Barcelona have announced that their new manager is Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, a relative unknown in European football. Not that this has bothered Barca before. Jonathan Wilson writes:

So Martino has a decent, if not spectacular record. He has never coached in Europe and many great South American managers have struggled, at least initially, in trying to make the transition.

Past record, though, has rarely been central to Barcelona's appointments. Frank Rijkaard's only club experience had been to relegate Sparta Rotterdam for the only time in their history. Pep Guardiola had had one year in charge of the reserve side. Tito Vilanova had taken Palafrugell to relegation out of the Tercera Division in his only stint as a head coach. Far more important is the philosophy.

It's hard not to admire that in one of the biggest (the biggest?) clubs in the world, and it certainly explains why the Barcelona board passed on Mourinho when his name was in the frame. It is an extension of the idea of having a 'Director of Football' in charge of transfers and player contracts rather than the manager. It ensures a greater degree of continuity following managerial changes. This structure makes sense at a lower level club (West Brom, for example) where their managers are likely to either be sacked when relegation looks likely (Di Matteo), or leave once offered higher profile jobs (Hodgson). It is more controversial at the top level where profile and pizzazz are everything in the chase for shirt sales and sponsorships.