipulation from the corporate interests of football’s ever-expanding gambling industry.</p>
<h2>Foul play from third parties</h2>
<p>Allied to such concerns are those of player autonomy and freedom of movement. When investors buy the economic rights to a player, they acquire control over when that player will be transferred and may even incentivise a club to sell footballers to maximise return on investment. </p>
<p>While sport has long been an exceptional arena in which human labour and potential are commodified and traded, the involvement of third parties further shifts the power into the hands of non-sporting, capitalist interests. It compromises the welfare and autonomy of young players at a time when <a href="http://www.academia.edu/11140286/Displacing_childhood_labour_exploitation_and_child_trafficking_in_sport">allegations of trafficking</a> and exploitation are already widespread. </p>
<p>Finally, the involvement of third-party investors poses a major threat to public confidence in the authenticity of competition and the integrity of decision making. As unknown investors acquire ever-growing control over the financial sustainability of cash-strapped clubs, conflicts of interest are inevitable. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/10/sporting-lisbon-third-party-ownership-attack-marcos-rojo-manchester-united">protracted £16m transfer</a> of Marcos Rojo from Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United in 2014 encapsulated such conflicts of interest, with <a href="http://www.lawinsport.com/articles/item/what-has-the-marcos-rojo-case-taught-us-about-third-party-investment-in-footballers">long-running and complex</a> legal arguments over ownership and money. </p>
<p>This happened after the FA ban, but the rules do not stop clubs from purchasing players who have third-party ownership in their existing contract. They simply mean that for the transfer to be completed, the Premier League club must purchase full economic rights to the player and end any third-party involvement. </p>
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<p>All is not lost however. <a href="http://www.fifa.com/governance/news/y=2016/m=3/news=several-clubs-sanctioned-for-breach-of-third-party-influence-third-par-2772984.html">Recent sanctions</a> imposed by FIFA on clubs in Belgium, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands for breaching third-party regulations might even signal a turning point. </p>
<p>And setting aside English national embarrassment for a moment, the ousting of Allardyce should be read as another step in the right direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darragh McGee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sam Allardyce was tackled over third-party ownership of football players. But what is it and why does it matter?Darragh McGee, Lecturer, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/663282016-09-30T11:19:19Z2016-09-30T11:19:19ZDepressed by football greed? Find hope in how the game welcomes refugees<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139905/original/image-20160930-9914-q9trtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C19%2C997%2C594&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-373648048/stock-photo-polykastro-greece-february-7-2016-migrants-and-refugees-play-football-in-the-parking-lot-of-a-gas-station-in-polykastro-as-waiting-to-cross-the-border-to-fyr-of-macedonia.html?src=OPKhXmSEBWuka1bJyM2_PA-1-2">Ververidis Vasilis / Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Football has had a grubby year, and an even grubbier week. Governing body FIFA has wrestled with scandal <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/09/fifa-opens-corruption-case-against-sepp-blatter-and-jerome-valcke">throughout 2016</a> and now a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/investigations/">major investigation</a> by the Daily Telegraph newspaper has forced the resignation of England manager Sam Allardyce. But it is worth reminding ourselves that the beautiful game is not just a sea of shady characters, drenched in money and greed. It also has the ability to inspire, to bring together people with little or nothing. </p>
<p>Nowhere is this clearer than in the role football has played as thousands of desperate refugees arrive in Europe. One of the largest migrations of people since World War II has confounded efforts to address it and sparked a muddled political response. Football is one space where the social conflicts are exposed, but it is also creating a useful space to challenge and understand the issues at hand. </p>
<p>There has been an international emotional connection with the current refugee situation in Europe. Some football fans in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic displayed banners stating <a href="http://www.ultras-tifo.net/news/3757-refugees-welcome-or-not.html">“Refugees Not Welcome”</a> and protested against what they deem the Islamification of Europe, but the many football supporters have been highly <a href="http://www.worldsoccer.com/features/refugees-welcome-in-germany-at-least-365379">adoptive of the “Refugees Welcome”</a> message, particularly in Germany. That includes moderate fan groups who have never challenged discrimination before. Several fan groups in Germany, Scotland, Greece and England have displayed banners <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/03/english-football-supporters-groups-refugees-welcome-banners">openly declaring their support </a>. </p>
