Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
A Championship manager can expect to keep his job for around 12 months, with the average job length across the four leagues standing at around two seasons. Hardly a job for life is it? The stats are definitely scary, and you could almost be inclined to feel sorry for managers for working in such an unforgiving business.
However, the figures don’t tell the whole story, because for all the job losses, there aren’t many managers don’t walk straight back into work within a few months. It seems to me that part of the problem with managerial job losses is actually in the solution, because while a manager may not stay with the same club for ever, there will nearly always be another job around the corner.
The game seems to be plagued with chairmen who will appoint manager after manager in order to attempt to find a quick fix solution to what is often a long term structural problem. Yes, it is true that teams often find a run of form after a new manager is appointed, but very rarely do you find a club that constantly appoints different managers having much long term success. That sort of success is bred out of continuity, not a chronically short-term outlook.
The perfect example of this lies with Peterborough United. Last season, chairman Darragh MacAnthony sacked Darren Ferguson due to poor Championship performances, despite the fact it was Ferguson who achieved two back-to-back promotions in his first two seasons as Posh manager. At the time, Peterborough stood at the bottom of the table and it was clear to see that the club were simply punching above their weight. Ferguson’s replacement Mark Cooper lasted just 13 games, and despite the best efforts of new manager Jim Gannon, Peterborough were relegated to League 1. Gannon then left the club and was replaced by Gary Johnson, who resigned from the job just over a week ago. In a sensational u-turn, MacAnthony turned back to his old mate Ferguson and after a bit of a kiss and a cuddle, the two men made up and Ferguson was handed a 4-and-a-half year contract. The question I would ask is, would Peterborough have been better off just sticking with Ferguson in the first place? They would have been relegated, but that happened anyway, and I’m sure that continuity in managerial personnel would have put them in a better place for a serious promotion challenge this season than the managerial chaos that was created.
Peterborough aren’t the only ones mind, far from it. If Phil Brown wasn’t good enough for Hull City, why should he be good enough for Preston? If Paul Jewell wasn’t good enough for Derby then why is he good enough for Ipswich? Then of course you look at the biggest managerial shock of all this season, Alan Pardew, who was deemed not suitable for the Southampton job yet the perfect man for Newcastle United.
It seems for the foreseeable future we will have a pool of managers that drift from club to club, and while ever there are impatient chairmen willing to offer these managers lucrative contracts that they are unlikely to ever see out, the managerial merry-go-round will keep on turning.
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