Ordinary Gweilo

Being a manager of a football team is one of the strangest jobs going.  No specific qualifications or experience are required, and the recruitment process is often carried out in full public view, with some candidates announcing to the world that they want the job, others that they don’t (even when they do).  Nothing can be taken at face value – managers often say they aren’t interested in a particular job, and then accept it a few days later.  Newspapers fill their back pages with speculation, often no more than wishful thinking on the part of the club, its supporters, the possible managers or their agents, or simply something that a journalist has made up.  For example, right now, Glen Hoddle is being touted as a possible manager for Southampton at the end of the season when Gordon Strachan leaves, mainly because he had the job previously (as if that was some sort of recommendation).

Success as a manager means being regarded (by the press, at least) as a candidate for other jobs, whilst failure usually prompts a ‘vote of confidence’ from the directors, often followed shortly afterwards by a departure which may be described as being "by mutual consent".

A manager who is in favour one day can just as quickly become unemployed and probably unemployable.  Take Paul Hart, for example, who was being touted as the new manager of Leeds United a few months ago and then this week was sacked by Nottingham Forest after a poor run of results.  The BBC quoted him after shortly after his dismissal apparently saying: "As a result of the decision taken by Nottingham Forest, it is with deep regret that I’ve found myself no longer the club’s manager."  If that is how he talks to his players, is it any wonder that he has problems?

Talking of Leeds, David O’Leary was at one time regarded as the brightest young manager in the country, and then when the club finished 5th in the Premier League (and missed out on the Champions League) he was sacked.  Then former England manager Terry Venables came in and hopes were high, but he was sacked when the club were in danger of relegation.  Peter Reid was brought in as caretaker manager, saved the club from relegation, got the job on a "permanent" basis, and was then sacked a few months later.  Now the club is in serious danger of going into administration and is seemingly heading for relegation.  Meanwhile, all those ex-managers are still on the payroll (because they signed long contracts and the club couldn’t afford to make one-off severance payments).  Were any of them good?  Were they given a fair chance?  Welcome to the crazy world of football management!

Apparently clueless managers often seem get a second or third chance.  Bryan Robson, who failed at Middlesbrough, was recently given the manager’s job at Bradford, but has failed to turn them around and they still lie second from bottom in the First Division.  Trevor Francis failed at QPR and Sheffield Wednesday, had a mediocre record at Birmingham (but was popular because he was an ex-player) and then got yet another chance at Crystal Palace, where he was never popular and didn’t achieve very much.  Sunderland mysteriously turned to Howard Wilkinson after sacking Peter Reid, and he lasted only a few months before heading for the exit.  Dave Bassett somehow acquired a reputation as the man to rescue clubs who were in danger of relegation, but in fact his record was decidedly mixed.

Brian Kidd is a particular favourite of mine.  The great success of Manchester United whilst he was Assistant Manager turned him into a hot property, and he flirted with Everton for a while before turning down the job, but was eventually tempted by the manager’s job at Blackburn.  He lasted only eleven months, having proved conclusively that whilst he might have done a good job at Manchester United he wasn’t cut out to be a manager.  About six months later, in May 2000 he became Leeds United’s director of youth development and then head coach, until being sacked by Peter Reid three years later, but he remains part of England’s coaching setup (on a part-time basis).   

Or Terry Fenwick, who was manager at Portsmouth when Terry Venables was the chairman, assistant manager at Palace when Venables was drawing a fat paycheck for doing not much, and then manager of Northampton Town – where he lasted for only a few weeks before being sacked.

More confusingly, there are managers who have done very well, and obviously have ability, but who don’t quite seem to have achieved what they could have done.  Terry Venables enjoyed great success in his early career, then had problems at Spurs, but was an outstanding England manager.  In his subsequent career, his success at rescuing Middlesbrough from relegation has to be set against failure at Leeds, Palace and Portsmouth.  Another former England manager, Glen Hoddle, started well at Swindon and Chelsea, but failed with England and Spurs (and walked out on Southampton).   

No need to feel sorry for these managers, because the reward for failure is usually a decent pay-off followed by a career as an "expert summariser" on TV or radio! 

On the more positive side, some managers do recover from setbacks.  Peter Taylor was plucked from obscurity by Glen Hoddle to run the England Under-21 team, but was sacked in spite of his success.  He then joined Gillingham and they immediately won promotion and he left to became manager of Leicester City, but in spite of spending a lot of money on new players he was not successful and was sacked again. 

Next he went to Brighton, but quit after they had won promotion (apparently because he was unhappy about the way the club was run).  Now he is at Hull City, a club recovering from a few problems inflicted by their former chairman, and they are now top of the Third Division.  You can almost guarantee that in a few months time he will be linked with more top jobs!