<p>Others have raised money or set up football teams <a href="http://www.fanseurope.org/en/news/news-3/1287-more-groups-working-with-refugees-benefit-from-fse-s-secondfanshirt-campaign-en.html">to support refugees and asylum seekers</a>. Fans of Istanbul’s Fenerbahçe hosted a dinner for Syrian refugees to <a href="http://www.1907unifeb.org/suriyeli-kardeslerimizle-yemek-organizasyonu/">welcome them into the local community</a>. There are so many activities taking place that Football Against Racism Europe have started compiling <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1d3pP5NOJ5WP7Qox-V3ewqk_gnc8">a database of locations</a>.</p>
<h2>Identity games</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.football4peace.eu">Football 4 Peace</a> at the University of Brighton has over 15 years’ experience of demonstrating how football can help build bridges in culturally divided cities in Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine, Gambia and Korea. Most importantly, Football 4 Peace shows that it is possible not just to bring people together to play football, but also to actively work with the participants to help them understand themselves and others.</p>
<p>Their methodology, which emphasises neutrality, equity, inclusion, respect, trust and responsibility, is designed to give players “teachable moments” from football. As <a href="http://www.coe.int/t/DG4/EPAS/Publications/Handbook-1_Sport-Post-Conflict-Societies.pdf">Professor John Sugden says</a> “sport is intrinsically value neutral and under carefully managed circumstances it can make a positive if modest contribution to peace building”.</p>
<p>Football also provides a cathartic space <a href="http://www.furd.org/resources/Final%20Research%20Report-%20low%20res.pdf">for refugees and asylum seekers</a>. A project run by <a href="http://www.furd.org">Football Unites Racism Divides</a> in Sheffield showcased the importance of football in helping refugees acclimatise to their new lives. Football helps those in traumatic situations to switch off from their daily travails and enjoy the bodily freedom of physical exercise and being around people who are in a similar situation. As asylum seekers are not legally permitted to work, leisure activities like football become an important source of self-identity.</p>
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<p>Football fans across Europe have set up teams for refugees and asylum seekers. From <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/scotland-blog/2014/aug/20/glasgow-refugee-football-team-brings-unity-to-a-divided-city">United Glasgow in Scotland</a>, to Lampedusa FC in Hamburg, <a href="http://babelsberg03.de/mannschaften/welcome-united-03/">Welcome United in Potsdam</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2015/oct/01/liberi-nantes-football-team-italy-refugees-video">Liberi Nantes</a> in Rome, fans are volunteering their time to welcome new members of their community and help integrate them with the local population. As Football 4 Peace has shown, football can help link people from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures.</p>
<h2>Building trust</h2>
<p>More importantly, football doesn’t just help refugees when they reach their final destination, it also provides a safe and cathartic space for young people in transit in refugee camps. Football fans set up <a href="http://www.calaisjungleyouth.com">Baloo’s Youth Centre</a> in the Jungle refugee camp in Calais as a way of engaging with young people. There are nearly <a href="http://www.helprefugees.org.uk/2016/07/21/new-calais-census-released-761-children-in-calais-jungle-80-on-their-own/">800 unaccompanied minors</a> in Calais and youth workers at Baloo’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2016/feb/19/football-in-calais-jungle-refugees-in-pictures">have used football</a> to build trust with vulnerable children. Once trust is built, they provide mobile phones to the children so that they can be traced to ensure they are safe. </p>
<p>Competitions <a href="https://www.thelibertecup.com">like the Liberté Cup</a> hosted at the Grand Synthe camp in Dunkirk, can also provide a focal point and sense of purpose for refugees living in stasis. At a very simple level, football games give others in the camp an entertaining break from the crushing boredom of refugee camp living.</p>
<h2>Inspiration</h2>
<p>Even those scandal-hit international governing bodies have helped. While they often get criticised by fans, they have taken positive steps to help refugees around the world. UEFA donated money from Champions League and Europa League ticket sales <a href="http://www.espnfc.co.uk/uefa-champions-league/story/2601681/champions-league-europa-teams-pledge-refugees-ticket-money">to refugee causes</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">A refugee girl with two prosthetic legs plays football in Jordan.</span>
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<p>FIFA have also used football to help engage young people in refugee camps. In August 2016, the under-17s Women’s World Cup trophy <a href="http://www.fifa.com/u17womensworldcup/news/y=2016/m=8/news=young-refugees-inspired-by-u-17-women-s-world-cup-trophy-2823656.html">was showcased in the Al Zaatari camp</a>. One 14-year-old girl said: </p>
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<p>For me, there’s nothing more important at the moment … In this camp, football gives me hope in life. I play it two hours every day and I’m happy for those two hours.</p>
