Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
The Blackburn Rovers sacking of recently-appointed Michael Appleton added to a grim set of statistics governing the ‘Guvners’ in English football. Head-hunted from Blackpool, Blackburn’s 67-day manager is now seeking new employment.
Bizarrely, his win rate of 26.67 per cent with Blackburn is better than his return (24.05 per cent) at the North-West coastline club made famous to the youngest generation by Ian Holloway who left to join Crystal Palace.
Amazingly, the highest success rate this season was secured by caretaker manager, Gary Bowyer (son of former European Cup winner, Ian Bowyer), who has once again been handed the reins.
Appleton was Blackburn’s fourth manager of the season and was given 15 matches before being given the boot. His predecessors, Henning Berg and Steve Kean were given 10 and eight respectively.
Appleton started well enough with four wins in his first seven matches to take Blackburn into touching distance of the play-off zone and peaked with a defeat of Arsenal in the FA Cup. However, a downturn in results, a draw against bitter rivals Burnley and defeat in the cup semi-finals to Millwall ensured that Blackburn’s global advisor, Shebby Singh, was able to sack a man he had never met, via letter.
Recent results are certainly poor, with only Wolves – under new management themselves – boasting a worse record over the last 10 games.
They are not even the worst-behaved in the division. Nottingham Forest boast that record having unceremoniously sacked their third manager, Alex McLeish, after little more than six weeks. Their fourth saw a return to a previous manager, Billy Davies, who had a high-profile falling out with the previous owners.
Appleton had sought assurances concerning the power struggle taking shape at Blackburn before agreeing to walk out on Blackpool.
Singh’s stock was falling after his appointment, Henning Berg, failed to make the grade. However, Blackburn’s recent results ensured that the global advisor was given permission to send off the bad news.
The decision comes at a strange time with Blackburn having approximately 20 players injured and unavailable for selection.
The Venky’s at Blackburn are being accused of destroying the ‘House that Jack built’ with Walker and his family investing millions to take the club to the top of the highest tier in English football.
It certainly hasn’t been the same since Sam Allardyce left in December 2010. The club has fallen to a new low with the farcical way in which Appleton was sacked. This may be some form of justice for Shebby after Appleton was recently quoted as saying: “I’m not sure what Shebby is doing at the moment but, if he’s global advising, he’s certainly not advising me.”
Is it the foreign ownership that has led to this faster turnaround in the hot seat? Does the high level of investment lead to a greater level of impatience when the results worsen?
Chelsea boasted one of the wealthiest and highest-profile foreign managers, yet Roman Abramovich allowed Roberto Di Matteo only six months after he had delivered the Russian’s first Champions League trophy.
Another Russian, Anton Zingarevich, recently sacked Reading manager Brian McDermott while Italian Nicola Cortese culled Southampton manager Nigel Adkins’ reign. Mark Hughes is the final manager to have been removed from his post in a season where the top-level clubs are proving remarkably loyal.
There is an argument that foreign managers care little about the club and know nothing about the towns or cities in which they are based.
There may be some truth to aspects of this argument. However, in the main they still have the investment to protect, which suggests that they must be ‘in the game’ for the long haul.
Chief executive at the League Manager’s Association (LMA), Richard Bevan, was dismayed and outraged after the dismissal of Gary Smith at League One Stevenage took the total number of managers in the top four flights to 47.
Unfortunately, when a manager loses his job, often, so too does the coaching staff. Accounting for the backroom boys takes the total for this season to 103 which represents a five-year high with over a quarter of the season remaining. Bevan stated: “It is embarrassing for the game that all these sackings are unfair dismissals. The volatility is undermining the profession.”
It’s not as if this high turnover of managers is profitable. It is anticipated that Blackburn’s sacking of Henning Berg after 57 days will cost them in the region of £2 million (BD1.15 million)! Recent reports suggest that it cost Liverpool £10 million to part company with Kenny Dalglish and his team. No wonder Alex McLeish wasn’t too dismayed to have been sacked by Nottingham Forest after less than two months – some may regard this as nice work if you can get it!
While Bevan complains about the harsh treatment received by managers, many included in the above statistics have left voluntarily either to improve their wages or prospects.
One move can trigger a managerial merry-go-round with one club turning to the manager of another club. Indeed, one name being mentioned in conjunction with the vacant position at Reading is Brighton’s current manager, Gus Poyet.
If he leaves, who will Brighton attract? At least they will be richly rewarded for allowing Poyet to move. If he does move, he may well find the two clubs moving in different directions at the end of the season with Reading amongst the favourites to be relegated!
It’s certainly not all bad for managers who are willing to cut short their own contracts if offered a better position elsewhere and usually receive a healthy pay-out when they are dismissed.
Managers clearly do have a massive impact on the style and performance of a team. With so much money at stake for teams playing in a higher division, I believe that owners are justifiable occasionally in sacking managers in a last-minute desperate attempt to secure safety.
However, more often than not I also believe that performances can be improved through stability.
I recently read another report indicating that clubs were actually one point worse off under a new manager than they were with a previous one! The message there has to therefore be not to change too often!
