The pros and cons of being a long-distance football manager

Managing a football club is a tough job at the best of times.

There's the constant pressure to get results, impatience from fans and club owners, along with endless media scrutiny.

For some managers, there's the added complication of commuting from their family home - in some cases from hundreds of miles away.

Frank Lampard is one such example, with the Coventry manager choosing to split his time between the Midlands and London.

This isn't unusual.

Jose Mourinho lived in a hotel during his time at Manchester United - dividing his time between a luxury five-star suite and his home - also in London.

It might come as a surprise to learn that Arne Slot chose to live in Hale, Greater Manchester while managing Liverpool - just down the road from Old Trafford, but about an hour's drive from Anfield.

Being close to Manchester airport made it easier for him to visit his wife and children, who remained in the Netherlands.

One of the longest commutes in the UK belonged to Tony Pulis. The former Stoke City manager kept his home on the south coast during his time in Staffordshire, which meant a round trip of more than 400 miles.

He travelled even further when he joined Middlesbrough in 2017, clocking up a massive 320 miles each way.

BBC Sport talked to Pulis about how he and other bosses like Lampard, Mourinho and Slot make it work.

Pulis explained how he spent most, if not all, of his working week near the clubs he managed, but drove back to his family home after games.

"My wife was absolutely adamant where we lived on the south coast was the place to bring our children up, and she was right," said the 68-year-old, who played for, and then managed, Bournemouth until 1994.

"I never felt as if I was letting the club down by having my family home away from where the club was.

"I actually felt that without having the family there, I spent more time thinking about and preparing for what I was doing.

"It's not very nice to say, but that way there's more space for you to do all those things you need to do as a manager.

"Clubs were always very good to me about my living arrangements during the week. For example, I had an apartment when I was at Stoke, which was lovely - I always stayed in nice places, which helped.

"It was always good because it meant wherever I was, my wife and children could come up and stay as well."

Pulis, who managed Stoke for 10 years in two different spells, added: "When I was at Stoke, I would drive home to the south coast after a game on the Saturday.

"It could take me three hours or more, but it was precious time because I could spend much of it on the phone and it is when I would start my preparation for our next match.

"My chairman Peter Coates would always speak to me then if we lost. If we'd won, he never bothered, knowing I wouldn't need comforting.

"Win or lose, however, I would always ring my assistants, David Kemp and Gerry Francis, and we would discuss the game in finer detail - away from the stadium to give us a different perspective.

"Then I would contact my chief scout, who would have been at our next opponent's game, for a quick run-down of what he had seen - their shape, patterns, strength, weaknesses and any injuries.

"By the time I arrived home, whatever our result, I would have my dinner on a tray in front of the TV while watching a recording of our opponent's last game, which I could get downloaded.

"Sunday was about spending all day with the family, but then either late on Sunday night or early on Monday morning I would be back up the motorway, with a clear view of what I believed was needed for our next game.

"There are so many people in football who will tell you the same - that by jumping in the car, being by yourself and then picking the people you want to speak to, with no interference and no other phones going, you can just concentrate on what you want to. Whereas if you are in your office, you have got this and that going on.

"You might be involved in a really serious debate and then your chairman says he wants to speak to you - then you have to change all of that and go and find out what he wants.

"Whereas when you are in that car and you are by yourself, you have got time to think about everything. I always valued that time and thought it was really important - so it was more beneficial to me as an individual to live away from the club."

He added: "Having my family on the south coast didn't stop me from understanding what the DNA of Stoke City Football Club was. I got to know the area and the fans, and I wanted to give them a team they could identify with.

"Wherever I worked, I never felt I wasn't doing the job I was being paid to do - I always wanted my club to feel like a family.

"I always wanted everyone to feel as though they were part of the family - and the main thing was that everyone pulled and pushed in the right direction."