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<p>While some at the highest levels of football can seem relentless in their pursuit of wealth, football fans, governing bodies and NGOs are using football to build bridges for the most vulnerable individuals and groups. Football isn’t the magic bullet that will solve the refugee crisis, but it does highlight the valuable work that civil society can provide in the absence of an effective response from the state. And it also showcases what football, as opposed to the grubby <em>business</em> of football, has always been best at: providing a common language that brings people together and promotes physical and emotional well-being for everyone taking part.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66328/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Doidge receives funding from the British Academy Rising Stars Engagement Award</span></em></p>The beautiful game has never seemed uglier. But it also can bring joy and togetherness, even to the most desperate.Mark Doidge, Senior Research Fellow in Sociology of Sport, University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/637802016-08-10T17:40:35Z2016-08-10T17:40:35ZWhat England’s new manager can teach business about leadership<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jul/30/sam-allardyce-england-homegrown-talent">New England manager</a> Sam Allardyce will take his players to Slovakia next month as they start qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and seek to wipe away the memories of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/27/england-iceland-euro-2016-match-report">woeful performance at Euro 2016</a>. It will be a huge challenge that calls upon all the weapons Allardyce has amassed in his career. Managers outside of football would do well to consider how his approach could work for them.</p>
<p>When the business world seeks inspiration from football, Allardyce is perhaps not the first name on the list. <a href="http://www.businesswings.co.uk/articles/Management-Styles-Ars%C3%A8ne-Wenger">Arsene Wenger’s</a> steady calculation, <a href="http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15115/10292081/is-jose-mourinho-really-a-defensive-coach-who-doesnt-trust-youth">Jose Mourinho’s</a> brutish pragmatism or <a href="https://www.redbulletin.com/uk/en/sports/pep-guardiola-the-best-football-manager-in-the-world">Pep Guardiola’s</a> collaborative panache probably grab more attention. </p>
<p>But there is gold there. I worked with Allardyce during his managerial years at Bolton Wanderers, and studied how he sought profound change without coercion. We can use some of these to build an idea of what an Allardyce Business School might look like.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133670/original/image-20160810-11006-15u6g5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133670/original/image-20160810-11006-15u6g5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133670/original/image-20160810-11006-15u6g5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133670/original/image-20160810-11006-15u6g5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133670/original/image-20160810-11006-15u6g5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133670/original/image-20160810-11006-15u6g5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133670/original/image-20160810-11006-15u6g5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133670/original/image-20160810-11006-15u6g5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A results game.</span>
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<h2>1. Build for the long-term</h2>
<p>Football is dominated by the immediate: the next result or the next sacking. But Allardyce focused on establishing departments and systems that would last beyond his tenure. He spoke at length about leaving a legacy at Bolton that was not simply focused on achieving European football – as the club did under his leadership. </p>
<p>To this end, he strengthened the youth academy and several players secured a regular place in his first team. Although he never achieved his dream of having a first team composed completely of players nurtured by this system, he invested time and resources in the foundations. </p>
<h2>2. Love your budget</h2>
<p>If you have no money and you have had to sell your best players in order for the club to stay afloat, how will you secure and sustain high performance? Smart managers work with what they’ve got. For Allardyce, a central solution to this knotty problem was to exploit sports science.</p>
<p>He was an early proponent of “marginal gains”, an approach that helped him to sign <a href="http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11672/2306267/bolton-seal-hierro-deal">world-class players</a> who perhaps wouldn’t otherwise have looked at Bolton as an option. This combination of physiotherapy, sports psychology, nutrition, and data analytics allowed players to play more regularly – especially in the crucial last third of the season – because of their injury prevention strategy. It also prolonged the life of significant players like Youri Djorkaeff, Ivan Campo and Gary Speed.</p>
<p>Data analytics also gave his team an edge by spotting where advantage might be gained, developing responses to set pieces, or identifying areas of the pitch where the opposition struggled.</p>
