Leadbitter

[BoroPhil]

Woodgate has done a decent job as a pundit, that does suggest he has a decent footballing brain and can express his point well

 

[BoroMart]

But managing/coaching is a completely different skill to playing the game. Being able to teach someone something is very different to being good at something. If it was that simple the best players would be the best managers but that's rarely the case.

agreed, but the point made was 'Leadbitter and Woodgate are intellectuals?' They are in their field. Do they have the necessary communication, motivation, authority, empowerment, and other skills necessary to coach. They could be intellectuals in their own head but not able to articulate and share that. Mentoring, coaching and teaching are skills

 

[jimmyjazz]

How can anyone complain about having a leader and an absolute professional like Leadbitter involved atm!?

Adding to that our midfield is non existent… you’d think two top pros and top players in their own right, like Carrick and Leadbitter, would be just what the doctor ordered.

 

[newyddion]

How can anyone complain about having a leader and an absolute professional like Leadbitter involved atm!?

Adding to that our midfield is non existent… you’d think two top pros and top players in their own right, like Carrick and Leadbitter, would be just what the doctor ordered.

Only an 81st minute goal from Marcus Forss prevented Woodgate’s 10 man Bournemouth from reaching the playoff final.. I think they would have made it all the way.

 

[Colgates_shaving_foam]

But managing/coaching is a completely different skill to playing the game. Being able to teach someone something is very different to being good at something. If it was that simple the best players would be the best managers but that's rarely the case.

Totally agree with this.

I would argue that it is much harder to teach something if you are naturally gifted at it, as it comes so easily to you.

The best teachers can put themselves in the learner's position, I think this works the same for football coaches/managers too.

 

[jonny_greenings_sock]

Agree although think he was actually pretty talented. His technique and range of passing was very good. Could hit a ball too.

What held him back a bit were his physical attributes. Not quick and not big and powerful. His talent wasn't quite enough to compensate for that at the highest level, but he had more natural talent than many who've made a career in the top flight.

Peak Leadbitter would probably have held his own in lower end mid table premier League side. But for players like him, somewhere between a top end championship player and lower end prem player, there's a bit of luck involved in being at the right club at the right time.

By the time we got up he had a big injury and was on the wane.

Yeah totally agree, he was a great footballer.

More thinking from the perspective of how people say truly world class players find it hard to coach, because they struggle to understand why players who are mere mortals can’t do what came naturally to them.

I’m not sure how true that is now though, Conte and Zidane have done alright. But for most of football history apart from a few outliers - Clough, Cruyff - the best managers were always relatively journeyman players.

 

[festa5]

Yeah totally agree, he was a great footballer.

More thinking from the perspective of how people say truly world class players find it hard to coach, because they struggle to understand why players who are mere mortals can’t do what came naturally to them.

I’m not sure how true that is now though, Conte and Zidane have done alright. But for most of football history apart from a few outliers - Clough, Cruyff - the best managers were always relatively journeyman players.

Yeah. I think some players it's just very instinctive and natural. They have great footballing brains, but they're not really doing it consciously, in fact they're probably barely thinking at all. Gazza maybe an extreme example of that.

Others are perhaps just as talented, but great students of the game too. They take an interest in what other players do and will consciously adapt to different situations. These guys probably have a chance of becoming successful coaches.

As you say Leadbitter I'd expect would have quite a good understanding of the game. He'll have had to find ways to compensate for his lack of pace and physicality and still impose himself on midfield. And I dare say you don't captain a Karanka team if you don't have a firm understanding of the manager's tactics.

 

[viv_andersons_nana]

Conte, Cruyff, Rijkaard, Guardiola, Beckenbauer, Ancelotti, Zidane, Luis Enrique, Deschamps, Dalglish.

There’s loads of top-class players who’ve gone on to be top-class, top-level coaches and managers and win a ridiculous number of trophies at both domestic and international level.

 

[muniz]

even when leadbitter was in his last run for us and wasn't the same we always played better with him on the pitch than when he didnt play,
if he can translate that influence to a coach or even a manager he could be a great manager

 

[indeedido]

Conte, Cruyff, Rijkaard, Guardiola, Beckenbauer, Ancelotti, Zidane, Luis Enrique, Deschamps, Dalglish.

There’s loads of top-class players who’ve gone on to be top-class, top-level coaches and managers and win a ridiculous number of trophies at both domestic and international level.

Indisputable.
As it is that a number of top class players have been abject failures.

I think it is obvious that excelling at something should give you a foundation and at least initial credibility, but unless you have the desire to keep learning and the skills to communicate, organise, motivate and lead many different types of people, then that reputational credibility will falter quickly.

 

[viv_andersons_nana]

Indisputable.
As it is that a number of top class players have been abject failures.

I think it is obvious that excelling at something should give you a foundation and at least initial credibility, but unless you have the desire to keep learning and the skills to communicate, organise, motivate and lead many different types of people, then that reputational credibility will falter quickly.

Agreed, but would say this is the thing we never really get to see. Leadbitter, Woodgate, whoever, need to want to develop and progress as coaches and we need to create an environment where they’re allowed to learn, fail, develop, improve.

I remember Gary Neville doing a bit on Sky about how we call a manager or a coach a failure if they’re sacked in their first job, making the point that you then deny these people the chance to show they’ve learned from their mistakes and improved from the experience. Woodgate would come into that category. He might well be a better manager for his experiences with Boro and Bournemouth but if he isn’t given a chance, how will we ever know.

 

[Willow]

Things I wasn't expecting to see this season: grant leadbitter with a bouffant, looking like my nan. Should have grown that out when he was playing, would have been iconic. Like Gullits dreadlocks.