The sackings of Luiz Felipe Scolari and Tony Adams on Monday were regarded by many as inevitable and most as sad.
Scolari had seven months and just twenty-five league games at Chelsea whilst Tony Adams was given just sixteen league games by the powers that be at Portsmouth.
Earlier on this season Paul Ince was sacked by Blackburn after just seventeen games in charge. The average tenure for a manager in England at the moment is just sixteen months. This has to be regarded as a worrying trend.
Failed
There is no doubt that all three of these managers were failing to produce the results and success that they themselves, the clubs and the fans would have liked, but surely they were not given enough time to prove themselves?
Paul Ince saw the formerly successful Blackburn side under Mark Hughes sink to the bottom of the table. Adams took Portsmouth from seventh in the table and being FA Cup holders to being one point off the drop zone and out of the FA Cup. Scolari saw Chelsea slip to fourth place in the table and begin to drift away in their title challenge.
There are three things involved in each of these sackings that are common to each and cause me to worry. The three strands running through each of these dismissals are:
What have we done to our game when the money that would be lost by relegation or by failing to qualify for the top European competition is so important that people no longer matter and success, or the prevention of failure, must be achieved at any cost.
In the Premier League, only four teams can qualify for the Champions League and three clubs will definitely be relegated to the Championship. It seems now that if you are a top half team but fail get into Europe or a bottom half team falling into the inevitable relegation battle, you are defined as a failure and thrown out. That cannot be good for our game.
Players have a great deal of power in the modern game. Despite the claims of a certain Fifa official in the summer that some players were being treated like slaves by their club, the fact is that it is the players who hold all the aces. The Bosman ruling in relation to contracts and transfers has put the players in charge. Now, it seems, the players have a fairly big say in who the manager should be. That has to be the wrong way round.
At Blackburn some players were beginning to go public in their dislike of Ince’s methods. Once the media got hold of the fact that Ince had ‘lost the dressing room’ his position became untenable. The players know that and a phone call to a trusted journalist seems to be a disingenuous and easy way to start the process of getting a change of manager.
At Portsmouth the players seemed to be supportive to Tony Adams on the surface, but the fact that Diarra and Defoe left the club and other players were seriously under performing for the manager were major contributory parts to his downfall.
Chelsea are well known for the high levels of player power at their club. Mourinho felt he was forced out by some of the players, Grant certainly was and now we hear that Abramovich consulted certain senior players about Scolari. However much a certain player ‘bleeds blue’ and ‘loves the club’ he should not weald the power that he apparently does. Will the new manager be OK as long as a certain defender supports him?
I think for me the most worrying of the three strands is the reaction of the fans. Whilst some fans have come out and said that the managers have been unlucky and deserved a longer period to try to establish their teams and their methods, many have just said, ‘good’.
I can only assume that some fans of Blackburn, Portsmouth and Chelsea have very short memories or have only become supporters since the clubs found success.
The joy of supporting a football club is that you experience all the emotions. You love the highs and you hate the lows but you support your team through thick and thin. Now it seems that if you seem to be heading into the slightest low, fans are not prepared to accept this as part of football and start to demand the head of the manager. Once again, this can’t be right.
Argument
It is an old argument but you only have to look at the success of clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton, who have given their managers all the time in the world to get things right. Look at what has happened to Bolton and Charlton since their long term managers left. Many people are calling for Gareth Southgate’s head but can anyone be sure that Middlesbrough won’t sink without a trace if he leaves?
Like most managers, Sir Alex Ferguson was surprised and disappointed with the decision to sack Scolari.
“It is a sign of the times. There is absolutely no patience in the world now. There was great expectation at Chelsea that they were going to do well this year – and it is only this last month they have had a bad spell. The judgment really is only on the last month.”
Perhaps the worst culprit in all of this is Roman Abramovich. Here is a man who bought a club because he could and he wanted to. It was a toy for him, but it had to be a successful toy and it had to be his. With no regard for the traditions or the culture of the game he set about trying to buy his success. It is like a rich gambler going into a casino but only betting if he knows the game is rigged in his favour.
Had to go
Ranieri only managed second place and a Champions League semi-final so he had to go. Mourinho was OK for a while, six trophies in three years but no Champions League success and he was bigger than Abramovich so he had to go as well. Avram Grant could only manage second place in the league and defeat in the Champions League final so there was no question of him staying. Now, Scolari has had twenty-five league games in charge and Chelsea find themselves in the terrible position of being in fourth place and some seven points behind the leaders. No wonder he has had to go as well!
Jealous
Maybe as a Watford fan I am just jealous of the success these other teams have had. Maybe if Abramovich had bought Watford instead and we were somewhere near where Chelsea are, I would feel differently. I don’t think I would, but I am unlikely to ever know!
I just think that the current situation is sad for English football.
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