Norwich City are a likeable club, and currently run by a pleasant-seeming bloke called Allan Russell. He used to be the club’s ‘setpiece coach’, whose claim to fame was that he was working with the England squad in 2018 when they scored against the mighty Panama. Good for him, of course, but has football become too dependent on the ever-expanding phalanx of managerial officials now filling up the bench at every game under the sun? Is the beautiful game losing sight of what really matters? After all, this might be a world where a championship side can have a setpiece coach, but it is also a world where Pele had to flog his medals to get by.

Amid the panoply of Pele panegyrics, one image stands out: the mesmerising picture of Pele and Bobby Moore swapping shirts after England had lost 1-0 to Brazil at Guadalajara in the 1970 Mexico World Cup. What is clear is the palpable sincerity of both men’s respect and admiration for each other, reflected most clearly in their smiles. Compare this with the antics in the last World Cup of Neymar, or of Argentina’s even more deplorable goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez. Where did it go wrong? Can the spirit of Pele and Moore be rekindled?

It’s a matter of leadership, the sort of leadership that Gareth Southgate has demonstrated during his time as England manager. People tended to scoff at the fair play award won by England in Qatar. But why? Isn’t it every bit as vital for the spirit of sport? Equally important, there should be some sort of punishment passed down to the managers and national associations of teams and players who misbehave. Fifa should have fined the Argentina FA for their team’s lack of sportsmanship throughout the tournament (nothing new there) and fined and banned Martinez for his behaviour during and after the final.

And this behaviour is creeping throughout football. Even among the mud and nettles of the lower leagues, time-wasting is rife. Players stay down at the slightest touch, and taking a free kick has become a long-drawn-out piece of theatre, while endless water breaks, visits from a trainer and, in the post-Covid world, far too many substitutions make some games seem interminable. Clearly managers are telling their players to disrupt the opposition at all costs. Southgate isn’t doing that: if his players go down, they get up again unless they’re hurt.

At least England have promised to stick with Southgate and a good thing too. Among clubs, though, the big question now, sadly, is whether to stick or twist: Potter at Chelsea, Conte at Spurs and Lampard at Everton might all have a tricky few weeks. And they’re the ones doing pretty well. In tough times, there’s a bias towards changing managers, a tendency that is stoked by phone-ready fans who will reliably parrot ‘He’s got to go’ to anyone who will listen. This should be resisted, at least most of the time anyway.

Cast your mind back to last season, when Arsenal lost their first three games and there was some hysterical nonsense from many who should have known better calling for Mikel Arteta’s head. Look at them now: top of the Premier League and a good bet to be champions. Moral of the story? Unless your manager is clearly out of his depth, go for continuity rather than upheaval.

Final football thought: isn’t it about time the January transfer window was chopped? There should be one time for this and that should be in July. If a top team is having a bad season then tough: they shouldn’t just be able to buy solutions to their problems. Right now, if Liverpool want to grab Wolves’ best player (Matheus Nunes), they can just snap their fingers.