Post by Macmoish on Dec 19, 2010 10:55:34 GMT
Bump a year!
For a manager: Damned if you do. Damned if you don't. Watch out Mr. Warnock!
Mirror/Ian Winwood
Why winning promotion to the Premier League is not always good for a manager's prospects
Last Saturday Chris Hughton ‘celebrated’ his 52 birthday, just days after he’d been shown the road from St James’ Park for reasons that will mystify anyone who believes that football is a results-based business.
At the time when Hughton’s thoughts turned form 4-4-2 to P45, Newcastle United were sitting pretty in mid-table. Certainly they were sitting a lot prettier in the Premier League than they had been for some time, and certainly a lot prettier than they were this time last year when they were in the Championship.
Chances are it might well be the Championship that Chris Hughton will find himself should he decide to take another job in the madhouse that is football management. It seems that this is the place that young or even early-middle aged British born managers must these days ply their trade.
The chances are that if a gaffer gets a team promoted from the Championship into the Premier League, and then loses his job following his team’s relegation from the top flight, the gaffer has to start again one rung below.
It also seems that if an inexperienced Premier League manager loses his job, a different Premier League side is unlikely to give the man another chance at the top table. He too, then, will be relegated to the Championship.
There are exceptions to this rule, of course. It shouldn’t perhaps be too surprising that Newcastle United – a club whose actions defy all laws of logic – have bucked the trend by appointing in Alan Pardew a manager who was last seen not in the Championship but actually getting the boot from Southampton, presently a League 1 side. And Wigan Athletic, a club whose homely style seems somehow more suited to a bygone age, are thus far keeping the faith with Roberto Martinez, poached from Swansea City.
But for the most part it seems that upward social mobility as it applies to managers in the Football League is a harder task today than at any time in the past. In fact, downward social mobility seems to be the order of the day.
In 2007 the one thing that ensured Sheffield United’s relegation from the Premier League was the fact that West Ham United cheated by using Carlos Tevez when they knew the player was ineligible to take the field. Instead of a points deduction, West Ham were fined £5 million and the Blades went down. So too did manager Neil Warnock, whose next job was with Crystal Palace.
Chris Coleman parted company with Fulham, also in 2007, after making a club with a smallish fanbase and huge debts a staple in the Premier League. His next job in England? In the league below, with Coventry City.
A year after this, Aidy Boothroyd left Watford. The young manager had failed to keep the Hornets in the Premier League, but the question must be asked whether any manager in the country could have done any better given the funds and players at his disposal. Boothroyd’s next job was in League 1, managing Colchester United.
Earlier this year Phil Brown was placed on ‘gardening leave’ by Hull City following a terrible run of results that suggested the East Yorkshire side’s two seasons in the top flight were soon to come an end. This proved to be true, but Brown’s time as a manager also seems to have reached the same conclusion. The Wearsider has stated publicly his desire to get back in the game, but at the moment his stock appears to be so toxic that no club has shown an interest.
When a manager from the Championship takes a side into the Premier League it might seem that his personal fortunes are on the up. Much of the evidence available, though, suggests that such elevated heights are only to be enjoyed for a short and not always sweet period of time.
www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/ian-winwood/Ian-Winwood-column-Why-winning-promotion-to-the-Premier-League-is-not-always-good-for-a-manager-s-prospects-as-Newcastle-s-Chris-Hughton-Hull-s-Phil-Brown-and-Watford-s-Aidy-Boothroyd-have-all-proved-article652463.html#sitelife-your-comments
For a manager: Damned if you do. Damned if you don't. Watch out Mr. Warnock!
Mirror/Ian Winwood
Why winning promotion to the Premier League is not always good for a manager's prospects
Last Saturday Chris Hughton ‘celebrated’ his 52 birthday, just days after he’d been shown the road from St James’ Park for reasons that will mystify anyone who believes that football is a results-based business.
At the time when Hughton’s thoughts turned form 4-4-2 to P45, Newcastle United were sitting pretty in mid-table. Certainly they were sitting a lot prettier in the Premier League than they had been for some time, and certainly a lot prettier than they were this time last year when they were in the Championship.
Chances are it might well be the Championship that Chris Hughton will find himself should he decide to take another job in the madhouse that is football management. It seems that this is the place that young or even early-middle aged British born managers must these days ply their trade.
The chances are that if a gaffer gets a team promoted from the Championship into the Premier League, and then loses his job following his team’s relegation from the top flight, the gaffer has to start again one rung below.
It also seems that if an inexperienced Premier League manager loses his job, a different Premier League side is unlikely to give the man another chance at the top table. He too, then, will be relegated to the Championship.
There are exceptions to this rule, of course. It shouldn’t perhaps be too surprising that Newcastle United – a club whose actions defy all laws of logic – have bucked the trend by appointing in Alan Pardew a manager who was last seen not in the Championship but actually getting the boot from Southampton, presently a League 1 side. And Wigan Athletic, a club whose homely style seems somehow more suited to a bygone age, are thus far keeping the faith with Roberto Martinez, poached from Swansea City.
But for the most part it seems that upward social mobility as it applies to managers in the Football League is a harder task today than at any time in the past. In fact, downward social mobility seems to be the order of the day.
In 2007 the one thing that ensured Sheffield United’s relegation from the Premier League was the fact that West Ham United cheated by using Carlos Tevez when they knew the player was ineligible to take the field. Instead of a points deduction, West Ham were fined £5 million and the Blades went down. So too did manager Neil Warnock, whose next job was with Crystal Palace.
Chris Coleman parted company with Fulham, also in 2007, after making a club with a smallish fanbase and huge debts a staple in the Premier League. His next job in England? In the league below, with Coventry City.
A year after this, Aidy Boothroyd left Watford. The young manager had failed to keep the Hornets in the Premier League, but the question must be asked whether any manager in the country could have done any better given the funds and players at his disposal. Boothroyd’s next job was in League 1, managing Colchester United.
Earlier this year Phil Brown was placed on ‘gardening leave’ by Hull City following a terrible run of results that suggested the East Yorkshire side’s two seasons in the top flight were soon to come an end. This proved to be true, but Brown’s time as a manager also seems to have reached the same conclusion. The Wearsider has stated publicly his desire to get back in the game, but at the moment his stock appears to be so toxic that no club has shown an interest.
When a manager from the Championship takes a side into the Premier League it might seem that his personal fortunes are on the up. Much of the evidence available, though, suggests that such elevated heights are only to be enjoyed for a short and not always sweet period of time.
www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/ian-winwood/Ian-Winwood-column-Why-winning-promotion-to-the-Premier-League-is-not-always-good-for-a-manager-s-prospects-as-Newcastle-s-Chris-Hughton-Hull-s-Phil-Brown-and-Watford-s-Aidy-Boothroyd-have-all-proved-article652463.html#sitelife-your-comments