<h2>3. Have a plan, and another plan</h2>
<p>Allardyce understood that things can get thrown off track. Making a team effective means you have to plan across various time-frames: for each game, for each segment of the season, and across the season. You have to secure stability and guard against the emotional drama caused by results, good and bad. And you also have to spot when it’s time to mix it up and play cards before a big game instead of watching a series of pre-match videos. </p>
<p>In other words, build against chaos but then introduce it to good effect. Stability can instigate boredom and regimented attitudes rather than provoking creativity. </p>
<h2>4. Value people</h2>
<p>After one frustrating loss against Manchester City Allardyce asked where I was and discovered I had been at a family wedding in Edinburgh. In a fit of pique he argued that I was part of the Bolton family and as such should’ve been at the game. It sounds ridiculous, but that motif of the Bolton family and of respect for each other ran through the club. Wins were shared with all who contributed. </p>
<p>It’s not always easy to belong to a family; it can be suffocating. But being included and valued for your efforts remains with you forever.</p>
<h2>5. Listening</h2>
<p>In these days of leader/manager pronouncement, the art of listening is dying fast. Many managers seem pressured into rhetoric while many of us become deaf to it. But what happens when you spend more time listening? Especially if you listen well and accurately, as Allardyce does. During his time at Bolton, he hated doing “the motivational speech” before the game and rarely did. To everyone’s relief, I think. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133672/original/image-20160810-11853-2yf99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133672/original/image-20160810-11853-2yf99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133672/original/image-20160810-11853-2yf99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133672/original/image-20160810-11853-2yf99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133672/original/image-20160810-11853-2yf99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133672/original/image-20160810-11853-2yf99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133672/original/image-20160810-11853-2yf99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133672/original/image-20160810-11853-2yf99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">I’m all ears.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/5736872116/in/photolist-9JWYdd-86dVij-6KggQk-5oahCQ-mD3wb-6m1D8Q-eJ3Xuk-62BhHv-57Ssft-9o68uf-7gQymK-53Sjb4-bnyCqg-HeQK3N-utPnbv-8QWQy8-8cPKMy-6enDGc-21FgBC-au7bdq-7FMBNC-6XT7Zk-8BpbcC-8buDdJ-5zP1Ph-8ck9GR-5YNjNK-ebQyaS-exWB9-7bmMm3-3tSf8s-8dYAsj-eqrHL-8RSVfD-58eUdu-5jC6DC-5xE8yb-aCKEKN-gTAY7k-3GYSM-212c9L-6Nwy6t-ubpZg-dcgPYR-5zJJ3X-dXPsV8-ks1hfw-32Fer2-6VLatx-9nwqmq">Tambako The Jaguar</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>6. Be vulnerable</h2>
<p>Finally, it is important to be so secure in yourself that you can be honest about who you are and what you value and why – whether (as in Allardyce’s case) it’s the NHS, education, family, or the friends you have outside the game. Take what you do very seriously, but take yourself less so. </p>
<p>Allardyce remains famous for being able to take on players whose psychometric profile might have put others off. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/why-el-hadji-diouf-was-hated-by-all-at-liverpool-10504437.html">El Hadji Diouf</a> was the most obviou examples.</p>
<p>Allardyce sought to understand them and ensured that key staff like Mike Forde, the team’s performance manager, did so too. I would argue that this is secured through feel and intuition for the player and key to this is vulnerability, a sense of being wholehearted and worthy of emotional connection. </p>
<p>And so what do we learn at the “Allardyce Business School”, from a manager who has now reached what some would call the apex of his profession? For a start, it is a very different kind of business school and offers a critique of contemporary business management. Allardyce never shied way from fundamentals like planning and securing performance – they are the foundations of success. But his lectures and seminars would also reject the short-term perspectives of current business schools, emphasising instead plans for the longer-term which leave powerful, positive legacies for the communities they are in. </p>
<p>In a market with substantial competition – Bolton Wanderers is in an area rich with exceptional football teams of higher pedigree – you can’t simply secure competitive advantage through something like sports science. It is achieved through becoming an organisation that people value, love and want to be a part of: fans, employees, players, and academics alike. The Allardyce Business School would teach you to acknowledge your organisation’s history and its connection with its community. A legacy isn’t based on results alone but on how you play the game.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63780/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Gilmore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sam Allardyce may not have the immediate appeal of Ferguson, Mourinho or Guardiola, but his approach has serious value for execs.Sarah Gilmore, Principal Lecturer in Organisation Studies, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.