The Sports Psychology Blog
Today's Sports Psychology blog looks at the challenge facing Bolton Wanderers manager Sammy Lee as he takes over from Sam Allardyce.
Football: Sammy Lee - The Challenge Of Change
Taking over from Sam Allardyce is a challenge. It would match taking over the reins from Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger. Individuals who shaped the destiny of their football clubs over the last decade. Not just shaped their destiny but left their prints all over the club. Players moulded to play a certain way. Careers and reputations forged through their managers leadership and direction.
Just look at the challenge Charlton Athletic have faced since Alan Curbishley left. Three managers and a side that will have to improve considerably on their first two games to make an instant return to the Premiership.
Bolton chairman Phil Gartside probably sensed that his side could make the leap from the UEFA fringes into Champions League football. Gartside probably thought that to do so would require them to alter their style. Play with more flair and expression to match the galacticos of the top four. But it's a high risk strategy.
When players have become used to a way and style of playing, then change must be subtle. Almost intangible. The methods which have taken Bolton Wanderers to a constant top eight finish would need to remain. It's got them to an exalted status. Way beyond their fans expectations. Year after year. Players playing to a method. A method that worked.
Sammy Lee must take great care not to dismantle the work of Sam Allardyce. To prove he is his own man. Full of new ideas. Not seen as a Big Sam clone.
His byword must be patience. A stable, steady first year. Perhaps a few subtle changes in routines. A second year, maybe a bit more expansive, bringing in players more suited to the way in which he wants to play. The third year being the one in which his methods start to take hold. Very gradual. Nothing sudden. easy for the players to handle.
The start Bolton have made would suggest that Sammy Lee has maybe tried to do too much too soon. It should be the alarm call he needs to settle into the job and to settle his players. A hard to beat Bolton, snatching scrappy goals from set pieces is what his players know. Carrying on the Allardyce legacy will not make Sammy Lee a bad manager. It will make him a wise one.
