Former Lion Steve Morison excited at lack of any limits as he takes first step into management at Cardiff City
Steve Morison is loving life as a Championship manager – with the former Millwall captain excited by the potential to progress his career.
The ex-Lion, who hung up his boots at the age of 36 in October 2019, was appointed Cardiff City boss for the remainder of this season in November 2021.
“I love all aspects of it,” said Morison. “I love seeing things you’ve put together work, having an impact on peoples’ lives, having a purpose and having a desire to achieve something.
“That was the crossover from the playing. Towards the end I was just hanging on. Whereas now I’m trying to get somewhere – there are no limits to where you can get to.
“It’s that drive to see how I can be better.
“It’s like playing all over again. The only difference is that I’ve started at a slightly higher level than I did when I played. I could end up back down at the level I started playing at if I don’t stay in this job forever. You can soon drop down the leagues.
“You can only be as qualified [coaching badges] as I am now. I’ve got no boxes to tick on that. I’ve got a few things I still want to look into from an education point of view.
“It’s now how good can you be? How high can you get? It gives you that extra motivation to get up every day.”
Morison scored 92 goals in 336 matches.
He admits the uncertainty of management makes it more stressful than playing.
“As a player you sign a three-year contract and you’re there – whether you win or lose every game – for that period, if it’s what you decide to do,” said Morison, whose assistant boss at Cardiff is former Crystal Palace defender Mark Hudson.
“As a manager you are basically going game to game. That’s how you have to approach it.
“You try and plan short, medium and long term – but within that you are planning in the even shorter term of game to game.
“We’re all in the middle at the moment of Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-
“It’s a results business.
“You should put pressure on yourself as a player but it’s a different stress for a manager because you’re not as in control of your destiny as playing.
“As a player you can go ‘I can’t believe the manager has picked that team’. Now you haven’t got that – because I’m the one who picked that team.
“As a manager once you step back when the game starts, you can’t affect it as much. It’s out of your hands and a completely different feeling.”