Recently, following the sacking of Reading boss Brian McDermott, a former Premier League player, manager and the current boss of Blackpool, Paul Ince has called for the institution of a Manager Transfer Window. Ince said that something needed to be done about the ongoing issue of managers throughout world football being sacked quite regularly after very little time in charge. Just Sunday, another example of this lack of patience from clubs was seen. After losing 1-0 to Manchester United, Sunderland sacked their manager Martin O’Neill. O’Neill has been in charge of Sunderland for only a little over a year and has been extremely successful in all of his previous jobs at Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa. However, with Sunderland only one point above safety and with Aston Villa and Wigan having a game in hand, the Sunderland board decided they could not wait any longer. They have sacked O’Neill and will bring in somebody new for the remaining seven matches in the Premier League.
The issue of clubs sacking their managers too quickly has been talked to death over the last few years. With immediate results being considered so important, it is very difficult for a manager to be given a chance to build a long term project if he does not start off well. The example often given in an attempt to prove what patience can do is Sir Alex Ferguson. The Manchester United manager, who is now the most successful manager in the history of modern football did not win anything in his first four years at the club. In fact, his United sides were very average and were mid table at best. But the United board gave him time and eventually Ferguson turned the club around making them what they are today. Who knows how many other managers may have made such a huge difference on their respective clubs should they had been given the chance.
It is often said that there are three major powers in a football club, the club itself meaning the board, chairman and fans, the players and the manager. In this day and age, the players have an incredible amount of power; if they don’t want to leave a club they don’t have to. They are more then capable of sitting in the reserves picking up a paycheck. If they want to leave the club they can force a move for themselves. The managers don’t have a lot of power. If the team does well, the players are often praised, and if the team struggles it is them that faces the sack. They are not nearly as well paid as the players (though they get paid a decent amount anyway) but not enough for it to be inconceivable for them to get sacked and have the remainder of their contract paid to them. In this football world, where the managers have less and less power, what Paul Ince wants to do is quite bold.
Ince’s idea has been brought up numerous times by different people but no league has yet to hold onto the idea of a manager transfer window. This would mean, that like with players, after a certain time clubs could no longer get rid of their managers. This would not allow certain clubs like Blackburn Rovers, who have sacked numerous managers this season alone, to continue with their current practice. I think this is a great idea. Similar to players, if a team gives a player a contract and puts its faith in the player, that faith should come with a certain amount of time guaranteed, even if it is only a season. If after that season the club still wants to sack their manager then they are more than able to, but a manager sacking window would definitely get rid of this senseless managerial merry-go-round that we get every year at around this time.