Is it a dream job or a nightmare?

For millions of people it is the dream job.

Football management offers fame, fortune and the chance to make a career out of the sport you love.

But at the highest level it also comes with a host of pitfalls and challenges.

In this week's Euro Leagues Show for BBC Radio 5 live's Football Daily podcast, Guillem Balague spoke to former Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea boss Carlos Carvalhal about the challenges of managing in the modern game.

Listen to BBC Radio 5 live's Euro League Football Show podcast here.

'My kids were crying' - The impact on family

Carvalhal is currently without a club after leaving Swansea at the end of the season - he has packed in 17 clubs in 20 years - but his family comes first.

Carvalhal had success with hometown club Braga in 2006 before his shock departure

"I love football but it doesn't come in front of my family. One time when I was manager of Braga I cancelled my contract because I had a problem with my family.

"The culture is that as a manager your family feel a lot of pressure, from other kids in school and so on. At that moment, in 2006, I saw all of my family were unhappy about the situation, my kids were crying most of the time so I knew I must stop.

"It was a big surprise because we were doing really well in the Europa League but it was not good to me and my family. So I must cancel."

Winning battles with players and owners

Modern managers face scrutiny like never before - and the man in the dugout must have the final say, says Carvalhal.

"When I was at a third division side in Portugal, Leixoes, I got us to the cup final but in the next season the owner said to me, 'You will play with these players, you must play with this one and this one'. I said, 'No, I will play with my team that I have prepared'. He said, 'Do what you want but if you lose you know what will happen'.

quote I explain to the players that sometimes what I say in the dressing room and what I say to the press is different Carlos Carvalhal

"After the game, which we won, in front of the players I gave the owner an armband and said, 'Now we have a new manager. You want to be the manager of the team, then I go out'.

"I was out of the club, of course. If the owner goes inside a team and picks one player to play, I can no longer be the manager. Decisions must be made by the manager.

"These moments, they are crucial to a manager. At every club I have been at I have had a test in the first few weeks from the big players at the club. At that moment you define your success at that club, you either win the group or you lose the group.

"If you win that battle you have the players in your hand and they will give everything to you. Lose it, and you are finished. It may be a question of weeks or months, but you will be out."

Dealing with the media

Carvalhal was a hit in the Premier League last season with some of his colourful analogies - from comparing transfers to buying fish, likening the Swans' battle against relegation to hosting a barbecue, and explaining away statistics with a metaphorical picnic. But is it all part of a plan?

Carlos Carvalhal: Swansea City manager's wonderful analogies

"I use a metaphor like us stalling an F1 car because you can't beat Liverpool without good organisation. It will be impossible. All these games have one thing in common, we have been underdogs. We are sardines playing against lobsters and we win. The price of the opposition is a lobster.

"I never have these analogies ready to go, prepared, apart from one time at Sheffield Wednesday external-link when I went to the news conference with £20 in my pocket. I knew that we had lost a game and would have some tough questions but usually I don't prepare, it is natural.

"It is important for the players and the fans to hear the message but what is more important is that I am not the manager just in a few moments, but all the time. I explain to the players that sometimes what I say in the dressing room and what I say to the press is different.

"Sometimes it is my strategy to disrupt the opponent. As a manager, don't be afraid to get a connection with the fans, get them dreaming, push the players to achieve something. Fans can play a big part in the game. All my high points in my career have come with massive fans."

'The fuel of every player is different'

It's an age-old cliche that managers must know when to use the hairdryer and when to offer an arm around the shoulder. But it's as relevant as ever, says Carvalhal.

"I am not a person who says I must talk the same way to every player, I don't agree with this. Some are more introspective, we must act in a different way, the fuel of every player is different.

"What moves the players? Some are motivated by pride, some by money, some by fear, you must understand their personalities. In the first conversation with each player, after two or three minutes I know a lot about their personality. It is instinct."

'Social media is the manager's enemy'

But, while some problems facing managers in the modern age are the same as those faced by Clough, Shankly and Co, some are very new indeed...

Carvalhal won eight of his first 15 games at Swansea but they were relegated after losing seven of the last nine matches of the season

"Nowadays we have more enemies. On social media, a crazy guy or an 8-year-old kid can put a nail in the big sides. Fans on Twitter or on Facebook are making opinions, it is a very strong enemy for a manager these days.

"Players now are more selfish, they live in a personal world. Football is also damaging players in this way. Another one is personal training, it is unbelievable. They don't know what they are doing.

"This is a big enemy of the manager. I have experience at Swansea of a player who injured his knee, he was training at home two days before a game with a personal trainer - who is responsible for that? Players think this is charming, it looks nice to have a personal trainer but it is not connected with the manager and what he is doing during the days of the week.

"We look at footballers like they are individual machines but they are not."