Sports
‘I don’t digest food properly now’: The all-consuming pressure of managing a football club
Pep Guardiola’s list of symptoms is long and unsettling. He has trouble sleeping. He can only take light meals in the evening. On some days, he does not eat at all. He finds it difficult to read because his mind keeps wandering. He feels, at times, intensely lonely. Things can get so bad that they begin to take on a physical form: bouts of back pain, breakouts on his skin.
They are not isolated to moments like the one in which the Manchester City manager finds himself trapped, when his team are locked in a tailspin he has spent the better part of two months trying and failing to halt. By his own admission, he is always like that. Guardiola cannot sleep, or eat, or relax even when things are going well at work.
Manel Estiarte, perhaps Guardiola’s most trusted confidant, used to call it the “Law of 32 minutes”. Estiarte had spent enough time with Guardiola to calculate precisely how long his friend might last talking about another subject — literally any other subject — before his mind wandered back to football.
That image has long since been folded into Guardiola’s mythology. He is the obsessional genius, his brain forever fizzing and whirring, a synapse permanently set to fire. His teams at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and then City represent his ideas made flesh, given perfect form. His brilliance has been constrained only by the limits of his imagination.
The cost of that dedication, though, has been laid bare over the last couple of months. As City’s form has slumped, Guardiola has given at least two unusually bleak interviews: first to the Spanish chef Dani Garcia, and then to his former team-mate, and longstanding friend, Luca Toni on Prime Video Sport. He told the former of the “loneliness of the football manager”, and how he found that — in defeat — there is “no consolation” once “you close that bedroom door and turn off the light”.
To Toni, meanwhile, he detailed the impact on his health: the skin problem he has been dealing with for “two (or) three years”, the problems with sleeping and eating. “I don’t digest food properly now,” he said, as if the metabolic shift is permanent. Sometimes, he said, he “loses his mind”.
Guardiola during Manchester City’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace this month (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
That he was so matter-of-fact about it — that he could insist he was “fine” just a few days later — may well be because none of it is new, not really. He struggled to sleep in his final year at Barcelona. In 2019, when City beat Liverpool to the Premier League title, he had long since stopped eating on matchdays. He said in 2018 while speaking at the University of Liverpool that he could not read books to relax because “I start reading and before I know it I am reading about Jurgen Klopp”.
It may also, though, be because it has become the standard reality of those in his profession. Management has always been stressful. Many of Guardiola’s most famous antecedents — Bill Shankly, Arrigo Sacchi — either resigned or retired because of the strain the job placed on them. The man he identified as the greatest opponent he had faced, Klopp, stepped away from Liverpool for similar reasons.
It has, too, always been a vocation largely reserved for the single-minded, the pathological, the fanatical. And yet even those who choose to do it, again and again, would acknowledge that it appears to be extremely bad for you.
Richie Wellens, the Leyton Orient manager, told The Athletic this year that he can no longer grow a beard because of the stress of the job; Nathan Jones, once of Stoke City and Southampton, used to bite his nails so feverishly that he drew blood. As far back as 2002, (vaguely unscientific) experiments showed that some managers were under such stress during games that they suffered irregular heartbeats.
“I definitely didn’t feel healthy at the end of my time at Chelsea,” Emma Hayes, now in charge of the United States’ women’s team, said last month. “I don’t want to say it’s pressure. I just think it’s the stress, the toll it took on me.”
It is tempting to say that is inevitable, given the scale of the football industry, the money at stake, the unwavering scrutiny of the media. And yet, in some senses, management should be less, rather than more, stressful now.
Hayes walks away after an altercation with the then-Arsenal Women manager Jonas Eidevall in March (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Most clubs have stripped back the burden of the post: technical or sporting directors take care of recruitment; chief executives handle contract negotiations; whole departments exist to analyse games and coordinate scouting. Shankly could not call on a psychologist, a specialist set-piece coach, or a nutritionist.
Yet it appears to have made little effect; management has not become more manageable. Ange Postecoglou, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, might have been exaggerating a touch when he suggested it was the “hardest job in any walk of life”, but it was not difficult to follow his reasoning.
“You can say politics, but this is harder,” he said. “The tenure and longevity of this role now means you go into it and very few are going to come out without any scars.” Asked to compare it to being the prime minister of an actual country, he said: “How many times does he have an election? I have one every weekend, mate. We have an election and we either get voted in or out.”
In part, that can be attributed to the fact that while football has delegated responsibility behind the scenes, it has not done so in front of the cameras. The manager, particularly in England, more often than not remains the only public face of the club.
