A tale of two managers

Much has been reported about the friendship between the two new interim England managers - Stuart Pearce in charge of the English football team in tonight’s friendly against Holland, and Stuart Lancaster in charge of the English Rugby team in this year’s RBS Six Nations tournament. And as the days unfold the similarities between these two men and their approach to international management are becoming even clearer.

First up, the similarities between their situations are striking – both started their careers with less than successful stints at club level, before rebuilding their careers within the national set-up. Both also inherited sides which have frittered away public support in recent times through a series of player misdemeanors and a management team which failed to develop good press relations. Furthermore, they are both effectively auditioning for a longer-term role with the national team, whilst only having a short interim period in which to stake their claims. Admittedly, Stuart Lancaster has the longer period in which to stake his claim – already in charge of the country during a major tournament – while Stuart Pearce has only one, admittedly tough, friendly match in which to impress. However, if the powers that be decide to extend his interim period to include the Euro Championships this summer, he’ll have as good an opportunity as he could have hoped for to take the job full time.

In relation to the style of management, there are also similarities. For example, both managers have shown a willingness to clean out the old wood from previous squads, with a focus on youth and potential. They have also shown a willingness to introduce previously overlooked players such as Micah Richards and Phil Dowson. This has now extended to include brand new captains who, while certainly not fresh faced players straight out of academies, are relatively inexperienced in the international field. The captain appointed by Stuart Lancaster, Chris Robshaw, was selected for his proven ability as a leader of an in-form club side and is renowned as a tough player who leads by example. Ditto Stuart Pearce, who has today announced the selection of Scott Parker as captain of the England squad – a player who has captained (although not regularly) the in-form Tottenham team this season and is likewise renowned as a tough player who leads by example. Certainly the reviews of Chris Robshaw’s tenure as captain have been promising thus far – good enough to be handed the captaincy for the duration of the RBS Six Nations. Perhaps most importantly, both captains have the luxury of being separated from previous failures – appointing a captain from the previous groups of senior players could have been seen as a tacit approval of the previous regimes and their associated weaknesses. Ultimately, only results will be the true judgment of these new captains, but the installation of a new figurehead, separated from the disappointments of the past and with a no-frills approach to the games appear to be the perfect tonic for the national teams at this time.

Further to the introduction of new captains, the wider injection of new players has been a successful experiment for the rugby team, unearthing talent such as Owen Farrell, Brad Barrett and Geoff Parling, to name but a few. Both Lancaster and Pearce were promoted from within the national set-up and worked with many promising young players during their times as managers of the second string and Under-21 national sides, so one hopes that Pearce has an understanding of which of the young players have the metal It has also allowed Stuart Lancaster the opportunity to build a team spirit as he wanted it – where pride in the jersey comes first. Stuart Pearce will no doubt seek to instill the same mentality in his new pack of players, injecting more passion in the squad following the cold technical style of Capello.

Again, only time and results will tell if these early days can convert promise into success, and it will only be successful if the FA’s youth development plans are more than the mirage they’ve been in the past, but it appears that Stuart Pearce has started his time as England manager by making all the right moves and tonight will be a good test to see if he can produce the same positive results that his rugby counterpart has experienced.