- Jul 20, 2011
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This was great thanks for sharing.
He’s a determined likeable guy who has his head screwed on (literally).
I think he could be a great manager for us in the future but needs to go and manage lower league or abroad for a bit first as he said himself so if/when he does take the job full time he’s not labelled as too young and inexperienced
I don't agree that he needs to go and manage lower league or abroad for a bit first, but I do think he needs more experience. That experience could be gained with us (or theoretically with another PL club) though.Like Arteta?
Arteta worked as Assistant Manager at Man City for 3.5 years, before taking over as Arsenal Manager. That was 3.5 years of valuable experience, working as the right-hand man for an elite manager, at one of the top teams in the world, learning how to manage big egos. Man City won several major trophies during that time, so he got first-hand experience of witnessing what it takes to build / manage a top team - and contributed to the process.
Setting aside the obvious differences between us and Man City, there's a huge difference between being Assistant Manager for 3.5 years and being one of numerous first team coaches for 1.5 years (with a very brief period as caretaker manager). The level of responsibility and accountability is very different. Also, the more senior (and therefore closer to the manager) a member of the coaching staff is, the further removed they are from being "friends" with the players and the closer they are to being their boss.
Plenty of retired players struggle with the transition to managing a team after being "one of the lads" for such a long time. It would be very easy for someone to either overcompensate (e.g. put too many rules in place or distancing themselves from the players too much) or to be too chummy with the players (resulting in not being adequately respected as the manager).
I'd like to see Mason at least step up to Assistant Manager before getting the Manager job. Based on Levy's past appointments, I'm not concerned that Mason has a realistic chance of being considered in the near future.