A deluge of managerial sackings this weekend stands testament to their respective club’s high expectations, but are owners getting too harsh?
Over the past week we’ve seen a fair few departures from clubs who aren’t doing too well. Harry Redknapp at Birmingham City, Gary Caldwell at Chesterfield and Michael Brown at Port Vale. Managers often don’t have an easy job in this day an age, often being the first to be blamed for a string of poor performances and often, fighting for their jobs.
Gone are the days it seems of a manager holding a club’s faith for many long years, if your club is looking poor for any portion of the season, he may be out the door in a shot.
Harry Redknapp did some fine dealings in the summer window, getting the exciting Spanish prospect Jota through the door on ‘Deadline Day’, reinforcing the Blues’ squad for a climb up the table and giving the fans something to feel positive about. Around two weeks later he’s gone. No more chances, with many thinking a superior manager is waiting in the wings.
There are two sides to the way club Chairmen do things these days. On one hand it keeps managers under pressure to perform and shows a proactive effort to improve the club after some bad games leave them at the lower end of the table. On the other hand it doesn’t allow a management structure to settle and can affect a club’s reputation if they’re setting about installing a revolving door to the manager’s office so to speak.
The very nature of the Football League is that there always must be relegated teams. There will always be a team that can’t keep up with their peers, always a team in crisis. There must be a number of teams to occupy the relegation zone. Perfection at every club is too much to ask for.
The question is, should we have more faith in our managers to sort it out?
