Brendan Rodgers & Neil Lennon end a set of interviews with some of the world's top managers.
At the recent inaugural European Managers & Coaches Forum - hosted by the League Managers Association (LMA) and Castrol, the official performance partner of the LMA - a group of some of the world's most high-profile football bosses gathered at England's St George's Park to discuss the important issues affecting the sport in the 21st Century.
The forum brought together the likes of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, England manager Roy Hodgson, former Three Lions chief Fabio Capello, Liverpool counterpart Brendan Rodgers and LMA chairman Howard Wilkinson to name just five from a list of attendees who have more than 15,000 matches of combined experience.
Over the course of two days, the gathering, supported by other guests, including Mike Riley, general manager of the Professional Game Match Official Ltd (PGMOL), was devoted to the sharing of insight and discussion for all factors which impact the modern football manager.
Here,
Sky Sports gains a unique insight into the European Managers & Coaches Forum and concludes a series of Q&A interviews with Brendan Rodgers and Celtic boss Neil Lennon.
You have both committed yourself to learning from an early age. How important is it for senior managers to meet with younger managers and share their extensive knowledge?
Brendan Rodgers: Well, I think it is brilliant. I think it is great that so many managers both young and old with different experiences can come together and share that. Certainly for someone like myself as a young manager, fairly new in to it, it is brilliant for me to be around the people that are at the Forum and hopefully learn from them, which I have done. So, I think for us to do this on a regular basis would be fantastic.
Brendan, you have spent a lot of time studying the game abroad. How do you think other leagues compare to what is experienced in English football?
Brendan Rodgers: I think where we are fortunate here in Britain is with the diverse nature of the teams. Michael Laudrup mentioned it earlier and it is something that when you study and when you look at the game abroad, both in Holland and in Spain, in particular, the teams pretty much play the same. So, the tactics for each game will more-or-less be the same. When you are playing in Scotland or you are playing in England, the diversity of the teams you come up against challenges a coach. So, you have got to find different ways and different solutions to win games. I think that is the great part of the game in this country. Of course, when you are a learner you are always trying to learn from those at the leading edge. So the challenge for the coaches in this country in Britain is that you are playing against different styles. All the studying I have ever done and having been abroad to different clubs, they play pretty much the same playing philosophy right the way through, which has its own strengths. But certainly for us as coaches in this country, we have got some brilliant managers both young and old who are very keen and enthusiastic to do well. Obviously that always presents you with a challenge every time you take a team and work.
How do you see football changing over the next 10 years?
Neil Lennon: I think Barcelona set the template. It is a dangerous template, because I think a lot of managers strive to play like that. I think you have to understand the culture that you are
