Arrigo Sacchi once said, "You dont have to have been a horse to be a jockey. Dontae Johnson Jersey ." With regards to becoming a professional soccer coach, that is an expression that one will hear often. In fact, it is a mantra for aspiring coaches who never made the grade as professional players. They point to recent successes in football management - like Tottenhams André Villas-Boas - who never played the game professionally as examples of why a professional playing career is overrated when it comes to being a professional coach. But is it? Does a professional coach need to have a professional playing career first in order to be successful as a coach? Is it a prerequisite for getting hired? Is a coach who never played the game viewed by the establishment as inferior to those who did? Lets take a look at the coaches in the English Premier League for some insight. Since the league began in 1992, there have been 179 different men in charge of the 20 clubs in the league. Some were only in the job for a day as caretakers, while others - like Sir Alex Ferguson - were in charge for many years. By my count, only six of those coaches moved into coaching without first having enjoyed a substantial professional playing career. The likes of Villas-Boas, Roy Hodgson (now manager of England) and Avram Grant didnt accumulate years of experience in the game as professional players before moving into coaching. Instead, they served years as coaching apprentices before working their way up through the coaching ranks. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers retired from the game as a player at the age of 20 due to injury before beginning his journey on the coaching pathway. But these coaches are very much the exception. When it comes to getting a job as a coach at the highest level in England, having a professional playing career behind you is almost mandatory. But does it actually make a difference? Does a professional playing career make you a better coach? Im not convinced that it does. Some of the brightest coaches in the game - people like Villas-Boas and Rodgers - demonstrate that the ability to coach the game isnt reflective of ones ability to play the game. Those coaches became students of the game at an early age and worked their way up the coaching ladder, either as assistant coaches or as academy coaches, before moving into senior management. Internationally, some of the most successful coaches in the game achieved their success without ever touching the field as professional players. Arrigo Sacchi turned AC Milan into one of the greatest club teams ever in the late 80s and early 90s, winning back-to-back European Cups. Carlos Alberto Parreira won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994; neither he nor Sacchi ever set foot on the field as professional players. Closer to home, Canadas womens national team coach, John Herdman, never played professionally. Yet he is one of the best coaches Ive come across in over two decades of professional involvement in the game. While players are immersed in a football culture day in, day out, that doesnt necessarily translate to success in coaching. Take Arsenal and England defender Tony Adams, for example. An exceptional player for both club and country, his forays into management with Wycombe Wanderers and Portsmouth FC failed to bring success; he suffered relegation to League Two with Wycombe and only managed to win four of his 22 games in charge of Portsmouth before being sacked. Adams last coaching appointment was in May 2010 with Gabala FC in the Azerbaijan Premier League, a post he subsequently left in November 2011. Arguably the worlds best-ever player, Diego Maradona, had a disastrous spell as manager of his national team. In charge of Argentinas 2010 World Cup appearance, he will be remembered for his tactical naiveté and general incompetence during his countrys 4-0 hammering at the hands of Germany. In professional football, being able to manage the personalities of your players is far more important than being able to ping a 60-yard ball across the pitch. Sir Alex Ferguson summed it up nicely in his recent autobiography, when he said, "Football management is a never-ending sequence of challenges. So much of it is a study in the frailty of human beings." While a professional playing background teaches you the technical, tactical and physical requirements of the game, does it teach you to understand the frailty of human beings? Not really. Being a player is often a selfish existence; you worry, first and foremost, about your own performance. You dont have that luxury as a manager, where you must give as much of your time (if not more) to the weakest member of your team as you do to your star player. You must be able to see the bigger picture, and must be able to tailor your teaching methods to meet the needs of each and every one of your players and staff. The ability to do this comes naturally for some - which might explain why so many clubs make the mistake of hiring a former player as their coach. They assume that years spent playing the game are equivalent to years spent teaching it. But for most coaches, being able to manage a group of professional players comes only with years and years of practice. But if you dont have a professional playing career behind you, getting an opportunity at a professional club is very difficult. Because there is definitely a perception amongst club owners and chairman that the lack of a professional playing career is somehow a black mark on a coachs resumé - as if the ability to teach the game is directly related to the ability to play the game. Perhaps the only way to dispel this belief is for more coaches like Villas-Boas, Rodgers and Herdman to achieve success in the game. D.J. Fluker Seahawks Jersey . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. Michael Dickson Jersey . After rookie right-hander Alex Colome excelled in a 5-2 victory in the opener, the Rays fell to Chris Tillman and the Orioles 4-1 on Friday night. http://www.authenticseahawksstoreonline.com/Black-88-Will-Dissly-Womens-Jersey/ . -- Phil Mickelson came to the St.WASHINGTON - Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper doesnt think left wing Ryan Malones DUI and cocaine possession charges will be a distraction to the post-season-bound team. "Ryan is probably a little embarrassed of whats gone on. He made a poor decision, getting behind the wheel when he had alcohol in his system," Cooper said before Tampa Bay beat the Washington Capitals 1-0 in a shootout Sunday to close the regular season. "But for me, Ive watched all the good decisions Ryan Malones made in his life, and how charitable hes been and what a staple hes been in our community in the years hes been here," Cooper added. "I hope this one instance doesnt take away from that, because hes been a class act for us, on and off the ice." Malone didnt travel with the team to Washington. It isnt yet known what his status for the playoffs will be. Tampa Bay will host the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, with Game 1 scheduled for Wednesday. An officer saw Malones SUV strike a curb after making a left turn from the centre lane in the early hours of Saturday, Tampa Police Lt. Paul Lusczynski said. After being pulled over, Malone got out of his vehicle, and the officer smelled alcohol on his breath, Lusczynski said. According to the police report, the officer found 1.3 grams of cocaine in one of Malones pockets. "We talked about it as a team yesterday, and its a real unfortunate thing, but I dont think it was really on too many guys minds here today with the ... stakes of this game," Matthew Carle said after scoring the only goal in Sundays shootout. Malone refused to take field sobriety tests, but a breath test given at the jail recorded blood alcohol levels of 0.112 and 0.116 per cent, Lusczynski saaid. Seattle Seahawks Jerseys. Florida law considers a driver impaired at 0.08. Malone was released from the Hillsborough County jail on $2,500 bond. His car was impounded by police. "The one thing is, no matter what happens, regardless of anything, youre dealt with as a human being first, hockey player second. Thats how we deal with everything. ... So you want to look after your players in their life first," Cooper said, pausing at times to choose his words carefully. "Im happy everythings OK with Ryan. ... Ive spoken to Ryan. There is a whole process thats going to go through here. Its out of our hands." NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Saturday that Malone "is subject to mandatory evaluation" under the substance abuse program agreed to by the league and the players union, and "his future playing status" will be determined based on the terms of that program. "Lets just say nobodys perfect. We all make marginal decisions at one point in our life. I know Ive made them," Cooper said. "Hell let this be a learning experience for him," Cooper said, "and were really looking forward to getting him back at some point." Malone has five goals and 10 assists in 57 games this season for the Lightning. The 34-year-old forward is in his 10th NHL season, his sixth with Tampa Bay. He has 92 goals, 201 assists and 388 penalty minutes in his career. "Hockey-wise, weve had way more distractions worse than this one. This is more of a life issue that is a friend of ours that we know is physically doing OK. Hopefully the worst is over. This is moving onward and upward after that," Cooper said. "But as for the hockey, this wont be a distraction at all for us." Wholesale NFL T-shirts Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Wholesale China NFL Gear Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Cheap NFL Hoodies Camo China NFL Jerseys ' ' '