Post by QPR Report on Feb 18, 2009 7:41:22 GMT
Telegraph/Henry Winter - League Managers Association fights back over sackings
Alarmed by the rapid turnover of managers, with one going every six days this season, the League Managers Association are introducing a scheme to improve promising young English managers, creating a dozen-strong group of contenders for the Football Association to consider when Fabio Capello eventually leaves.
LMA lawyers have also written a standardised contract to protect all managers, home-grown or foreign.
Last week's dismissals of Luiz Felipe Scolari and Tony Adams means the average managerial tenure has now dipped from 3.12 years at the inception of the Premier League, 1992-93, to an all-time low of 1.47 years. "We are 193 days from the start of the season and 33 managers have gone – one every six days,'' said Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the LMA. "Media pressure is greater than ever. The financial pressure of dropping down is greater. Individuals owning clubs demand urgent success. The play-offs have created more pressure.
"Of the current managers who have had more than one job, only five have never been sacked: Martin O'Neill, David Moyes, Tony Mowbray, Mark Hughes and Simon Grayson. The other worrying stat is that 49 per cent of first-time managers don't get back into management.
"That figure will come down as the FA, LMA and the Professional Footballers' Association get better at talent development and when the National Football Centre is up and running for the development of coaches. We are working very positively with the FA on a plan to develop managers' careers with mentoring by older managers, looking at balance sheets and study visits to watch Barcelona, watch Fabio, the NFL, and the All Blacks.
"They used to do this years ago at Lilleshall with the Shanklys and Greenwoods passing on information. If this plan is implemented, and with the National Football Centre up and running, we will end up with a far more professionally-trained group of young managers able to cope. There are some really switched-on guys out there like Simon Grayson (Leeds United) and Nigel Pearson (Leicester City). We have to stop moaning about not getting the opportunity at the top three or four clubs, but recognise we have 83 British managers, 61 of them English, and make them better.
"I think the chances of the next England manager being English are really high. The FA have to look and say 'how do we help those 61?' Let's say Capello is going to be in the job for four or five years, you could easily take a dozen managers from those 61, help them, invest in them, and create a better group for the FA to choose from. It is good news the FA are embracing us more.''
Whether home-grown apprentice or foreign master, Bevan looks after all managers and he backed Adams and Scolari to return to the Premier League. "Both individuals were very disappointed,'' said Bevan. "I spoke to Tony quite a few times, and he was saying 'people don't know me, I will be learning from this experience, I will be coming back better and stronger'. Scolari said to me that the Premier League is the best league in the world, and he really wants to manager here again. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw him manage here again.
"Avram Grant said something very good on Sky on Sunday that when you take on a manager, you take on a philosophy. You know what Scolari's philosophy is. It's fairly straightforward and therefore you have to give these guys time. If Roman Abramovich is going to have four managers in 17 months, then you are not going to achieve success.
"A club that is led properly like Manchester United will not allow anyone to undermine their manager. The same at Middlesbrough, Arsenal and Everton in the Premier League. In the Football League, Swansea, Hereford, Dagenham and Bristol City have also achieved great success in recent years where continuity has taken place.''
The new standard contract, containing a "pre-nup'' agreement to establish pay-offs, will help managers. "It's finished, it's fantastic,'' added Bevan. "We had five different lawyers, and two QCs, pulling it to pieces and putting it back together again. That document is now out with the Football League. The Football League is really where the problems are.''
Some clubs at the lower end use delaying tactics, hoping the dismissed manager will settle for less. One manager was owed £30,000 by a club, who offered to pay him off over a three-year period. Bevan scrambled the lawyers and the full cheque was swiftly written. 'If the manager is being backed by an insurance policy, the LMA professional team and a network of QCs, clubs know he is less likely to cave in,'' said Bevan, determined to stand up for managers.
Facing facts
193 The number of days from the start of the season in which 33 managers have lost their jobs – one every six days.
1.47 In the Nineties the average managerial tenure was three years, now it is at the all-time low of 1.47 years.
5 Of current managers who have had more than one job, only five have never been sacked: Martin O’Neill, David Moyes, Tony Mowbray, Mark Hughes and Simon Grayson.
