- Clement’s calm authority triumphs over Nathan Jones’ feistiness and spikiness.
- From Lambert’s fire to Hughton’s “niceness,” we revisit recent City managers.
- Clement’s no-nonsense approach proves the missing piece in our tactical puzzle.
That Philippe Clement boiled the urine of Nathan Jones was no bad thing. Getting Jones to snap and growl and seethe is part of the battle when you play Charlton.
Those who succeed in doing so are more often than not the ones who emerge from games against the Addicks with three points. It’s all part of the game.
But, in fairness to Jones (a phrase I didn’t enjoy typing one bit), he is who he is, and that spikey demeanour has led him to where he is now, via Luton (twice), Stoke and Southampton.
His energy, abrasiveness, and relentlessness have been borne out in each of those teams and are what the owners/boards of those teams saw in him before appointing him. Sometimes it’s worked (Luton and Charlton), and sometimes it hasn’t (Stoke and Southampton).
By contrast, in the opposite dugout on Saturday was a big ol’ Belgian who’s still not to be messed with, yet is one who gives off a completely different pitch-side aura to Jones. He’s very much his own man, and it’s hard to liken him to any recent City head coach.
In recent seasons, in terms of demeanour, we’ve covered the full spectrum, from spikey and angry to cool, calm and collected, and almost everything in between.
Let’s take another look at them. Not at their respective playing styles – that’s been plenty of times – but at the type of people they are:
Paul Lambert
When it came to being spikey, Lambert gives Nathan Jones a run for his money. He was not to be messed with, not in any shape or form, and the local journos have many a tale to tell of his frostiness and abruptness.
He took no cr*p from anyone, including his players, and had a touch of the Brian Cloughs about him when it came to scaring the you-know-what out of his players.
He was always up for a fight. Let’s put it that way.
Chris Hughton
Nice. Try describing Hughton without using ‘nice’. It’s true, He was!
He was also calm, measured, and considered, especially when talking about the week’s opposition in the pre-match pressers, which annoyed the hell out of the Y’Army.
He was an okay manager and led us to the club’s best Premier League position, but his football was a bit, well… boring.
Lovely bloke though.
Neil Adams
Another good bloke. And, of course, he’s still around until he retires at the end of this season.
In terms of demeanour, he was more Hughton than Lambert, but his reign was only short-lived, and he never looked quite right in the City dugout.
It was only right that he had a crack at the manager’s job (as it was called then) as he’d done just about every other job at the club. He had a nice way about him – like Hughton – but I could never imagine him dishing out halftime verbals. Maybe that was where it went wrong.
Lovely bloke though.
Alex Neil
More Lambert than Lambert, but just without the touchline fisticuffs. Another not to be messed with, but has managed, to this day, to be infinitely more likeable than his Scottish counterpart.
Gets respect from me for being a City manager who is also part of the bald community.
Wasn’t particularly demonstrative on the touchline but always gave off the air of someone who was boiling inside. Still does.
Daniel Farke
Now we’re talking. Charm and grace personified. Maybe a little too charming at times, I gather 🙂
Definitely falls into the lovely bloke category, even though there was clearly a side to him that would snap you in half if you crossed him.
But it was always his outer calmness that prevailed, and who can forget that cheeky wink to a fan sitting near the home dugout when Lambert was attempting to pick a fight with every other person on the City bench.
Still held in high regard in these parts due to him being a really lovely bloke who could also coach a bit.
Dean Smith
Oh god. Where to start.
Well, aside from turning up here on the rebound for Villa and never, at any point, attempting to ingratiate himself with the Norfolk public, he was also a terrible head coach.
He didn’t like us; we didn’t like him, but at least he didn’t attempt to throw any punches while in the technical area. In fact, he didn’t really do anything while in the technical area. He couldn’t be ar*ed.
He didn’t want to be here, and it showed. I suppose you could call him calm.
David Wagner
Another thoroughly decent bloke. Another who was calm and managed to keep touchline fights to the bare minimum.
It felt like the players liked him; it was hard not to, to be honest. That was until he took aim at City supporters and suggested we knew not what we were talking about (which was partly true).
His problem was that, despite presiding over a record-breaking unbeaten home run, his football was of the dull variety.
Lovely bloke though.
Johannes Hoff Thorup
Another good guy. At least we, the supporters, thought so. Evidently, the players didn’t, and some took the hump at him being abrupt with them … apparently.
But in terms of demeanour and his dealings with those who weren’t players, he was charming and eloquent. Most of us liked him. There was nothing not to like.
It just went wrong when said players, including a Del Boy lookalike who thinks he’s better than he is, decided to down tools.
Lovely bloke though.
Liam Manning
Hhmm. Tricky. Seemed like an okay kind of guy.
Had a tough time prior to arriving here.
Just didn’t work out. Let’s leave it there.
Philippe Clement
No-nonsense, bald, straight-talking, focussed, determined, demanding, fastidious, and utterly brilliant.
