Unmanageable expectations

Imagine that you are a football superstar, able to retire before hitting 40 and with more money than even your immaculately coiffed wife and/or girlfriend could spend. Why on Earth would you go into management? This week saw two more Premier League coaches fall by the wayside, as the disincentives for managers of tomorrow to actually follow through on their career aspirations came to the fore once again.

Consider Tony Adams, whose failure to successfully relaunch his managerial career after a brief sojourn in the Eredivisie will surely be causing Steve McClaren some sleepless nights. His honourable lower league apprenticeship involved relegation to League 2 with Wycombe Wanderers in 2004, and Adams’ elation at being promoted from assistant to head coach at Portsmouth was followed by ejection after just sixteen games.

...playing is the get rich quick scheme with managing an altogether more volatile venture

While the disappointment of Wycombe had him fleeing to the continent to restore his reputation, failure at Portsmouth may have put paid to a third job for good, despite Adams having inherited a squad shorn of its best players and bereft of transfer funds. Yet Chelsea’s removal of Phil Scolari illustrates that a strong reputation or stable starting point do not guarantee patience: the World Cup winner took over an enviable side whose spine romped to back-to-back Premier League titles just a few years ago, but joins Adams on the scrapheap with almost half the season left to play.

In robust set-ups such as Chelsea’s, any dips in form can only wreak a finite level of havoc in a season – even Adams would have struggled to send the Blues down to the Championship – but high class tools demand a higher class of result. It is arrogant to expect lower league clubs to suffer the slings and arrows of relegation fights under the auspices of giving managers a chance, so why not extend this to the Premier League?

Portsmouth rationalised the sacking of Adams as giving them a better chance at evading relegation, and Chelsea have acted swiftly to maintain a title charge and, most crucially, avoid finishing outside of the top four. Exoduses of crowds from terraces and players from dressing rooms mean that singular blips can set teams back years; a perfect example exists in the past mismanagement (albeit at boardroom level) that sees former Champions League semi-finalists Leeds suffering the perceived ignominy of League One football. As stakes grow higher, it becomes harder to take any risks at all, and so at the faintest whiff of danger managers are switched in a frantic attempt at course correction.

...at the faintest whiff of danger managers are switched in a frantic attempt at course correction

But then where is the next raft of managers going to come from? Alan Shearer is probably the most high profile British player to have retired from the truly lucrative Sky Sports-funded mid-nineties, yet even though he need merely nod his head each time the Newcastle managerial hot-seat is vacated in order to be installed, Shearer prefers the comfort of the Match of the Day sofa.

With Setanta already guaranteed more Premier League coverage, and ESPN rumoured to be considering a bid next time the rights are up for grabs, there will soon be even more openings in the safe, sedate field of ex-pro punditry. It used to be commonplace for fans to fancifully predict who of their current crop might one day manage the side; now, playing is the get rich quick scheme with managing an altogether more volatile venture, eschewed for the TV studio by the likes of Shearer.

When Liverpool vice-captain and football obsessive Jamie Carragher was asked in January if his desire to enter coaching had been tempered by the sudden departures of recent retirees such as Roy Keane, he remained steadfast: “What happened with him and [sacked Blackburn boss Paul] Ince wouldn't make me think twice about becoming a manager.” With more heads rolling by the week, Carragher may become a lone voice, assuming he sticks to his guns; itchy trigger fingers and infinitesimal margins for error will not suit many.

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