Following the recent departures of both Paolo Di Canio and Nigel Clough at Sunderland and Derby County respectively, the new age that gives managers precious little time in any job has finally dawned on me. With Clough gone, there remain only 3 from 92 Football League managers that have been in their current job for over 4 years. This unstable, uncertain culture surrounding the modern game surely must change. Focusing first on Di Canio, we are offered an example of how football has changed for the worse. With Sunderland languishing at the bottom of the nation's top tier, Di Canio was forced out by a series of player complaints and personal attacks on him. Justified or not, the fact that the Italian was in charge of the club for a mere 13 matches shows something is wrong with today's game. Di Canio had just 5 league matches at the beginning of his first full season at Sunderland to convince chairman Ellis Short he was the right man for the job. 5 games with 14 new players. Perhaps you cannot place Di Canio into the same bracket as others; his methods were questionable, his supporters few and far between. Swindon chief executive Nick Watkins, who worked with Di Canio during his tenure there, described his system as 'management by hand grenade'. Arguably, it was a matter of when and not if regarding the hand grenade going off, in Di Canio's case. Yet, this is no excuse. Di Canio was heavily backed by the club's board during the summer, allowing him to invest massively, resulting in a huge squad overhaul. Whilst revamping, he let go experienced heads such as Simon Mignolet, James McClean and Stephane Sessegnon. Allowing Di Canio to do this makes the decision to sack him all the more confusing. Big changes in big squads take time to gel; new managers take time to settle in. In just over 7 years, Sunderland have had 6 full-time managers, not to mention caretaker bosses. I pray for the brave man who next steps into the Sunderland hot-seat. After studying Sunderland's managerial record, I decided to look at the Football League and Premier League as a whole. Currently, the average managerial job stands at 533 days, which is under a year-and-a-half in the job. Yet, excluding Arsene Wenger's stint as Arsenal manager, which stretches just shy of 17 years, the average job dramatically reduces to under 16 months (471 days). Remember also, the summer months, in which managers are rarely sacked, make up at least 90 days of this period. A period of 16 months as manager of a football club is quite frankly ridiculous. Very few managers have been successful in this short amount of time. Premier League clubs in particular have been guilty of some recent baffling sackings. Di Matteo, Adkins and Hughton are just a handful of these in recent times. Moving onward, and to a very different case, was the sacking of Derby County's Nigel Clough. Clough was the 4th longest-serving manager from 92 clubs, when the American board at Derby decided it was time to change. Unlike many around him, Clough was given a chance. He was given 4 full seasons, which were all, at best, average. The past two seasons, Derby have finished 12th and 10th in the Championship, without ever looking as though they were likely to challenge for the play-offs. Yet, still, Clough could have many reasons to be unhappy about his treatment. Without major investment, Clough has produced stability over his time in charge. Despite never being a word that will excite fans and players alike, stability is exactly what was asked of him when taking over, and exactly what he has produced. Following a 1-0 loss to rivals Nottingham Forest, where Clough and his father still hold legendary status, he was sacked. However, can Derby really be compared to the likes of rivals Forest and Leicester City? Billy Davies of Forest has spent £6 million on just transfer fees this summer alone. This said, I do admire Derby County for giving Clough the long stint as boss. It doesn't work out for everyone. I hope newly appointed Steve McClaren is given as bigger crack of the whip. Look at the bracket of 'longer-serving managers' in the Football League. Russell Slade didn't have an easy start at Leyton Orient, who are flying this season. There is a similar story with Dean Smith at Walsall. Chris Powell of Charlton went 11 games without at a win at the tail end of the 2010/11 season, before guiding them to the League 1 title a year later. All three British managers have been in charge at their respective clubs for well over two and a half years, and well over the average time in a managerial position, despite starting poorly. Irrespective of managers being 'given a chance', short-term employment is damaging the country's football clubs. Take Manchester City; the manager, whoever that may be, knows if he doesn't win trophies, he doesn't have a job. Academy and youth team products have no chance to flourish, given the team needs to instantly be the best it can be. Expensive options from abroad are brought in, younger players are not given a chance. The whole footballing nation agrees our youth system is poor, agrees our country is not producing the quality it should. No doubt, this is affected by the decreasing length of time a manager is given. Not only this, but sacking managers often costs clubs a fortune and is not an efficient way to run a football club. If Newcastle are to ever sack Alan Pardew before his lengthy contract runs down, Mike Ashley's large pockets will be significantly dented. For me, this all adds up to build a very strong case for long-term managerial employment. I do not need to sit here and repeat the stories of how Sir Alex Ferguson started his Manchester United job to prove this. Things need to change for the good of clubs, the good of the English youth system and managers themselves who are being unfairly treated.
