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The authors MiguelA'ngel Go'mez and Carlos Lago were supported bythe Ministerio de economia, industria y competitividad (DEP201790641REDT) , The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Spain supported the corresponding author, under the mobility Grant Salvador de Madariaga (PRX18/00098) in cooperation with James Cook University (Townsville, Australia) .

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Jimenez, SAuthor

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September 27, 2022
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Impact of elite soccer coaching change on team performance according to coach- and club-related variables

Publicated to:Biology Of Sport. 38 (4): 603-608 - 2021-01-01 38(4), DOI: 10.5114/biolsport.2021.101600

Authors: Gomez, Miguel A; Lago-Penas, Carlos; Gomez, Maria-Teresa; Jimenez, Sergio; Leicht, Anthony S

Affiliations

James Cook Univ, Sport & Exercise Sci, Townsville, Qld, Australia - Author
Tech Univ Madrid, Fac Phys Act & Sport Sci, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Ctr Sport Studies, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Vigo, Fac Educ & Sports Sci, Pontevedra, Spain - Author

Abstract

A coaching change is an extreme, but frequently occurring phenomenon in elite soccer with its impact on team success debatable. The aim of the current study was twofold: (i) to compare team's performance when coached by new and old coaches; and (ii) to investigate the impact of a coaching change on team's performance according to coach- and club-related factors. All in-season coaching changes from the 2010-11 to 2017-18 seasons within the Spanish, French, English, German and Italian professional leagues were examined. Team performance was assessed as points awarded from match outcome over 1-20 matches prior to and following the coaching change. Four independent variables (coach's experience, team's budget, whether the coach had been an elite former player or not, and whether the coach was a novice or not) were included into linear regression modelling. The main results showed that team's short-term performance was improved significantly with a change to a new coach with this impact declining in the longer term (> 10 matches). Specifically, the number of points (1.15-1.32 vs. 0.37-1.03, p < 0.05) and the moving average of points (1.19-1.31 vs. 0.37-1.04, p < 0.05) awarded per match were significantly greater after the coaching change. Further, the winning effect due to the new coach was independent of coach-related factors such as coaching experience or the new coach being a former elite player. A critical organisational decision to change coaches may provide an essential stimulus for future team success in elite soccer.

Keywords

ArticleBudgetDismissalsFootballHumanIndependent variableLinear regression analysisManagerManagersOrganizational performanceOutcome assessmentRegression modellingReplacementSeasonSoccerSuccessionTeam successTurnover

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Biology Of Sport due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 16/88, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Sport Sciences.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.81. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 2.28 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 8.77 (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-02, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 17
  • Scopus: 21

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-02:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 50.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 66 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 11.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 16 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Australia.