NFR: The (manager) sacking season

[Logicalman]

bbc football

Sacking season: Seven managers go in eight days
By Mandeep Sanghera
BBC Sport



Manager exits 2013-14
Kevin McDonald (Swindon)
Gus Poyet (Brighton)
Greg Abbott (Carlisle)
Paolo Di Canio (Sunderland)
Nigel Clough (Derby)
David Weir (Sheff Utd)
Martin Allen (Gillingham)
Kevin Blackwell (Bury)
Tony Mowbray (Middlesbrough)
Ian Holloway (Crystal Palace)
Chris Kiwomya (Notts County)
Brian Laws (Scunthorpe)
Guy Whittingham (Portsmouth)
Richie Barker (Crawley Town)
Sean O'Driscoll (Bristol City)
David Flitcroft (Barnsley)
Dave Jones (Sheff Weds)
Martin Jol (Fulham)
Owen Coyle (Wigan)



If anyone needed any more proof about the perils of being a manager then it came in the space of eight days across England's top four divisions.
From 25 November to 2 December there were seven managerial casualties but, rather than shock, there seems to be a degree of acceptability to the cull that former England manager Graham Taylor calls "part and parcel" of the game.
According to the League Managers' Association (LMA), of the 19 managers to have left their job so far, 17 were sacked and two resigned. No manager has left to join another club this season.
"There are a lot of new people coming into football and taking clubs over, running them like they would their business," said 69-year-old Taylor, who was also in charge at Lincoln, Watford, Aston Villa and Wolves.

"They are not used to their company not being at the top and when it isn't, they make changes as if they would if their company was struggling."
Neil Warnock has been in charge of 11 clubs in the top four divisions of the English game, and has suffered dismissals at Notts County, Plymouth and QPR.
"You feel desolate when you lose your job," said Warnock. "It's terrible. You've got your own pride and it hurts.
"You get into management knowing you will get the sack - that's why you don't get too carried away when you are winning.
"If you do 15 months as a manager nowadays you have done well. It is a different game now as you don't get the time to build."
The procession of recent exits began with Guy Whittingham being axed by League Two Portsmouth.
The departures of Richie Barker and Sean O'Driscoll from respective League One sides Crawley Town and Bristol City followed, with Championship club Barnsley then dispensing of David Flitcroft.
The highest profile dismissal involved Martin Jol leaving Premier League outfit Fulham before Championship side Sheffield Wednesday dismissed Dave Jones.
Owen Coyle's parting of the ways with Wigan, also of the Championship, completed the seven exits in eight days.


Taylor added: "Part of the reason I got out of the profession was because managers at that time were becoming more first-team coaches than managers of a football club.
"I didn't like that and the way the game was changing."
Current England coach Roy Hodgson is president of the LMA and believes the rewards for success are making the job as a manager so precarious.
"As president of the LMA I can't possibly suggest that I'm anything other than disappointed or concerned for all these guys losing their job," he said.
''A major factor is there's so much money and the prizes are so high. If any team falters slightly off the path there is a big temptation for the owner to say another man may alter our path.''
WHAT THE STATS SAY

League One is leading the way in terms of managerial departures so far this season with seven. There have been six in the Championship and three apiece in the Premier League and League Two.
Twenty-three managers had left their posts at the same time last year, which compares to 19 so far in the present campaign.
The most managerial changes in a season since the Premier League era began in 1992-93 was 69 in 2001-02.
The average tenure for a manager at a club is 1.72 years.
The longest serving manager in English football is Arsene Wenger, who took over at Arsenal in September 1996. Paul Tisdale is second having been in charge at Exeter since June 2006. Chris Wilder is in third place for a stint at Oxford United which began in December 2008 but he has been given permission to speak to Portsmouth.