In this short football language post we take a look at the phrase ‘caretaker manager‘. There is a transcript with this post along with some vocabulary practice and you can also check out our football glossary and football cliches pages for hundreds more explanations of the language of soccer. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
Caretaker manager
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A caretaker is someone who looks after someone or something, for example a school usually employs a caretaker to look after or take care of the school. A caretaker manager in football is someone who is looking after the position until someone else takes over which means that the caretaker position is a temporary one – it’s not permanent. Now, thanks to the recent resignation of Sam Allardyce (after only one match) England needed someone to take charge of the team for this week’s World Cup qualifiers so they turned to former player and under-21 manager Gareth Southgate. He was appointed caretaker manager of the national side and will look after the team for the next four matches. He may well be offered the job on a permanent basis after that or maybe the FA will look elsewhere for its new manager.
- Example: The caretaker manager did so well in her opening four games that she was given the job on a full-time basis.
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David Unsworth: Everton caretaker boss unsure on long-term future (BBC.co.uk, 5th November 2017)
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