Football college for ashen-faced bosses

Managers cracking up under the strain of coping with the pressures of modern football are on course to get a little professional help.

The League Managers Association is preparing an action plan to give them training in psychology, physiology, business, time-management skills, and dealing with the media.

Players, junior coaches and others planning to go into professional management will take the courses, which could become compulsory, at Loughborough University from next season.

The courses are aimed at reducing the number of managers who, like Steve Coppell at Manchester City, quit after short periods in the face of organisational, communication and motivation problems.

The proposal will also provide training to improve managers' interview techniques so they can learn to deal more effectively with the media - whether their teams' efforts leave them "sick as a parrot" or "over the moon".

The idea follows an increase in managerial responsibility and greater than ever demands for success from supporters.

Managers, very often former players with no work experience outside football, are now expected to conduct multi- million pound business deals, handle the psychological problems of highly paid players, and be eloquent communicators to the media.

John Barnwell, the chief executive of the LMA, said he hoped that the football management qualification would eventually become so well- established that clubs would not hire anyone without it.

He said the new course would be spread over one or two years and would be part-time. The scheme is expected to be funded by the Premier League, Football League and Football Association, with "students" paying a nominal fee themselves.

George Sik, a psychologist whose book on football management, I Think I'll Manage, was published last month, said the continual publication of league tables created constant pressure.

"There are very few jobs where so many people know how well you are doing," he said. "The level of scrutiny of your every move is almost unparalleled," he said.

Mr Barnwell, a former manager of six clubs including Wolves and AEK Athens, said: "The game is changing rapidly and the role of the manager has changed from even five years ago.

"The manager has got to develop inter-personal and organisational skills, communication and motivational skills - they have got to learn how to negotiate a deal and how to counsel people.

"We have all been ill- prepared for the job and we are trying to ensure that in future football managers are better prepared."