Football: Managers' game tests the greats

AMID ALL the hype and hysteria surrounding St James' Park over the past couple of weeks there seems to be an assumption that Alan Shearer is a successful manager just waiting to happen. But hard though Ruud Gullit is trying to disprove the theory, the fact remains that great players rarely make great managers. So what price Shearer should Newcastle lose to Manchester United today and the board surprisingly reject Bobby Robson?

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule but in this case there is only one man whose achievements as both player and manager seem undeniable, and even he may have his detractors. None of the so-called greats of British football can lay irrefutable claim to a foot in either camp, though Gullit's predecessor, Kenny Dalglish, has a strong case.

His supporters would argue his greatness as a player is born out by more than 100 caps for Scotland, while his subsequent achievement of winning the league championship for two different clubs and the Double with Liverpool is unique. But his critics, quite apart from Newcastle fans, will say he made no impact as a player on the world stage and point to the team he inherited at Anfield and the money at his disposal at Ewood Park as unfair advantages.

Of the leading post-war managers in the British game, Robson, who won 20 caps as an inside-forward for England and Sir Alf Ramsey, 32 as a full- back, were perhaps the best players, along with George Graham, though none would lay claim to greatness. Busby and Shankly won half a dozen caps between them for Scotland, Jock Stein never played for his country and Don Revie and Bill Nicholson mustered seven caps for England.

Of the two modern titans, centre-forward Alex Ferguson would have been fancied to get the better of central defender Arsene Wenger had they ever met on the pitch, but the confrontation would hardly have made the back pages. In fact, almost half of the current Premiership managers are former players like Graham Taylor and Jim Smith whose real talents only emerged when they stopped playing, and who are now gaining the fulfilment they never achieved as players.

Going back to the days of Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and even Billy Wright, many world-class players have tried to pass their genius on to a new generation in this country, only to meet with frustration; and while Charlton struggled to make a decent fist of management with Preston North End, his brother Jackie, though a successful international manager, was not in the same class as a player.

What of these isles' other outstanding players who would be managers? Kevin Keegan? A great manager if you count Second Division titles. Glenn Hoddle? God only knows. Bryan Robson and Trevor Francis are struggling manfully but it looks increasingly unlikely. The Scots might champion the cause of Dave Mackay and the Irish hold out hope for David O'Leary.

So we have to look further afield for the one who breaks the mould. Of the great players Michel Platini tried it but fell on his sword following France's miserable showing at Euro 92. Johan Cruyff would have to be the runner-up at least, having guided Barcelona to the European Cup as well as the Primera Liga but some would say anything less would have been seen as failure in Spain.

In Italy, where even great players can only become managers if they pass the appropriate tests, Trapattoni and Capello were top-class players though neither could be described as great while Lippi never rose above Serie A and Sacchi was an amateur. Of their outstanding players, Dino Zoff, who began the Lazio revolution before taking charge of the national side, is creeping ever closer and the signs are that Gianluca Vialli may one day fit the bill, though he still has much to prove.

For the moment the only answer, it seems, is in Germany: Franz Beckenbauer, Der Kaiser to his mates. He won everything as a player and was a true great; and whatever else he may or may not have achieved as a club manager, he also led West Germany to World Cup triumph in 1990.

On that score, Shearer has some way to go on both counts. For the sake of argument we can call him a great player, and at least he must have a better chance in management than England's other world-class player of the Nineties. But you never know - Gazza the Gaffer has a certain ring to it, and they would probably fall for it on Tyneside.