Football Management
The advancement of football has seen several football clubs struggling to remain competitive in the sport. The advancement has hit all aspects of the sport, and management has not been left behind. Clubs that have succeeded in creating organized management bodies have ended up becoming successful. The evolution of football management has almost brought to an end the culture of football managers staying in one club for decades and remaining successful. Sydney Football Club has been in professional competitive football since 2004. Playing in the Australian league, the club has seen significant success in terms of winning the domestic competition as well as shining in international leagues such as the Oceanian Champions League. Inconsistency in management is the problem that needs to be given attention if Sydney Football Club plans to remain competitive not only domestically but also internationally.
Sydney Football Club commonly referred to as Sydney FC has been an inconsistent competitor in the Australian League. Since its acceptance in the league, Sydney FC has managed to win several domestic titles and a few international cups as well. However, the seasons spend in the domestic competition have not been consistent and the club has been witnessing a significant loss of interest from fans and the management has been concerned. The fact that the club has remained in the competition since the first participation in 2004 deserves credit for the management, but the current trend of poor results is a need for concern (Knijnik, 2018). The main issue with the management could be the selection of coaches for the team, which could have been escalated by the league’s salary cap act that could be limiting the team from signing highly experienced coaches. Besides, coaches selected for the team appear to be underpaid or under-experienced. In the event of underpaid coaches, the working spirit is weak and is not motivated to give everything for the club. Also, the under-experienced coaches could be employed for lack of options due to the salary limits considering that experienced coaches always demand higher wages. The problems related to management have been further complicated by the swift transformations associated with the sport (Funk, Lock, Karg, & Pritchard, 2016). The changes that the football sport is undergoing each day need vigilant management bodies that are flexible enough to accept and embrace change without causing friction between the coaches and players. However, the problems facing Sydney FC can be solved by considering several recommendations.
The selection of coaches should be delegated to a special committee that will be answerable in the event a coach does not perform as expected. The current rules set by the football association cannot be changed easily, and thus, clubs should find strategies to adapt to them instead of going against them. For example, the salary cap act for players and managers should not be taken lightly and could limit teams from incorporating talent into their squads if proper management is not considered. Teams should not blame the association for not allowing them to spend heavily on coaches but should blame the strategies made the management to ensure that experienced coaches are found cheaply (Saputro, Haryanti & Hum, 2018). The delegation of the coach selection role to a special committee will ensure that the committee gives sufficient efforts in the search for qualified coaches before the selection is done. Also, the special is in a better position to do sufficient scouting work concerning the coaching strategies by various coaches and then select the ones who are fit for the position of the club’s head coach. The issue of employing coaches who do not improve the club’s performance can only be associated with poor research before selection. The special committee can also be tasked with ensuring that the coaches are given a peaceful working environment to improve the club and player performance. The club should not allow committed coaches to leave for lack of support from the management, and therefore, the committee should be able to assess the coach-management relationship. The leadership of the club should be vigilant on issues affecting the club.
The success of a club depends entirely on the contribution of the leadership on issues affecting the club. Some issues that could be affecting the club include payment of player allowances and the selection of various coaches. Under normal circumstances, the club depends on the leadership for finances to honor player allowance payment (Allen, & Hopkins, 2017). If the leadership does not remain vigilant, players could fail to receive their payments and performance could drastically go down due to lack of motivation. The problems that have been witnessed with various coaches could have originated from the leadership’s lack of commitment in events affecting the club. The leadership should be aware that the coach is left with little to do when players are not motivated. Also, the club should not use the excuse on the salary cap act to pay poor salaries to players because quality players will keep looking for greener pastures and the club will be left to struggle with poor quality players (Johnson, Pierce, Tracy, & Ridley, 2015). The vigilance of the leadership will ensure that any issue that emerges will be dealt with immediate effect regardless of the severity of the issue. Also, the leadership should be in a position to ensure that bargaining is done on laws that affect the clubs. For example, the leadership should be the voice of the players on issues to do with salaries and players should not the chance to play for the team owing to the low salary cap set by the football organization.
A club that is destined for greatness should always give attention to the performance of the players in the squad. The club’s squad should only be comprised of high quality players who must also show commitment when playing for the club. Sydney FC has already been established as a great team, and only high-class performance should be tolerated in the club. The fans have been led into believing that they support a great club and that mentality should not be taken away under any circumstances. A club that has managed to win more than three domestic cups in less than the fifteen years that they have participated in the Australian league should be doing more than just playing to remain in the league. The performance of the individual players should be assessed, and the contribution to the team’s performance rated (Plumley, Wilson & Ramchandani, 2017). Players who are underperforming should be sold out either on loan or permanently to pave the way for quality players. The club should not keep highly paid players who are not putting exemplary performance since the club also needs to make money and bring in more talents. The performance of the players can be improved by bringing better talents so that the players can feel the competition and hence give everything for the club. The club should only sign players after close monitoring and should not be driven by big names when doing player signings. High rated players tend to bring problems to clubs due to high expectations, and thus the club should divert its attention from signing high rated players to developing own talents who will have loyalty for the club and not the salaries paid. On top of assessing the player performance, the club should ensure that transparency and responsibility are maintained in managing the finances of the club.
Several clubs have been in problems due to reckless management of the club finances. The club is a profit making institution for the owners, and every stakeholder should know that (Dawson, Dobson & Gerrard, 2015). Any decision made concerning the club should be based on the long term profitability of the club. However, the main assets of the club are the players, and thus any decisions affecting the players should consider improving their performance for the benefit of the club. Finances can only be viewed as the lifeline of the club. Without finances, the players and coaches will not be paid, and performance will go down. Also, the club has several financial obligations that need to be honored (Georgievski & Zeger, 2016). Therefore, transparency is required when finances are involved to avoid misappropriation of the finances. Poor handling of financial accounts of the club could lead the club into financial difficulties and poor performances. If funds are well handled, the club will have sufficient funds to cater for player allowances and salaries. The players will be motivated if their salaries are paid without delay, and the performance of the club will improve.
In sum, the main goal of Sydney FC should be to remain competitive both domestically and internationally. Sydney FC has been various problems related to management, which can, however, be solved by considering several recommendations. The coach selection exercise, for example, should be left for a special committee. Also, the performance of the players should be given the highest attention to ensure that the club only retains useful players. The leadership should also be vigilant in addressing problems facing the club to maintain the status of the club high in the league. Finally, the financial department of the club should be determined to remain transparent and responsible.
References
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