“They have to comment on everything,” Michael Caulfield, a sports psychologist who works with Brentford, among other clubs, told BBC Radio 5 Live last week. “From Covid to Brexit to anything you care to mention: potholes, traffic, the price of hamburgers. Football is not good at sharing that workload. It is too much for one person.”
Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler at his unveiling in July (Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)
That anachronism has practical benefits — as an executive at one club has noted, privately, it makes life easier if certain questions are asked of a manager who can legitimately say they do not know the answer — but it creates the impression that the absolute responsibility for the wellbeing of a club rests on one person’s shoulders.
But far more significant is the fact that football, essentially, actively discourages managers to switch off. Guardiola might be seen as an exception, but he is also presented as a model; the obsessiveness that has been central to his legend for the last decade and a half has created a blueprint for how a manager is supposed to be.
It is telling, for example, that Fabian Hurzeler — the 31-year-old head coach at Brighton — does not watch television or movies but does read books about “mindset”.
“What is the mindset from high-performance people? People like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg. I like to understand how they behave, how they get so successful,” he said this season. Fabian Hurzeler’s reading materials are his own business, but this does not sound like switching off.
Indeed, most Premier League managers struggle to describe how they relax. Many exercise, of course — a notable percentage are very fond of padel, with Hurzeler one of several lobbying his club to build a court at their training facility — but genuine outside interests appear to be scarce.
Nuno Espirito Santo likes to “go to the window and look at the River Trent”. The night before he was summarily dismissed by Wolves, Gary O’Neil had allotted time to finish watching the film Wonka with his children. He knew it was “important to switch the brain off”. But he also knew exactly how long he had left. “I will try to switch off for an hour and six minutes,” he said.
The River Trent running by Forest’s ground. Their manager Nuno finds solace in watching the river (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Caulfield described Thomas Frank, his head coach at Brentford, as being unusually well-balanced for a manager — he plays padel (obviously), he skis, he spends time at his house in Spain, he has friends who have nothing to do with football — but even he has admitted his “brain is thinking about the next game” in almost every waking moment during the season.
He sometimes, he said, watches interior design programs on television with his wife. But only because she “forces” him to do it. Roberto Martinez, now managing Portugal, told The Telegraph in 2015 that he had designed his living room so it could contain one sofa and two televisions: one for his wife to watch normal television, and the other for him to watch football matches.
None of this, of course, is healthy. The League Managers Association, the umbrella body that lobbies on behalf of both current and former managers in England, has published a handbook to encourage its members to find some form of work-life balance; it is at pains to point out that they cannot function to their utmost if they are drained and fatigued.
“That is the biggest problem,” said Caulfield. “Football is exhausting. That culture of ‘be there seven days a week’ has to stop at some point. Managers have to manage their own energy as much as their players. We are not designed to work seven days a week, 24 hours a day, under that pressure and scrutiny.”
Guardiola would, it seems, be proof of that. The symptoms of what it is to be a manager are worse now, of course. He always suffers more after defeats. But it is not so different when things are good; he has been dealing with them for years. “I think stopping would do me good,” he told Garcia, the chef, in one of those stark interviews.
He knows that, and yet he will not. He will, like so many of his peers, keep coming back for more.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
Sports
Philip Rivers’ former teammate expresses one concern he has with 44-year-old’s return to Colts
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
There is a good chance Philip Rivers sees some action on Sunday when the Indianapolis Colts take on the Seattle Seahawks in a must-win game for the AFC South team.
Rivers, 44, joined the Colts earlier this week as the team deals with a quarterback crisis. The potential Hall of Famer hasn’t played since the 2020 season, but when the Colts needed him the most, he answered the call and dove into a playbook to get game ready.
But what can any NFL fan think Rivers is going to provide for the Colts at 44? He’s changed so much since the 2020 season, as his opponents on the field. The Seahawks also have one of the best defenses in the league.
Shawne Merriman #56 of the San Diego Chargers walks on the sideline in the game against the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 15, 2009 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
Shawne Merriman, Rivers’ former teammate, told Fox News Digital that he expected him to play well but was concerned about one thing.
“It’s a tough week for him to get back. But I’ll tell you this, Phil’s upside was never his athleticism. It was always his competitiveness,” he said. “He’s the most competitive player I’ve ever played with, that’s one. And two, it was his preparation and his mental and his knowledge of the game of football. Those two things would always got Philip to be that elite quarterback. It was that. So, it’s not gonna be that much different as far as him moving around the pocket.
“The concern I do have is you can’t replicate football without playing it. So, you can have a coach out there, I’m sure he was throwing the football around with his high school kids. I’m sure that he was working out, but you can’t replicate football. So, I think he’s gonna go out there and look good. I think he’s gonna go out there and actually look like he did five years ago.”
