The 90-Minute Manager: Lessons from the Sharp End of Management [Paperback]

"A very good book." Sven-Goran Eriksson

"This book makes a convincing case that there are good lessons to be learned from the dugout." Management Today

" We're not one to gossip, but which manager was spotted in a Monte Carlopool this week ploughing through The 90-Minute Manager only weeks after getting his club relegated? And why, exactly, was he there with Fabien Barthez and international playboy Dave "Barry" Bassett?" The Guardian's Fiver email

Football is the setting for one of the purest forms of management - and the most transparent. In an age when club football is more of a business than ever before, suddenly it seems business is getting more and more like football: when talent is at a premium, the ability to attract and retain the very best people - and get the most out of them individually and collectively - is of paramount importance. What better time to learn the lessons from the very best - and worst - of the ultimate man management game.

In this book, Brady and Bolchover take each of the key areas of management today, and see what we can learn from football league managers of all levels, their style and methodology. From Shankley to Wenger, from Clough to Mourinho, through Keegan, Venables, Fergusonand O'Neill, strengths and weaknesses are examined to answer classic modern management questions, such as:

- what are the best strategies for dealing with brilliant but erratic people?
- does the best manger have to be both a great strategist and an inspirational motivator?
- what will make top talent want to work for you?
- what makes a great manager on a shoestring?
- what are the advantages of home grown versus imported talent?
- how important is the 'right-hand' man and what qualities make the very best pairing?
- should a team ever be built around a single outstanding individual?

(Back cover copy)

"A fascinating insight into what makes a great people manager. It's hard to think of a setting where the skills of the best managers can be more clearly seen than in football, and this book provides a compelling analysis of what it is that separates the best from the rest.”

Sir Clive Woodward

“A highly original idea and a convincing argument. You don’t have to be a football fan to get a great deal out of this, but if you are you’ll certainly find it both enjoyable and worthwhile.  This book really hits the back of the net.”
Daniel Finkelstein, The Times

What does it take to become a people manager of premiership standard?

Football managers lead teams of people under intensely stressful conditions, where every action can be criticized – just like most managers in the workplace. Time to learn the lessons from the best and the worst at the ultimate man management game.

In this book, Bolchover and Brady analyse the characteristics of the very best (and some of the worst) football managers in Britain, past and present, to uncover exactly what it is that makes the greats so exceptional and what we can all learn from their style and methods. From Don Revie, Jock Stein, Matt Busby and Bill Shankly, through to the modern day masters including Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson, strengths and weaknesses are examined to answer classic modern management questions, such as:

·        Are the best managers necessarily both great strategists and inspirational motivators?

·        What makes top talent want to work for a particular manager?

·        How important is the ‘right-hand’ man and what qualities make the very best pairing?

·        How can ‘team spirit’ be created?

·        What are the key personality characteristics that define a great manager?

Whether you are a business manager looking for improved performance, a passionate follower of the beautiful game, or both, The 90-Minute Manager is as insightful as it is entertaining.

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(Inside front flap)

“This book makes a convincing case that there are good management lessons to be learned ‘from the dugout’... The lessons go well beyond team-building and motivation, to include the management of stress, dealing with mavericks, attention to detail, enthusiasm, recruitment and, of course, luck.”
Management Today

Management doesn’t get more transparent than in the football world. Those in the dugout are publicly judged week in week out in, with the evidence of their effectiveness plain to see.  This is management where you’re only as good as your last victory, and your job is constantly on the line.

Every manager can learn from the best – and the worst – at the sharp end of people management.

The 90-Minute Manager tackles topics that affect every manager:

·        What are the best strategies for dealing with brilliant but erratic people?

·        Is it better to develop your existing people or bring in fresh talent from outside?

·        Should a team ever be built around a single outstanding individual?

·        How do you prepare for effective managerial succession?

Never has management reading been more entertaining. Ready for kick off?

(Inside back flap)

David Bolchover is a writer and speaker on the subjects of management,

leadership and the workplace.

David writes a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph entitled 'The Truth

About Work' .  He profiled the leadership style of ten top international

sports coaches, published in two major series in The Sunday Times Business

section, and has contributed regularly to The Times.  He is also the author

of The Living Dead: Switched Off, Zoned Out - The Shocking Truth About

Office Life, published in autumn 2005.

Previously, David was employed for several years in the City of London

within the international insurance market.  He holds an MBA from Cass

Business School and a Master's degree from the London School of Economics.

Chris Brady is Professor of Management and Public Policy at the Cass Business School in London. He is also currently a UEFA ‘A’ Licence football coach.

Chris’s early working life included spells with Chrysler in Detroit; as a Land Surveyor; a croupier, and as a betting office manager.  He later joined the Royal Navy where he spent 16 years as a Policy Analyst dealing with staff training and intelligence issues. 

Throughout his working life he pursued a parallel career in semi-professional soccer as both player and coach. He is also the co-author of  End of the Road (the real story of the downfall of Rover, the last British mass market car manufacturer). 

Chris is currently head of business coaching at Cape Consulting and holds several non-executive Director positions.