‘Negative’ football: A means to an end?

by Theo Fan

I’ve often wondered what it is that leads to a team being labelled negative in the modern English game. The phrase anti-football has become synonymous with certain clubs and is often followed up by references to direct-play, an over reliance on set pieces, long ball football and percentage play. These things together hardly make for the most appetising recipe for a footballing spectacle granted, but what is it that makes a team adopt these methods of play?

That was the question I found myself asking and the best way I could think to answer it was to take a look at a few examples of so-called negative sides and try to figure out where that reputation comes from and why the club decided to follow an “anti-football” path in the first place. When thinking about sides perceived as anti-football there is one man’s name it is difficult to avoid and so we start with a quick look into that man’s recent history.

The Allardyce way

Big Sam’s reputation is one we’re all familiar with; a no-nonsense, uncompromising English manager with a definitive style of direct play that has divided opinion amongst fans of the sport but brought success throughout his managerial career. Perhaps his most fruitful period as a manger came during his tenure at Bolton Wanderers where he guided the club out of England’s second tier and into the Premier League.

This was of little shock to many as it had long been accepted that Allardyce’s particular brand of play was effective in the lower leagues after his earlier spells at Preston North End, Blackpool and Notts County all saw varying degrees of success. Big Sam’s first two seasons in England’s top flight though looked to be a test too far for his approach as Bolton needed favourable final day results to ensure their safety and avoid relegation. From here on in however, Allardyce departed from the script.

The straight-talking manager went on to surprise many pundits and fans alike when he managed to steer the club to four consecutive top ten Premier League finishes from 2003/04 to 2006/07 and the North West side enjoyed a foray into Europe thanks to the mentality and style of play he instilled at the club. Big Sam didn’t only bring joy to the club during his time however as, thanks largely to the negative media image the club’s style of play had gained under his management, Bolton Wanderers were named the seventh most hated club in English football in a fan’s poll in 2008.

Despite his success with Wanderers, Allardyce resigned before the end of the 2006/07 season, the reason for which still remains unclear but many believe he thought he had taken the club as far as he could after he stated in a BBC interview:

“I feel the club is in a great position to continue its upward trajectory, with a talented squad supported by an excellent Academy programme under the guidance of a highly-skilled management team.”

So perhaps clubs decide to employ such playing methods as simply the most effective stepping-stone on the road to taking a club to the top flight and the label of “anti-football” is nothing more than by product of such a decision. When Allardyce achieved a respectable level of consistency and established the club as a top flight unit perhaps he recognised that his methods could not help the club progress any further and wished to handover to a manager whose style was more suited to achieving such a progression.

One thing that is for sure is that, unfortunately for Bolton fans, Gary Megson was not such a manager. To try and look deeper into this issue and better figure out the reason a football club picks up this media identity I next decided to take a look at a more recent example in the form of a club currently blighted by the negativity tag.

The Stoke way

Tony Pulis’ Potters are arguably the side the anti-football army hate the most right now. Their brand of football is viewed by many as not only unattractive but detrimental to the image of the Premier League itself. Many a West Ham fan were quick to state that they had been robbed of a trip to Wembley in the FA Cup by a band of boring dead-ball specialists whose weekly exploits were tarnishing the reputation of the Premier League.

Having watched that particular game closely I have to say that Stoke’s best periods in the game came when they played excellent free-flowing football with Pennant and Etherington terrorising the Hammers from both wings and playing anything but negatively. The fact that their two goals in the game from a Rory Delap throw and a Danny Higginbotham does however add ammunition to the argument that Stoke are a side who are over reliant on their set piece play.

At this point I began to wonder what the fans of the clubs who battle with this image think of their rivals’ jibes so I searched one out and asked him. Chris Jones is a life-long Stoke City fan and a leading contributor to a popular Stoke City forum. When I asked him to tell me how he saw Stoke’s style of play he described them as “uncompromising, high-tempo, direct, honest and attacking” but also said the club could develop with a few summer acquisitions and believes Stoke’s image is undeserved as their style has developed recently and is now more balanced and offensive than in previous seasons.

Based on Chris’s answers and Stoke’s past few seasons under Tony Pulis I would say that they are a team that are thinking long term and used the sort of approach that entices the media into labelling their style as anti-football to help establish themselves in the top flight. Tracing Pulis’s managerial career back the story that unfolds is one very similar to Allardyce’s in that his style produced quick success and effective turnarounds in lower league clubs before he guided Stoke into the top flight and began to try and establish the club as a permanent fixture in the Premier League.

The future will show whether Tony Pulis has the ability to progress Stoke’s play further and fully shake off their negative image or whether he will decide to part ways with the club and leave the development to a manager with a different philosophy to his.

“It’s games like these that make champions”

We’re all familiar with the scenario. There’s ten minutes to go in a game where one of the title contenders is struggling to breakdown the defences of a smaller side from lower in the table and one of the commentators trots out the old cliché about how champions are made in games like these where any goal will do so long as they get the result.

With full time bearing down and three points slipping away there are few teams who can honestly say they wouldn’t resort to long balls from the back in the hope of getting a favourable bounce or throw-in or corner to help them find a goal at take the game. When it comes to the crunch in the modern game it seems that the need for positive results will drive almost every team to look for a means to an end no matter what their style or philosophy.

This has certainly been true of Manchester United’s campaign at times this season. Despite playing under par by their own admission this season they have been finding those all important results that currently see them sitting at the top of the table for the run-in. Although their use of “negative” football has been far more short term than other teams the reason for employing these tactics is much the same.

It’s the need to win that forces any tactical decision in football and in some circumstances perhaps the kind of football that puts results before entertainment truly is the best way forward for a team. In a modern game where fans demand nothing less than progress it’s little wonder teams will look to utilise any method they think will work in the hunt for the highest possible finish. With the rewards for success ever increasing and the financial dangers faced by clubs who fail to achieve worsening it’s difficult to say how much of the beautiful game is likely to turn ugly in future seasons.

Anti-football, Bolton Wanderers, Sam Allardyce, Stoke City, Tony Pulis