49 The percentage of first-time managers sacked who never get back into management.
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/4682086/League-Managers-Association-fights-back-over-sackings.html
Alarmed by the rapid turnover of managers, with one going every six days this season, the League Managers Association are introducing a scheme to improve promising young English managers, creating a dozen-strong group of contenders for the Football Association to consider when Fabio Capello eventually leaves.
LMA lawyers have also written a standardised contract to protect all managers, home-grown or foreign.
Last week's dismissals of Luiz Felipe Scolari and Tony Adams means the average managerial tenure has now dipped from 3.12 years at the inception of the Premier League, 1992-93, to an all-time low of 1.47 years. "We are 193 days from the start of the season and 33 managers have gone – one every six days,'' said Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the LMA. "Media pressure is greater than ever. The financial pressure of dropping down is greater. Individuals owning clubs demand urgent success. The play-offs have created more pressure.
"Of the current managers who have had more than one job, only five have never been sacked: Martin O'Neill, David Moyes, Tony Mowbray, Mark Hughes and Simon Grayson. The other worrying stat is that 49 per cent of first-time managers don't get back into management.
"That figure will come down as the FA, LMA and the Professional Footballers' Association get better at talent development and when the National Football Centre is up and running for the development of coaches. We are working very positively with the FA on a plan to develop managers' careers with mentoring by older managers, looking at balance sheets and study visits to watch Barcelona, watch Fabio, the NFL, and the All Blacks.
"They used to do this years ago at Lilleshall with the Shanklys and Greenwoods passing on information. If this plan is implemented, and with the National Football Centre up and running, we will end up with a far more professionally-trained group of young managers able to cope. There are some really switched-on guys out there like Simon Grayson (Leeds United) and Nigel Pearson (Leicester City). We have to stop moaning about not getting the opportunity at the top three or four clubs, but recognise we have 83 British managers, 61 of them English, and make them better.
"I think the chances of the next England manager being English are really high. The FA have to look and say 'how do we help those 61?' Let's say Capello is going to be in the job for four or five years, you could easily take a dozen managers from those 61, help them, invest in them, and create a better group for the FA to choose from. It is good news the FA are embracing us more.''
Whether home-grown apprentice or foreign master, Bevan looks after all managers and he backed Adams and Scolari to return to the Premier League. "Both individuals were very disappointed,'' said Bevan. "I spoke to Tony quite a few times, and he was saying 'people don't know me, I will be learning from this experience, I will be coming back better and stronger'. Scolari said to me that the Premier League is the best league in the world, and he really wants to manager here again. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw him manage here again.
"Avram Grant said something very good on Sky on Sunday that when you take on a manager, you take on a philosophy. You know what Scolari's philosophy is. It's fairly straightforward and therefore you have to give these guys time. If Roman Abramovich is going to have four managers in 17 months, then you are not going to achieve success.
"A club that is led properly like Manchester United will not allow anyone to undermine their manager. The same at Middlesbrough, Arsenal and Everton in the Premier League. In the Football League, Swansea, Hereford, Dagenham and Bristol City have also achieved great success in recent years where continuity has taken place.''
The new standard contract, containing a "pre-nup'' agreement to establish pay-offs, will help managers. "It's finished, it's fantastic,'' added Bevan. "We had five different lawyers, and two QCs, pulling it to pieces and putting it back together again. That document is now out with the Football League. The Football League is really where the problems are.''
Some clubs at the lower end use delaying tactics, hoping the dismissed manager will settle for less. One manager was owed £30,000 by a club, who offered to pay him off over a three-year period. Bevan scrambled the lawyers and the full cheque was swiftly written. 'If the manager is being backed by an insurance policy, the LMA professional team and a network of QCs, clubs know he is less likely to cave in,'' said Bevan, determined to stand up for managers.
Facing facts
193 The number of days from the start of the season in which 33 managers have lost their jobs – one every six days.
1.47 In the Nineties the average managerial tenure was three years, now it is at the all-time low of 1.47 years.
5 Of current managers who have had more than one job, only five have never been sacked: Martin O’Neill, David Moyes, Tony Mowbray, Mark Hughes and Simon Grayson.
49 The percentage of first-time managers sacked who never get back into management.
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/4682086/League-Managers-Association-fights-back-over-sackings.html