Tempers flare. Feathers are ruffled. Sometimes fists are even raised. We’re used to seeing handbags at dawn from players squaring up week in, week out. But what happened to all the emotional managers?
Touchline tantrums among elite bosses seem a distant memory. Managers have gone all Frank Clark and Roy McFarland on us, more likely to raise a Roger Moore-like eyebrow than holler and cuss at officials.
Even Jose Mourinho spent most of last season at Manchester United being passive aggressive, his anti-ref rants largely reduced to subdued shrugs. Maybe the fear of FA sanctions has finally paid off for the authorities.
Not so long ago, the game was awash with men for whom the fire burned bright: Brian Clough, who earned his right to be outspoken, and was revered for it; an indignant Kenny Dalglish here, an irate Alan Ball there.
There are still miscreants aplenty in the EFL. As Roy Keane is only too aware, Ipswich’s Mick McCarthy is prone to passionate outbursts. Further down the hierarchy Southend’s Phil Brown manages to get himself sent to the stands several times a season. Even the mild-mannered Graham Taylor once marched into a seething Sheffield United crowd to effect a “citizen’s arrest” of a fan who allegedly abused him.
Higher up the food chain, chairman have also displayed bizarre temperaments. Witness Alan Sugar screwing up Jurgen Klinsmann’s shirt, proclaiming “I wouldn’t wash my car with it”. Then there was Wimbledon supremo Sam Hammam daubing obscenities on the walls of the away dressing room.
Meanwhile, players and managers going postal at the same time is always entertaining. This World Cup flare-up featuring Irish striker John Aldridge and Jack Charlton will live long in the memory.
In truth, as a Bolton fan I haven’t always kept a keen eye on the Premier League in the last few years. But what I did see and hear last season didn’t set my pulse racing. Fans need to know the man in charge is capable of stoking their team’s fire. Jurgen Klopp gives me hope, at least; a coiled spring. Could this be the season he unravels?
We certainly need a bit more passion. Not arrogance, not disgraceful defence of the indefensible, not downright anarchy and disrepute. Just some good old-fashioned gasket blowing.
So here’s hoping the top 20 coaches lose their collective sh-t and make it a season to remember, just like dear old Kevin Keegan did all those years ago. I’d love it.