Following the recent departures of both Paolo Di Canio and Nigel Clough at Sunderland and Derby County respectively, the new age that gives managers precious little time in any job has finally dawned on me. With Clough gone, there remain only 3 from 92 Football League managers that have been in their current job for over 4 years. This unstable, uncertain culture surrounding the modern game surely must change. Focusing first on Di Canio, we are offered an example of how football has changed for the worse. With Sunderland languishing at the bottom of the nation's top tier, Di Canio was forced out by a series of player complaints and personal attacks on him. Justified or not, the fact that the Italian was in charge of the club for a mere 13 matches shows something is wrong with today's game. Di Canio had just 5 league matches at the beginning of his first full season at Sunderland to convince chairman Ellis Short he was the right man for the job. 5 games with 14 new players. Perhaps you cannot place Di Canio into the same bracket as others; his methods were questionable, his supporters few and far between. Swindon chief executive Nick Watkins, who worked with Di Canio during his tenure there, described his system as 'management by hand grenade'. Arguably, it was a matter of when and not if regarding the hand grenade going off, in Di Canio's case. 
Moving onward, and to a very different case, was the sacking of Derby County's Nigel Clough. Clough was the 4th longest-serving manager from 92 clubs, when the American board at Derby decided it was time to change. Unlike many around him, Clough was given a chance. He was given 4 full seasons, which were all, at best, average. The past two seasons, Derby have finished 12th and 10th in the Championship, without ever looking as though they were likely to challenge for the play-offs. Yet, still, Clough could have many reasons to be unhappy about his treatment. Without major investment, Clough has produced stability over his time in charge. Despite never being a word that will excite fans and players alike, stability is exactly what was asked of him when taking over, and exactly what he has produced. Following a 1-0 loss to rivals Nottingham Forest, where Clough and his father still hold legendary status, he was sacked. However, can Derby really be compared to the likes of rivals Forest and Leicester City? Billy Davies of Forest has spent £6 million on just transfer fees this summer alone. This said, I do admire Derby County for giving Clough the long stint as boss. It doesn't work out for everyone. I hope newly appointed Steve McClaren is given as bigger crack of the whip. Look at the bracket of 'longer-serving managers' in the Football League. Russell Slade didn't have an easy start at Leyton Orient, who are flying this season. There is a similar story with Dean Smith at Walsall. Chris Powell of Charlton went 11 games without at a win at the tail end of the 2010/11 season, before guiding them to the League 1 title a year later. All three British managers have been in charge at their respective clubs for well over two and a half years, and well over the average time in a managerial position, despite starting poorly. Irrespective of managers being 'given a chance', short-term employment is damaging the country's football clubs. Take Manchester City; the manager, whoever that may be, knows if he doesn't win trophies, he doesn't have a job. Academy and youth team products have no chance to flourish, given the team needs to instantly be the best it can be. Expensive options from abroad are brought in, younger players are not given a chance. The whole footballing nation agrees our youth system is poor, agrees our country is not producing the quality it should. No doubt, this is affected by the decreasing length of time a manager is given. Not only this, but sacking managers often costs clubs a fortune and is not an efficient way to run a football club. If Newcastle are to ever sack Alan Pardew before his lengthy contract runs down, Mike Ashley's large pockets will be significantly dented. For me, this all adds up to build a very strong case for long-term managerial employment. I do not need to sit here and repeat the stories of how Sir Alex Ferguson started his Manchester United job to prove this. Things need to change for the good of clubs, the good of the English youth system and managers themselves who are being unfairly treated.