"Replacing a legend is difficult. Even if that legend has lingered too long, even if he has stayed beyond the scope of his powers, coming next is an almost impossible job. David Moyes could not follow Sir Alex Ferguson. Unai Emery could not follow Arsene Wenger. Brian Clough could not follow Don Revie. When there has been a successful transition it has tended to come from within."
"Liverpool did it best, the Boot Room tradition stretching all the way from Bill Shankly through Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan to Kenny Dalglish. Modern football makes such continuity extremely difficult and, unless Liverpool had decided Pep Lijnders was the man and given his stint at Red Bull Salzburg, no one is suggesting he was there was no obvious internal candidate to step in when Jurgen Klopp departed. How, then, could a measure of continuity be achieved? By barely changing the squad at all."
"The only arrival in the summer of 2024 was Federico Chiesa, who ended up playing only 108 minutes of Premier League football. (The world was very different in 1974, with transfers less frequent and no window closing at the end of August but it's notable that as Paisley replaced Shankly, Larry Lloyd was sold and Ray Kennedy signed in the summer, with Phil Neal and Terry McDermott arriving in the autumn; it wasn't the half-dozen signings of modern windows but that represents significant new blood)."
Replacing a legend is difficult and successors often fail when appointed from outside. Successful managerial transitions have historically tended to come from within clubs. Liverpool's Boot Room tradition produced a line of internal successors that maintained continuity from Shankly through Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish. Modern football's transfer market and managerial mobility make such internal continuity much harder to achieve. One practical path to continuity is to retain the playing squad with minimal change. Limited summer recruitment in 2024, with only Federico Chiesa arriving and featuring 108 Premier League minutes, preserved squad cohesion, echoing selective recruitment after Paisley's 1974 takeover.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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