Manager (association football)

In association football, the manager is the person who has overall responsibility for the running of a football team. They have wide-ranging responsibilities, including selecting the team, choosing the tactics, recruiting and transferring players, negotiating player contracts, and speaking to the media. In professional football, a manager is usually appointed by and answerable to the club's board of directors, but at an amateur level the manager may have total responsibility for the running of a club.

The manager's responsibilities in a professional football club usually include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Selecting the team of players for matches, and their formation.
• Planning the strategy, and instructing the players on the pitch.
• Motivating players before and during a match.
• Delegating duties to the first team coach and the coaching and medical staff.
• Scouting for young but talented players for eventual training in the youth academy or the reserves, and encouraging their development and improvement.
• Buying and selling players in the transfer market, including loans.
• Facing the media in pre-match and post-match interviews.

Some of the above responsibilities may be shared with a director of football or sporting director, and are at times delegated to an assistant manager or club coach.

Additionally, depending on the club, some minor responsibilities include:

• Marketing the club, most especially for ticket admission, sponsorship and merchandising.
• Growing turnover and keeping the club profitable.

These responsibilities are more common among managers of small clubs.

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