Over the years, the insecurity of the football manager position has risen exponentially, and is regarded as probably one of the most unstable job titles in the world, let alone the sports and entertainment business. The manager of a football team is the first person fans look to when things go good or bad; whether people can justify that sentiment or not, the manager is the media's favourite person to talk to. The media usually portray football managers having the responsibility for absolutely everything that the team is doing at one point. To a degree this is true and I assume many of you probably think that would be in the job description, but there are many other staff that are responsible for a team's results. The back-room staff (first team coaches, positional coaches, fitness coaches etc.) all have as much contact with the players and responsibility for teams' results as the manager himself, and while I understand that the manager can pick and choose their back-room staff, sometimes they have to make-do with who they have. Then there are the players themselves. There is only so much that a manager's motivation and instructions can do, it's the players that have to fulfil them. Meanwhile, owners of football clubs have been gaining more attention. They are the true dictators of what goes on and fans are starting to see that, the reason being that the insecurity of a managers' job position has been dwindling due to these very people, and not always for the right reasons. Clubs in England especially have been acquiring mega rich owners who adopt a 'dictatorship style' approach to running a football club, as if they themselves are the be-all and end-all of the club and, well, with that attitude it's correct that they would have that influence. I am going to take you through 8 incidents from the past 10 years where a football manager has been sacked for all the wrong reasons, most of which have resulted in the club's performance fall rather than rise. These will be in rank order, with number one being what I believe has been the worst decision. Here we go!
As a recent university graduate and a huge supporter of Celtic FC, what better way to use my inevitable free time to write about my favourite football team? I'll cover most things that the supporters are talking about at the moment, which includes things that directly and indirectly involve the club. At times I may also stray into matters concerning English clubs.
