Physios make best managers - Royle

Elvin King

WHILE Roy Keane struggles to find the winning habit with Ipswich Town, one of his predecessors at Portman Road says that top players are not always equipped to become successful managers.

Joe Royle led the Blues to a couple of Championship play-offs in his four seasons at the helm before leaving in May 2006 to be replaced by Jim Magilton.

“From my point of view you have to look at physios to make the best managers,” said Royle, who was an England international and free-scoring striker in his playing days before tasting success as a manager at Oldham, Manchester City and Ipswich.

“Bob Paisley at Liverpool and Bertie Mee at Arsenal are prime examples of this.

“They had accumulated a talent for administration, delegation and man-management before taking over the manager's hot seat.

“I'm not going to comment on Roy Keane's situation at Ipswich but it goes without saying that he was a top player who proved to be a top manager at Sunderland.”

Royle is now working as a match analysis for ESPN's Premier League television football coverage, and he admits pressures are greater these days.

“When Sir Bobby Robson for example took time to find his feet at Ipswich in the early seventies things were a lot more relaxed.

“Now it is win, win and win again.

“And managers find themselves under the severest pressure when their chairman is under pressure.”

Royle, who briefly took over Oldham for a few weeks at the end of last season, explained his approach to management.

“First of all you must stick to your principles,” he said. “And after that do it your own way.

“I learned from every manager I played under and soon discovered that there are grey areas that you have to negotiate to become a success.

“If you are in charge of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool you know your players and how good they are.

“Other managers have to discover the best way to get the most from what they have got. This is the key.”