Words matter when it comes to the world's richest and most-watched professional sports league.
The Premier League is the top level of the English football league system and contested by 20 clubs from the magnificent Manchester United to bobbing Burnley.
Words matter to the Premier League.
It is football, not soccer.
It is manager, not coach.
It is match, not game.
It is pitch, not field.
"In soccer circles in the US - among fans and commentators - you have a schism between US soccer fans insisting on using American terms to describe the game compared to Americans who insist on using British language to talk about the game, so they're more accepted by hardcore soccer fans and ex-pats.
"So when Americans use terms like 'match,' 'nil-nil,' 'kit' and other terms, many US fans will tag those Americans with the 'Euro snob' label." -- Florida-based Christopher Harris, who runs football blog World Soccer Talk
Back in 2016 Welsh team, or side in local parlance, Swansea City decided to hire American and Princeton-educated Bob Bradley to be the club's coach or manager in local parlance.
It didn't go well.
His tenure lasted eighty-five days and eleven matches, or games in American parlance.
Bradley's coaching of Swansea City produced just two wins and still is the second-shortest tenure in Premier League history.
The short tenure was less about his coaching skills and more about his communication skills.
Before the hire, Bradley had a stellar playing career leading the Princeton Tigers to the NCAA Final Four, and he coached the national teams of Egypt and the United States. And he is still in the game as head coach and sporting director of Toronto FC.
So in 2016, Bradley had the coaching skills.
As for the communications skills, that was the problem.
Following Swansea's 3-0 loss to Middlesbrough, Bradley made a few slip-ups while giving his account of the game during his press conference.
According to USA Today, the first American coach in the history of the Premier League showed it when he called a "penalty kick" a "PK" and the team's visit to Middlesbrough's home field a "road game" instead of an "away trip."
From the team's poor performance to Bradley's poor communications, it was just too much for Swansea City's fans and pundits.
At the time, the club sat one above the bottom of the EPL standings; such a lowly position was unacceptable.
Many fans and pundits criticized the appointment, suggesting that the club's new American owners had given him the job by being American.
Being an American who coaches soccer is no big deal, but being an American who speaks American, well, that was the problem.
Not connecting with fans and pundits is a problem in the Premier League, where coaches are less a manager of players and more a club CEO.
Communications matters because it connects.
Communications matters because it connects you with your organization's numerous stakeholders.
Today, coaches (CEOs) are more sun gods and directors of public relations and less visionary executives on and off the field or the pitch in local parlance.
The forte of best-paid coaches is often not winning matches or generating more revenue, something frankly they have little control over, but keeping all the various constituencies united behind them.
For the Premier League, often, it is communications over competence that drives success and extends tenures.
How's your communications?
Are you speaking with local parlance that connects you with your organization's numerous stakeholders?
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Need help with your communications?
Caracal is available for solo executive advisory sessions, leading a team workshop, or conducting a communications strategy audit.
Happy to help.
Contact us here.
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