The CableGuy
Well-Known Member
http://sport.bt.com/sportfootball/f...pressley-destined-for-the-top-S11363869122679
Football management is a fashion business. Right now, Steven Pressley is the football equivalent of Armani, Mulberry, or Prada.
He’s hot, a must-have accessory. The chattering classes can’t get enough of him.
He’s even got his own TV show, Friday night’s FA Cup tie on BT Sport between Arsenal and Coventry, the side he has shielded from car crash politics and unwanted exile.
The former Scotland defender, whose leadership qualities were determined as a player with Rangers, Celtic and Hearts before a successful managerial apprenticeship at Falkirk, has flourished in adversity.
Pressley knew what he was walking into last March, when he arrived at the Ricoh Arena. Coventry were careering towards administration, with their parent company heading to liquidation and ejection from a stadium which hosted the Olympic tournament less than 18 months ago.
He has been bold, releasing 19 players from last season despite a transfer embargo that has only just been lifted. He has been principled, in defining and then trusting a group of unheralded young players to deal with a ten-point penalty.
He prepared assiduously, studying development systems at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The unrealised ambition and the unceasing energy of youth is central to his high-intensity, high-pressing game.
His squad is small, and leavened by exemplary senior professionals like Andy Webster and John Fleck. His problem is the double-edged nature of success.
Asset stripping and opportunism increasingly shapes modern football. Coventry, who play their home matches in Northampton and continue to be hampered by owners who lack credibility and authenticity, are vulnerable to the predators.
Despite the absence of the outstanding Callum Wilson, with a shoulder injury, the Arsenal match, one of the highlights of the fourth round draw, will inevitably focus wider attention on their emerging players.
Pressley, too, is coveted. He is deemed to share the hunger of his players, and his mastery of a tight budget has impressed many Championship chairmen and chief executives. Interest is growing, and will inevitably lead to approaches.
There is a great, and growing, tradition of Scottish managers. The game is dying, slowly, in their homeland, which cannot provide a suitable outlet for their talent. But of one we can be certain: Steven Pressley won’t let the Brotherhood down.
Football management is a fashion business. Right now, Steven Pressley is the football equivalent of Armani, Mulberry, or Prada.
He’s hot, a must-have accessory. The chattering classes can’t get enough of him.
He’s even got his own TV show, Friday night’s FA Cup tie on BT Sport between Arsenal and Coventry, the side he has shielded from car crash politics and unwanted exile.
The former Scotland defender, whose leadership qualities were determined as a player with Rangers, Celtic and Hearts before a successful managerial apprenticeship at Falkirk, has flourished in adversity.
Pressley knew what he was walking into last March, when he arrived at the Ricoh Arena. Coventry were careering towards administration, with their parent company heading to liquidation and ejection from a stadium which hosted the Olympic tournament less than 18 months ago.
He has been bold, releasing 19 players from last season despite a transfer embargo that has only just been lifted. He has been principled, in defining and then trusting a group of unheralded young players to deal with a ten-point penalty.
He prepared assiduously, studying development systems at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The unrealised ambition and the unceasing energy of youth is central to his high-intensity, high-pressing game.
His squad is small, and leavened by exemplary senior professionals like Andy Webster and John Fleck. His problem is the double-edged nature of success.
Asset stripping and opportunism increasingly shapes modern football. Coventry, who play their home matches in Northampton and continue to be hampered by owners who lack credibility and authenticity, are vulnerable to the predators.
Despite the absence of the outstanding Callum Wilson, with a shoulder injury, the Arsenal match, one of the highlights of the fourth round draw, will inevitably focus wider attention on their emerging players.
Pressley, too, is coveted. He is deemed to share the hunger of his players, and his mastery of a tight budget has impressed many Championship chairmen and chief executives. Interest is growing, and will inevitably lead to approaches.
There is a great, and growing, tradition of Scottish managers. The game is dying, slowly, in their homeland, which cannot provide a suitable outlet for their talent. But of one we can be certain: Steven Pressley won’t let the Brotherhood down.
