Footballers... and how they are treated by their Manager

This may seem like a odd question to ask:

Are you aware of the CIPD or any law firms that have done any study on Footballers and how they are treated by their Manager?  I would be interested to read any report...

Premier League footballers are paid handsomely, although there are many footballers that are not paid a lot of money the lower down the leagues you go.  Some may argue the financial reward is worth the downside of certain behaviours!

My reason for asking is, footballers can be regularly shouted at (from the side lines, we see this on match days and on tv coverage), however, this behaviour can and does continue into the dressing room, which we do not see.  Footballers are reluctant to raise any grievance with a manager due to the likelihood they would never play for the club again and find it hard to get another club.  We now see things making football a more inclusive 'better' sport, with football players taking the knee to support issues of racial inequality, but there is often no support for players who are shouted out and singled out in front of other players in the dressing room.  There is the PFA which will give a some support if a footballer has been at a professional club at some point during their career, other than that a footballer can be left to work things out for themselves and put up with certain behaviours which appear to be acceptable in football, but had a similar situation occurred in an office environment (as one example) behaving in a certain way could potentially see you dismissed.

Many thanks

Parents
  • Thanks for your reply Robert. I appreciate the comparison between sports and office isn’t the best, I was merely saying a manager wouldn’t shout at an employee as a football manager shouts at an employee who is a footballer. Maybe there are other comparisons I could have used.
    It is really good to hear a club at your level recognising and acting to remove this behaviour. Sadly at lower levels the behaviour exists, it isn’t pleasant and it isn’t nice to be on the receiving end with no support available, unless you risk your career by speaking out.
    Thank you everyone, I appreciate you all taking the time to comment.
Reply
  • Thanks for your reply Robert. I appreciate the comparison between sports and office isn’t the best, I was merely saying a manager wouldn’t shout at an employee as a football manager shouts at an employee who is a footballer. Maybe there are other comparisons I could have used.
    It is really good to hear a club at your level recognising and acting to remove this behaviour. Sadly at lower levels the behaviour exists, it isn’t pleasant and it isn’t nice to be on the receiving end with no support available, unless you risk your career by speaking out.
    Thank you everyone, I appreciate you all taking the time to comment.
Children
  • No manager in a commercial setting, be it office, retail or manufacturing, should rarely if ever shout an an employee - I agree. There may be some instances, for example where activity is likely to result in injury so as to get attention, but that’s about it.

    But it is somewhat naive to expect 100% politeness and civility in a professional team sport. I’ve never seen, or would expect to see, a manager or coach say to a player “I would really appreciate it if you could track back to cover with a bit more energy when our full-back goes forward, but only if you feel comfortable with that!”. Moreover a manager needs to shout if the player is 30 yards away and with a noisy crowd.

    Abuse, no - but forceful feedback is required at times, and if a player is not playing well the manager will substitute him, or drop him from the team altogether. Would you say that was harsh?