Michael Knighton has heard talk that he's a drug addict, a gambler and an alcoholic. A man controlled by aliens with a beautiful bevy of mistresses at his command. But, to professional football, Knighton is more outrageous than any of these things. He's the chairman who had the audacity to make himself manager!
Knighton is the envy of men like David Pleat, Stewart Houston and Bruce Rioch, bounced out of their Jobs by panic stricken directors—and of Gerry Francis, Roy Evans and Mark McGhee, who also may be pushed off the managerial merry go round this season. I thought Knighton had the safest job in football with Carlisle United until he told me: "If we get relegated, I'll tell myself: 'You're fired!'" But he believes plenty more should so before him.
Alex Ferguson, whose future was once at his mercy as a Manchester United director, is an exception, he says. Knighton added: "Around 50 per cent of Nationwide League managers do not have the right qualities for the job. They're there on the old pro network that says to people like me: 'You've never played. Where are your 200 League games?' They wouldn't have a clue if I asked them about a players' cardiovascular respiratory system or his capacity to dilute lactic acid. I'm not trying to be smug or score points. I just want to point out the inverted arrogance of many managers."
Knighton acknowledges the quality of men like Arsene Wenger and Ferguson but would not feel out of place debating football in their company. He said: "I could sit down with any coaches at any level and I'd be astonished if their considered opinion was: This man is an egotist. I have heard worse, of course. Rumours that item a drug addict with a taste for gambling, and alcoholic too. That I'm about to feature on the Cook Report and that I have several mistresses. I should be so lucky. It doesn't bother me at all. If it brightens up a few dull lives, that's okay by me. What does concern me are those managers who want. their chairman to stay out of the way and sign blank cheques for them to fill in. A lot of Managers are like that and they'll have to change if they value their jobs. The single most important relationship is the one between the chief executive and the man running the team. Mervyn Day didn't understand that at Carlisle. When I suggested he might change from a back five because it wasn't working he didn't want to know. Of course you should resent meddling in team matters from someone who knows nothing about football, but I've been a student of the game for 40 years. I'd have been a top pro player if I hadn't ruptured my thigh muscle as a ground-staff boy with Coventry. Liverpool, Everton, Manchester City and Aston Villa had all shown an interest. I scored a hat trick in 15 minutes during a final trial with Nottingham Forest too. Football runs in the family—my grandfather Willie Layton won an FA Cup medal Sand two League titles as a Sheffield Wednesday full back. And the thesis I did for my university teaching certificate was entitled "Pro Football Teamwork, Tactics and Skill Acquisition". How many other managers have the three requirements - first, depth of football knowledge; second, ability to get the message across and third, motivation? There are plenty of old pros who take exception to me heading up the coaching and the board. Mark Lawrenson is one, but he only lasted five minutes when he tried to do the job at Oxford. Bertie Mee never kicked a ball as a pro but Arsenal won the Double when he was picking the team. There's a culture of change in English football. The jobs for the boys syndrome will soon be over. If top English slavers think they can retire, take a two S coaching course arid run a foot bail team then I'm a banana. Men like Bobby Charlton Bobby Moore and Stan Matthews showed this wasn't possible and there are plenty of others I could mention."
Charlton, in fact shared a boardroom table with Knighton when the axe hung over Alex Ferguson's early managership. Knighton, a United director for flee years reveals: "Bobby and I both supported Alex despite mumblings and mutterings from others. His job was never on the boardroom agenda but Martin Edwards did pull me to one side when we were 14 down at half time and say: 'If we lose this one, we'll have to talk, won't we?' Happily for Alex, United won. For me he's the best manager in the world."
Knighton has 93 per cent of Carlisle shares. None of the other five directors has any. He has given himself the title director of Football' and adds: "My colleagues on the coaching Staff and senior pros think I have a valuable contribution to make. People may think they would say that but I believe they mean it. What I am doing here has nothing to do with megalomania!"
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