Premiership Manager Revealed
Every week, I score the leadership language used by each manager in one post-match interview. I’m looking for the managers whose words inspire their players and help them perform at their best, because I believe this is one of the qualities that sets truly great leaders apart.
Do the results surprise you? You can read all the quotes I reviewed by following the link beneath the table.
Matchweek 1 · 2026/27
| Pos | Manager | Club | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Unai Emery | Aston Villa | 12.0 |
| 1= | Daniel Farke | Leeds United | 12.0 |
| 1= | Fabian Hürzeler | Brighton & Hove Albion | 12.0 |
| 4= | Keith Andrews | Brentford | 11.0 |
| 4= | Mikel Arteta | Arsenal | 11.0 |
| 4= | Sergej Jakirović | Hull City | 11.0 |
| 7= | Oliver Glasner | Nottingham Forest | 10.0 |
| 7= | Andoni Iraola | Liverpool | 10.0 |
| 7= | Frank Lampard | Coventry City | 10.0 |
| 7= | Enzo Maresca | Manchester City | 10.0 |
| 11= | Matthias Jaissle | Newcastle United | 9.0 |
| 11= | Gary O’Neil | Ipswich Town | 9.0 |
| 11= | Marco Rose | AFC Bournemouth | 9.0 |
| 11= | Pierre Sage | Crystal Palace | 9.0 |
| 15 | David Moyes | Everton | 8.0 |
| 16= | Michael Carrick | Manchester United | 6.0 |
| 16= | Roberto De Zerbi | Tottenham Hotspur | 6.0 |
| 16= | Régis Le Bris | Sunderland | 6.0 |
Average score per assessed interview, out of 12. The scoring week runs Tuesday to Sunday; Monday evening fixtures are carried into the following edition.
Quote of the Week: Daniel Farke – Leeds
“It’s still a long road. We need to collect 40 points, we are not naïve. The last time this club was able to have two solid seasons at [top-flight] level, you will perhaps find it in black and white photos. You won’t find them on smartphones, they weren’t invented then. For that, we stay humble, not too greedy and stay grounded. We know first and foremost we have to earn the right to establish ourselves in the Premier League.”Daniel Farke, Leeds United, after winning 1–0 at Nottingham Forest
Farke has just won the first match of the season, but he keeps everyone calm. His comment about the black-and-white photographs refers honestly to the club’s difficult past, without making it sound shameful or disastrous. He uses that history to set a standard for the team. Reaching 40 points is a clear aim that everyone can remember. He also tells the players how he wants them to behave: stay humble, avoid greed and remain grounded. This is Towards language because it gives the team a clear goal and supports their beliefs about who they are.
Low IDQ Quote: Michael Carrick – Man Utd
“It is one game. First game of the season. It is disappointing enough. It hurts. Of course it does. But it is one game. It doesn’t change the whole course of direction the team is going in or the football club. We will stay calm, stay in the bubble and focus on next week.”Michael Carrick, Manchester United, after losing 2–0 at Hull City
Carrick’s answer stands out because of what he leaves out. He says “it is one game” three times, which tells the players that the defeat is temporary. That can be helpful. However, when he is asked what needs to change, he says, “I’m not going into areas now.” He does not name any strengths, set a standard or give the players a clear next step. He does not mention Hull or explain what the team can learn from the defeat. Telling the players to “stay in the bubble” closes off that learning.
Carrick also looks completely deflated during the interview. Players take signals from a manager’s expression, voice and body language as well as his words. Although he tells them to stay calm, his appearance may suggest that he has lost confidence himself.
He gets one important thing right by treating the defeat as a single, temporary setback. He then needs to remind the players what they are good at and what they can take into the next match. Emery did both after a heavy defeat. He made the result feel temporary and reminded his players that they had overcome similar problems before. Carrick only dealt with the size of the setback. With no strength or next action to support it, his response feels like avoidance rather than resilience.
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Other quotes of note
On adversity — Unai Emery, Aston Villa
“Of course, we have some circumstances, they are not helping us, but those circumstances we had before as well, last year, two years ago, three years ago, and always, we overcame it.”
Four goals down and a player sent off at half-time is about as much adversity as an opening day can deliver. Emery names the circumstances, declines to hide behind them, then reaches for evidence: we have met this before and we came through. The difficulty is framed as Fleeting and Other; the Capability as durable and Self. That is the Elevate Formula working in real time, under the worst conditions of the weekend.
How do I score the quotes?
Six categories, 0–2 points each, out of 12:
- Towards language. Is he focusing his team on positive strengths, actions, or plan, or only at what they are trying to avoid?
- See Skill Four: Reveal Persuasion Pathways
- SQAs. Does he name the Strengths, Qualities and Attributes his people actually have?
- See Skill 5: The Elevate Formula
- Adversity framing. What does he make the setback mean? A top score needs both halves: the problem treated as separate, limited and temporary, and a named strength treated as theirs, wide and lasting. Half the formula is not resilience.
- See Skill 5: The Elevate Formula
- Identity. Who are “we”, and how do we behave when it is hard? We also log which level(s) of the Identity Model his language feeds, Safety, Belonging, Esteem, Capability or Purpose.
- Check Your Identity Quotient – Take the IDQ Snapshot – 1 minute
- See The Identity Matrix: How to Build a Human Being: Part 1
- Path. Does anyone leave with a usable next step?
- Result leadership. Good winner, good loser, or honest about a draw?
The match result has no bearing on the score in this table. A manager can build confidence after a defeat or destroy it after a victory. Honesty needs to be handled carefully. A detailed account of every weakness may be accurate, but it can leave players with less belief in themselves. The manager must retain credibility while building the players’ confidence.
Which Identity level are they Addressing?
Identity is made up of the beliefs we build about ourselves over time. A manager’s words can strengthen or weaken those beliefs. We will track how each manager affects the five parts of Identity: Safety, Belonging, Esteem, Capability and Purpose. This will be assessed, although the individual levels do not receive a separate score.
