There are a generation of managers for whom Frank Lampard’s sacking at Chelsea proved a wake-up call.
Some comparisons were obvious. Imagine Liverpool dismissing Steven Gerrard with such brutal nonchalance. Or Arsenal axing the architects of their modern success, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry.
Aside from the obvious perils of indulging in such nostalgia, Henry might now be a little more reluctant when he inevitably sees himself linked with the Gunners job again in future, especially so early in his managerial career.
Instead, he now finds himself top of Bournemouth‘s list following the departure of Jason Tindall two weeks ago.
Tindall was Eddie Howe’s successor and lasted just six months in the job. It was hoped that, like Howe, his familiarity with the Cherries would set him up for similar success. It wasn’t all bad, either. The club are currently sixth in the Championship.
But Howe was always going to be a tough act to follow and the board now find themselves opting for an entirely different approach. While they await the approval of owner Maxim Demin for the appointment of Henry, the Frenchman is preparing for the possibility of leaving Montreal Impact.
Taking a job in Major League Soccer was a necessary exorcism, as far away as possible, to purge his memories of a failed stint at Monaco.
Picking up from title-winning manager Leonardo Jardim’s first spell in charge, Henry was unable to arrest the principality club’s slump, never recovering from a string of high-profile departures – Kylian Mbappe, Fabinho, Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy among them – in the two seasons that followed their 2016-17 title triumph.
Monaco lost 16 times over the course of Henry’s 29 games in charge. Yet precisely because he is so green in the dugout, perhaps the conventional statistics by which we judge managers don’t matter so much. Zero trophies and a win ratio of just 26.5 per cent so far in his career don’t bode particularly well, but there have been mitigating factors.
The 43-year-old does not have one of the most competitive squads with which to work, so it is hard to glean much from Impact’s mid-table finish.
The same caveat might be applied to a video of his coaching techniques which went viral towards the end of last year. Kitted out in a baseball cap and tracksuit, Henry can be heard shouting his key mantras:
“Drive, drive!” “Attack the ball!” “Don’t blame anyone else!”
So Henry is saying all the right things and has evidently charmed Bournemouth chiefs accordingly – though even his former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, admitted he was a little surprised by the potential move.
“I knew a little bit about Patrick Vieira, when he was in the frame, but Thierry Henry, being at Monreal, I didn’t expect him to leave,” Wenger said when questioned in his role as a pundit on beIN Sports.
“But it’s a good club, Bournemouth, and I think a good test as well for somebody.
“They have good players and they work well, so I think it’s a great platform for a young manager to show that he can do it in England enough to go to the Premier League.”
The old acid test which stung Lampard still applies.
Would Bournemouth appoint Joe Bloggs, fresh off a disastrous spell in France and a stint in MLS which is yet to prove particularly inspiring? The answer has to be no.
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