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Hello Ian, my question for you: Is there now (or has there ever been) an official difference in England between a 'manager' and a 'coach'

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There's no 'formal' disambiguation between the two, but broadly speaking I'd consider that a head coach has minimal input into transfers and the like, while managers have a wider remit, including a more active role in identifying new players.

Personally, I'd draw the line at how active any sporting director is within a club. For example, Fabian Hurzeler is definitely a head coach at Brighton. It's worth remembering that Britain is the only place where you'll even hear the word 'manager', which feels to me like a callback to the days of the secretary-managers of the late 19th century and early 20th century, when they didn't even pick the teams. In France, for example, the common word is 'entraineur', so just 'trainer' or 'coach'.

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