When the rumors started that Rivers was potentially going to come to Indianapolis for a workout, Merriman said he wasn’t surprised.
Philip Rivers #17 of the Los Angeles Chargers looks for an open receiver during the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 29, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
COLIN KAEPERNICK CULTURE WAR APPEARS TO HAVE DIED OUT AS COLTS AND OTHERS FIND QB SOLUTIONS WITHOUT UPROAR
The former San Diego Chargers star said when he spoke to Rivers during Antonio Gates’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony, it didn’t feel like the quarterback was completely finished with the game.
“I wasn’t shocked. And, this is why – a couple of years ago, I put on Twitter that Phil was still ready to play and this was I think in 2023,” he said. “And everybody’s like, ‘What? Well, yeah, right.’ He’s been gone out of the game I think three years at that point and then literally a week later or two, it pops up that the San Francisco 49ers, their quarterback situation with all their injuries, that they were thinking about bringing in Philip. And I said, I told you.
“I had a conversation with Philip and he didn’t say, ‘Oh, I’m coming back to play,’ but when you talked to him, it sounded like he was ready. It sounded like he was talking about the game in the present moment.”
Bundle FOX One and FOX Nation to stream the entire FOX Nation library, plus live FOX News, Sports, and Entertainment at our lowest price of the year. The offer ends on Jan. 4, 2026. (Fox One; Fox Nation)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Merriman said he got together with Rivers and Drew Brees during Antonio Gates’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony and it didn’t like Rivers was exactly finished with football.
“So, I’m not surprised at all and it’s the right decision by the Indianapolis Colts.”
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sometimes even Donovan Dent needs to be told he’s Donovan Dent.
“I just keep reminding him of who he is,” Skyy Clark said of his message to his UCLA teammate who has been pushing through a tough opening stretch as a Bruin.
The most highly coveted point guard in the transfer portal, Dent arrived on campus with the pedigree of an All-American honorable mention who was expected to immediately elevate his new team. Among his many talents were strong three-point shooting and an ability to blow by defenders to the rim.
He’s been looking more like that version of himself the last few games after a slow, injury-marred first month, a trajectory the No. 25 Bruins (7-2) will need to continue Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle if they hope to beat No. 8 Gonzaga (9-1).
“He’s been showing a lot of flashes of who he is as a person, as a player, and we’re all rooting for him,” Clark said. “I think it’s only going to get better.”
Having a week between games might help. UCLA coach Mick Cronin said he’s been working with Dent on his shooting form, which curiously has been an issue for someone who made 40.9% of his three-pointers and 78.4% of his free throws last season at New Mexico.
Those numbers have dipped considerably, Dent making just one of 13 three-pointers (7.7%) to go with 62.8% of his free throws. He barely was making half of his free throws before a recent stretch in which he’s converted 10 of 13.
Perhaps the biggest concern has been Dent’s inability to embarrass defenders like he did as a Lobo.
UCLA guard Donovan Dent drives to the basket against Oregon forward Dezdrick Lindsay, left, and center Ege Demir, right, during the Bruins’ 74-63 win on Dec. 6.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
“In the Mountain West, he was able to get to the rim in a way that he’s not able to get to the rim at our level, it’s just not going to happen,” Cronin said. “At the high level, it’s really hard. You can’t finish on some of the big guys you could finish on in that league — maybe in the bottom half of the league, you could just take everybody to the rim. First of all, they allow you to bump the dribbler; it’s more physical the higher up you go — it just is. It’s not a knock on it, it’s just the way it is. You know, the Power Four leagues now plus the Big East, the physicality is amazing.
“And in the NBA you can’t blow on a guy, but in college, it’s physical, and that’s what people try to do is beat him up, that’s the game plan. And everybody has the same game plan, like, we know, we talk to people, be physical, beat him up, be as physical as you can with him.”
Cronin said he’s been encouraged by what he’s seen over the last two games, in which Dent averaged 15 points and 5.5 assists with 3.0 turnovers while leading the Bruins to victories over Washington and Oregon. He’s also put abdominal and lower-leg injuries behind him.
That’s not to say that Dent can’t boost his game another notch or two.
“He’s got to have more confidence in his three-point shot, his pull-up shot and focusing on his defense on the ball, using his quickness for that,” Cronin said. “So there’s just different ways he can affect the game, which is going to be [key] for him to have a [professional] career anyway. He’s been pushing through it, he’s been working on it, I thought the last couple of games his effort’s been great.”
If Dent needed a template for perseverance amid high expectations as a transfer, he could find it in Clark. After arriving from Louisville, Clark struggled with his shooting and never scored in double figures over his first nine games as a Bruin.
