23-418: Robert Douglas Houghton (born 30 October 1947) is an English football manager and former player. His career has spanned over 30 years and 10 countries. He is most famous for taking Swedish club Malmö FF to the 1979 European Cup final , where they lost to Nottingham Forest . During his brief playing career, Houghton was a midfielder for Fulham (1966–69) and Brighton & Hove Albion (1969–70). Houghton
46-583: A new contract deal. He later confirmed that his contract had been renewed until 2013, but hinted that he might review his decision after the 2011 Asian Cup . At the Asian Cup, India, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, lost all of their three group matches as predicted. Despite this, India's football authorities expressed disappointment over the national team's performance and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) technical committee urged
69-588: A person may fill both these roles. While the first team coach in football is usually an assistant to the manager who actually holds the real power, the North American–style general manager and head coach have clearly distinct areas of responsibilities. For example, a typical European football manager has the final say on in-game decisions (including player line-ups), and off-the-field and roster management decisions (including contract negotiations). In North American sports, those duties would be handled separately by
92-637: A refereeing mistake, and Uzbekistan were eliminated on the away goals rule . After coaching Chinese side Changsha Ginde for a few months, Houghton was then appointed head coach of India in June 2006 by the All India Football Federation . His appointment saw a general progress in India's performances crowned by victory in the Nehru Cup in August 2007. The following year India suffered a huge loss when Maldives defeated them at
115-521: A year before leaving in March 1995. In 1996, he became the first ever coach of Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids before being sacked after just one season. Houghton then assumed control of the Chinese national team in late 1997, who had just failed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup . Within weeks, Houghton was able to memorise the names of all his players, a rare feat in foreign coaches, and helped build
138-598: A zonal defence while coaching in the Allsvenskan, and that his teams pressed hard and maintained a high back-line, making use of the offside trap. They also utilised counter-attacks that were initiated with long passes played in behind the opposing defensive line. Swedish academic Tomas Peterson believed that the managers "threaded together a number of principles, which could be used in a series of combinations and compositions, and moulded them into an organic totality — an indivisible project about how to play football. Every moment of
161-464: Is almost exclusively used in British football . In other European countries and rest of the world in which professional football is played, the person responsible for the direction of a team is awarded the position of coach or "trainer" is known as head coach . For instance, despite the general equivalence in responsibilities, Lee Carsley is referred to as the manager of England , and Julian Nagelsmann
184-484: Is described as the head coach of Germany . Germany also has a team manager role that is subordinate to the head coach and is currently held by Rudi Völler . The responsibilities of a European football manager or head coach tend to be divided up in North American professional sports, where the teams usually have a separate general manager and head coach (known as a field manager in baseball), although occasionally
207-419: 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
230-497: The Chinese national team in 1999. He later had several spells as a club manager in China and was also a coaching instructor. He had a spell in charge of Uzbekistan in 2005 when he was charged with qualifying for the 2006 World Cup though his attempt failed after losing a controversial play-off tie against Bahrain . Uzbekistan won the first match 1–0 but FIFA declared the result void after
253-630: The executive committee to sack Houghton. On 23 April 2011, Bob Houghton tendered his immediate resignation as the India national team coach, which the AIFF accepted. Houghton's last assignment as Indian coach was the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 qualifiers in Malaysia, where India topped Group B which included Pakistan, Chinese Taipei and Turkmenistan. In a 2012 article for The Guardian , Jonathan Wilson noted that Houghton, like his compatriot Roy Hodgson, employed
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#1733125364503276-459: The field to the other, with a libero who stayed in his penalty area and a centre-forward who never tracked back, they set up a system of zonal defence, a back four, people pushing up and getting the ball forward into the final area much more quickly. After a short spell in Greece with Ethnikos Piraeus , Houghton returned to his homeland in 1980 to manage Bristol City . His spell at Ashton Gate Stadium
299-538: The field to the other, with a libero who stays in his penalty area and a centre-forward who never tracks back, we set up a system of zonal defence, a back four, people pushing up and, of course, getting the ball forward into the final area much more quickly." He also believed that Sven-Göran Eriksson 's tactical innovations in the Swedish game were inspired by their own work. Malmö FF India Al-Ittihad Manager (association football) In association football ,
322-614: The final of SAFF Championship 2008 , despite a 100% record in the group stage, including a victory over the Maldives. However, Houghton led India to the AFC Challenge Cup title as they beat Tajikistan 4–1 in August 2008, which gave India a berth at the Asian cup 2011 in Doha. He also oversaw the Indian team to its second consecutive Nehru Cup trophy win in 2009. He resigned in 2010 after not being able to reach
345-477: The first time to Swedish football. Swedish teams at the time used a sweeper with 3 or 5 in defence favouring man-marking. The two were known in Sweden as English Roy and English Bob. Besides zonal marking, the defence pressed hard and maintained a high offside line. Their teams counter-attacked with long passes played in behind the opposition defence. Instead of playing with a team that was very spread out from one end of
368-479: The head coach and general manager, respectively. Dynasty Cup Dynasty Cup was an East Asian international association football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation . It was hosted by China in 1990 and 1992, Hong Kong in 1995, and Japan in 1998. The inaugural edition in 1990 was won by South Korea . The next three editions were won by Japan , before the tournament
391-533: 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: 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: These responsibilities are more common among managers of small clubs. The title of manager
414-511: The manager of Swedish top flight side Malmö FF in 1974. Houghton guided them to success domestically and internationally, reaching the 1979 European Cup final , losing 1–0 against Nottingham Forest . The team was all based on local players who came from within 60 km from Malmö . It was the first and so far only time a Swedish team has reached the European Cup final. He also won the Swedish championship and Svenska Cupen several times and
437-417: The match was theorised, and placed as an object-lesson for training-teaching, and was looked at in a totality." In an article with The Blizzard , Hodgson noted that he and Houghton were attempting to introduce a different style of defending in Swedish football, rather than elements of English football, such as the long-ball game, stating: "Instead of playing with a team that was very spread out from one end of
460-454: The team's confidence and self-belief. China were placed second in the Dynasty Cup very shortly after Houghton took over, and he developed a reputation for being able to implement an effective technical football program for struggling teams. They also attained a bronze medal at the 1998 Asian Games . After failing to qualify for the 2000 Olympic football tournament , Houghton left as manager of
483-618: Was one of the youngest coaches ever to manage in English senior football, being appointed player-manager of Hastings United in the Southern League at only 23. During that period, he was a star pupil of coaching guru Allen Wade, who was the technical director of the Football Association between 1963 and 83. In the early 1970s Houghton also managed Maidstone United and worked as an assistant to Bobby Robson at Ipswich Town . He became
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#1733125364503506-672: Was runner-up in the Intercontinental Cup in 1979 as Nottingham Forest declined to participate, losing against Olimpia from Paraguay. Houghton's early coaching career was closely linked to that of his friend Roy Hodgson . They worked together at Maidstone, Stranraer and Bristol City. They also managed different teams in Swedish football at the same time. Houghton moved to Sweden with Malmö in 1974 and two years later installed Hodgson at Halmstad . The pair are credited with transforming football in Sweden and bringing in zonal marking for
529-570: Was unsuccessful as the financially stricken club were relegated and Houghton resigned after a defeat to Wimbledon . Houghton's next job was with North American Soccer League side Toronto Blizzard between 1982 and 1984. He then managed in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad before returning to Sweden at Örgryte IS and Malmö FF again. After another spell with Al-Ittihad in 1993, he joined Swiss side FC Zürich in April 1994 and remained in charge for just over
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