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In Football, Managers Are Overrated And Optional

The 2016-17 Premier League is the “Year of the Manager.” Some of the world’s most famous, eccentric and respected managers have come to England in search of glory. Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger are all elite level managers who have won major trophies throughout Europe. Through tactics, man-management and mind games only one deserving manager will lift the Premier League trophy in May. 

Or maybe none of the aforementioned managers will lift the trophy.  

While we all fawn over the larger than life personalities at the helm of England’s biggest clubs, Hull City are currently managerless. The Tigers may be onto something revolutionary. Or maybe insane. Possibly stupid. Definitely unorthodox. 

Whatever the adjective, it’s working. 

 

Hull City do not have a permanent manager in place. Instead, they have embraced the chaos that is life. Maybe not by choice, but still. 

This summer, while the rest of England’s clubs planned for the upcoming season and spent millions on new signings, Hull City were in disarray. Even after winning a thrilling playoff final to earn promotion, the club was so toxic that long-serving manager Steve Bruce resigned. 

You’d imagine that coaches would be lining up for a chance to take over a Premier League club but that just hasn’t been the case. That should give you an idea of how crazy Hull City is when we are two weeks into the season and they have no permanent replacement.

Steve Bruce was the manager of Hull City.

Steve Bruce couldn't handle the heat. Photo: @Oddschanger | Twitter

That being said, the Tigers may just be this year’s Leicester. They have started the season perfectly with two wins, one of which was against the defending champions on opening day. 

Maybe we’ve all become too distracted by formations, team selections, sound bites and making fun of Arsene Wenger. Maybe we need to strive to be more like Hull City — just go against conventional wisdom every chance we get and somehow find more success than ever before. 

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