Then came a 15-point breakthrough against Arizona in mid-December and an 11-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist showing two weeks later in a victory over Gonzaga.
“I had a slow start last year when I first came here and then as the season went on it started to get a little [better],” Clark said. “So, I just keep telling him about that and keep sticking with it.”
Money matters
Cronin said UCLA raised more money playing in neutral-site games against Arizona, California and Gonzaga than it would have by participating in the Players Era Festival.
“They raise money for our program to buy players,” Cronin said of neutral-site games with a laugh. “I mean, everybody else can talk about recruiting, you know, write about why kids pick schools — I don’t have time for it. I’m too old, I’ve done enough, it’s comical. We’re semipro, our guys do go to school, [but] guys pick schools because they get paid, so these neutral-site games help raise money. So next spring, when we sign a guy in the portal and you go interview him and he tells you he really bonded with me, and I’ve known him for two weeks,” you’ll know why he signed.
Etc.
Cronin, on the scheduled 8:30 p.m. start time against Gonzaga: “I mean, it’s ridiculous. I mean, why don’t we just play at midnight? … My dad’s real happy about it. He’s 84, he’s gonna have to take two naps on Saturday to be able to watch us play Saturday night.” … Cronin said the Bruins would honor UCLA alumnus Dave Roberts, manager of the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers, at a home game this season. … Six years after he uprooted his family from Cincinnati, Cronin said he would be happy to assist new UCLA football coach Bob Chesney with the logistics of moving across the country to Los Angeles: “I don’t know anything about football, but I can help him on where to live and just have his wife call us, we’ll help her.”
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The alleged mistress of former Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore received a massive pay bump between 2024 and 2025.
The individual allegedly linked to Moore, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as an Executive Assistant to the Head Football Coach at the University of Michigan, earned just over $58,000 in 2023 and 2024, according to public payroll information. In the 2025 fiscal year, though, her salary jumped to $99,000, according to a salary disclosure report from the University of Michigan.
Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore leaves the field following the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Nov. 29, 2025. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)
That’s a 70.62 percent increase year-over-year — even higher than the figure circulating social media right now via UMSalary.info.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
As OutKick’s Trey Wallace reported, Moore was fired with cause on Wednesday in his second season as the Wolverines’ head coach. The move came after an investigation surrounding Moore’s alleged “inappropriate relationship” with a staffer.
And it’s hard to imagine the massive salary bump she received didn’t raise some eyebrows within the department.
“U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately,” Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manual announced on Wednesday. “Following a university investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”
Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore reacts from the sideline during a college football game against the USC Trojans at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 21, 2024 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
WHO IS SHERRONE MOORE? NATIONAL CHAMPION COACH’S STUNNING DOWNFALL FROM MICHIGAN ENDS IN JAILING
Less than an hour after his termination, police were called to a residence to detain the former coach under possible assault charges. Moore allegedly threatened to harm himself and others before being taken into custody.
As of Thursday afternoon, Moore is being held at Washtenaw County Jail. No charges have been filed yet, but he is expected to appear in court on Friday to be arraigned, according to Pittsfield Township police department.
Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore is shown on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland, on Nov. 22, 2025. (Tommy Gilligan/Imagn Images)
OutKick reached out to the University of Michigan and its athletic department regarding the staffer’s 70 percent pay raise, but they didn’t immediately respond.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia seen for first time since release, pledges to ‘continue to fight’ Trump admin
Relationship coach blames Oprah for pushing family estrangement ‘for decades’
Philip Rivers’ former teammate expresses one concern he has with 44-year-old’s return to Colts
Android Emergency Live Video gives 911 eyes on the scene
Podcast industry is divided as AI bots flood the airways with thousands of programs
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Kilmar Abrego Garcia seen for first time since release, pledges to ‘continue to fight’ Trump admin
Israel bombards areas across southern Lebanon in latest truce violation
Trump announces pardon for Tina Peters, increasing pressure to free her though he can’t erase state charges | CNN Politics
Video: Hiker Rescued From Quicksand in Arches National Park
The Speaker’s Lobby: What Congress’ December script means for healthcare next year
-
Alaska6 days agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Politics1 week agoTrump rips Somali community as federal agents reportedly eye Minnesota enforcement sweep
-
Ohio1 week agoWho do the Ohio State Buckeyes hire as the next offensive coordinator?
-
Texas6 days agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
News1 week agoTrump threatens strikes on any country he claims makes drugs for US
-
World1 week agoHonduras election council member accuses colleague of ‘intimidation’
-
Washington3 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa5 days agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire