The late, great Brian Clough once said “If a Chairman sacks the manager he initially appointed, he should go as well”. Rarely has football ever seen a more outspoken character than Brian Clough, but his point (made 20 years ago) rings true now more than ever. Almost all managers in football are at best 3 months from the sack. Chairmen have little loyalty, and short memories when it comes to deciding who should lead a football club. A run of bad results (or even average results) can force a club into knee-jerk reactions and sacking their managers- in doing so undermining any good work that has preceded. In the past few months there have been several notable cases, where a club has perhaps acted on a chairman’s impulse, and opted for a change of manager. Yet this contravenes the age old Football logic which says a good manager will need time to make a side “his team”. So are the likes of Ferguson and Wenger great managers because they have been given time to create their own team, or have they been given more time because they are great managers?

Perhaps the second biggest surprise of this season (after Jose Mourinho leaving Chelsea) has been the start that Tottenham fans have had to endure. At the start of the season, optimism was incredibly high, as Spurs were tipped to break into the Champions League spots. Yet, within six games there were reports that Martin Jol was going to be replaced by Sevilla’s Juande Ramos. Despite constant claims from senior players that they wanted Jol to stay in charge, it became clear it was a matter of time before he would be replaced. The situation was similar across London at Chelsea, where it became apparent Jose Mourinho was being forced in his team selection and even his playing squad. It was hardly surprising that a manager who oversaw a poor start (or a sub-perfect start in Mourinho’s case) to the season was sacked. What was surprising was the way in which successful club managers were undermined, and ultimately forced out. In Mourinho’s case, there is an argument to say that if there had been a breakdown in communications between himself and his chairman, it was only a matter of time before he would leave. Abramovic has nobody to answer to, and nobody to replace him- there are few people in the world with as deep pockets for starters. However, Jol had overseen Spurs’ most successful years of the Premiership era, both on and off the pitch.

Jol might be the highest profile case yet of a manager whose success is what ultimately cost him his job, as he couldn’t match the growing expectation. When one takes each of their opening six games on their own, the results were not especially poor. Losses to Arsenal and Manchester United were hardly surprising, and losses to Everton and Sunderland were forgivable. Throwing away a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 with Fulham was a poor result, but this was balanced by beating Derby 4-0. The start may have been poor in contrast to the expectations, but the cloak and dagger politics of the Spurs board, going behind their managers back to seek out a replacement while Jol still held the job, may well be the reason their poor start has continued.

The squad Tottenham have is far better than the position they find themselves in, and in Juande Ramos they have a manager who allows no passengers- legend has it he even forced his team to play with 10 players because he didn’t think they were trying hard enough. It is unlikely that Daniel Levy’s premature decision on Jol will cost Spurs’ their Premiership place this season, but it may well play a big part in where they finish. One only needs to look at what happened to Southampton when they were far too hasty in sacking Paul Sturrock, to see the dangers of acting too hastily in replacing a manager.

Perhaps this scenario is more applicable to Bolton. Sammy Lee was given an almost impossible task in filling the shoes of Sam Allardyce, arguably the best English manager around. He inherited a solid, hard working squad, with two players of genuine class in Nicolas Anelka and El-Hadji Diouf. Yet Allardyce had Bolton punching well above their weight for the past two seasons. They were well organised, strong, difficult to beat and each player knew their own position. When Sammy Lee took over, it was obvious that his job was going to be a difficult one- Lee’s opening games saw Bolton take no points from six matches. It may have been no surprise that Lee was replaced after nine games (and two points), but Phil Gartside (Bolton Chairman) should have thought about his own position when terminating Lee’s contract. It was Gartside’s decision to allow Lee to take the Head Coach job- a position he was more than qualified for after spells behind the scenes at Liverpool and England. For a chairman to dismiss a manager after they have only been in charge for six months, not only shows poor judgement, but a lack of faith in their own decisions. Gartside has further angered Bolton fans by appointing Gary Megson in the wake of Lee’s departure. Megson had been manager of Leicester for just 3 months, but that didn’t stop the Foxes fans cheering his departure during their win over Barnsley at the weekend. He also holds the dubious distinction of being relegated with both West Brom (to the Championship) and Nottingham Forest (to League 1; Clough would probably forgive a chairman that one!). There is every reason to suggest that Megson may yet turn Bolton’s season around- he certainly has the player and, if you believe rumour, funds available to do so- but Gartside has staked his reputation on a manager who will need to give 110% just to win over his own fans, let alone the players brought in by another manager.

There have been similar cases in Scotland. John Robertson was constantly undermined by Vladamir Romanov when he was caretaker manager of Hearts. Robertson made it abundantly clear he wanted the job, and Romanov made it as clear he would consider him if results continued to stay steady. Despite the backing of the Hearts fans, Robertson was left waiting for a decision which was ultimately negative. Now, two years and eight managerial appointments later, Hearts are still looking for focus.

There are notable success stories. Perhaps the most remarkable of these is that of Dario Gradi. As manager of Crewe, Gradi was given all the backing he needed from the board, and a realistic level of expectation. When Gradi’s Crewe side were relegated, the chairman did not forget that it was Gradi who had taken them up in the first place. Over the course of his 24 years in charge of Crewe, he has taken them between the fourth and second tiers of English football, both up and down. The fact that they keep faith in him is admirable, and profitable. Keeping the same man in the same job for so long has yielded one of the greatest youth schemes in English football history. Gradi’s planning for the long term has seen him bring through David Platt, Robbie Savage, Dean Ashton, Seth Johnson, Danny Murphy, Neil Lennon and Rob Jones. Crewe might never have managed to reach the very top of English football, but they have remained profitable, and progressive.

It is one of the most repeated stories in football, that Alex Ferguson was 90 minutes from being sacked as Manchester United manager, and had it not been for a Mark Robins FA Cup goal against Nottingham Forest, history could have been very different. Ferguson is now in the process of honing his third generation of World Beaters. This is entirely down to the fact that he has the time and faith of his employers to do so. Manchester United may have won the league last year, and they might not win it this year, but Fergie’s team’s always seem to take one step backwards if they can take two steps forwards. The additions of Nani, Anderson and Tevez in particular, could take a season to click, just as the team did when he first added Rooney and Ronaldo to the squad. Knowing there is this breathing space allows managers to build for two or three years ahead, rather than concentrating on instant success.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 by Thom Watt and is filed under Community, Football Texpertise. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.