Football managers have to wear many hats ......and Zola

Football managers amongst other things have to be:
Motivators
Tacticians
Sensitive
Direct
Strong willed
Man managers

They also need to be able to identify good players and then be a good salesman or a 'big name' that is able to sell the club to potential new signings - hence the Zola appointment.
Lee Johnson is reportedly good at doing this.
Hecky or someone at the club did well in the summer bringing in the likes of Armstrong - let's hope that ability to identify and then sell the club to players is alive and well at Barnsley 'if' they decide to make a move to strengthen the squad.

 

You forgot the hat that Ronnie Moore wears.

I agree with you in respect of the job of a manager being multifaceted but they still have to be good managers and tacticians first and foremost. I think Birmingham will regret the Zola decision.

 

Zola wont last the season.

 

I think this an example of the attitude a lot of people have towards managers in all walks of life. A manager is not supposed to be amazing at everything, their job is to deliver a desired outcome. They will experience a multitude of barriers that prevent them from achieving - sometimes it will be underperformance of staff, sometimes it will be over-reliance on other members of staff...sometimes it will be that the staff aren't suitably qualified to complete the task to the required standard. The job of a manager is to recognise the barriers and to overcome them - purely to achieve the desired outcome.

To put it in football terms - should the manager be responsible for making the club an attractive proposition for a player? In my opinion he should be a small part of it but generally it's in the hands of others. Football places too much responsibility on managers to do everything - which means that when they leave they also leave a huge hole to filled. I'm glad to say Barnsley have clearly recognised that and are acting more strategically. That's why we have a Head Coach system...it's a more clearly defined role and let's the person in the role use their expertise to our benefit...whilst simultaneously not allowing them to reach into areas that aren't their concern.