In October 2003 Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich, who had just bought Chelsea FC, was hell-bent on turning the club into a world-wide brand. He subsequently sacked then manager Claudio Ranieri (now at Juventus) and drafted in the flamboyant Jose Mourinho. The following year Chelsea won their first Premier League title in years. This saw a period of dominance for Chelsea that would last for several years, however, after an underwhelming start to the 2007 season and reports of friction with Abramovich, Mourinho was relieved of his post by mutual consent on 20 September 2007.
A Sign Of The Times
Since Mourinho's departure, the club have hired and sacked, Avram Grant, who was given 1 season in charge, despite reaching the Champions League Final (a feat never managed by Mourinho), and Luis Felipe Scolari, who was sacked after just 6 months in charge. Chelsea have still not managed to reach the dizzy heights of their success under Mourinho, and with the constant changing of managers they look unlikely to.
See, managers need time. Time to grow, to amass a squad that is their's. To command the respect and discipline of the players. Take Alex Ferguson for example, he has been manager of Manchester United for over 20 years, and they are still winning trophies. Arsene Wenger has had 12 years at Arsenal, and, despite the problems surrounding the club currently, remains probably the only unsackable manager in English football. Rafa Benitez, with 5 years at Liverpool under his belt is something of a Premiership veteran. It has taken all of these managers time and money to win trophies.
Casualties Of War
Since Abramovich pulled the trigger it seems to have sparked a trend among clubs dismissing managers after very short tenures in charge. Just this season for example has seen the sacking of Juande Ramos from Tottenham Hotspur, Paul Ince from Blackburn Rovers after they slipped into the bottom 3, and Tony Adams from FA Cup holders Portsmouth after 2 wins in 15.
Sure, Ramos was an already decorated manager of whom much was expected, and when he guided Tottenham to their worst ever Premiership start, perhaps it was justifiable to sack him. However, Adams and Ince had novice records at best. Adams had a brief tenure in charge of current League Two side Wycombe Wanderers, before becoming Harry Redknapp's number 2 at Pompey. Ince had spells at Macclesfield Town and MK Dons before being hired by Blackburn, a club with european ambitions.
But honestly, what did Portsmouth and Blackburn expect? They hired young managers. Still plying their trade. Still learning their craft. Hired with minimal experience, to clubs with high expectations, and then sacked after just a few months when results began to dip, and the first murmurs of fan unrest were to be heard. Who's to say Adams and Ince would not have stopped the rot, and climbed the table with their teams? No-one. But they simply weren't given the time or resources to fulfill their visions. That is the problem nowadays, clubs are too concerned with not losing money, and ultimately, are too scared of fans to stick with an out of favour manager.
Abraham Lincoln perhaps put it best when he said, "you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But you can't please all the people all of the time." Sage advice.
All managers are different. All work differently. They are all individuals. But all of them have a plan, a vision. Think about this, it took Alex Ferguson 7 years to win his first league title with Manchester United. Now, 22 years later, he is still there, and looks set to win an eleventh titile. That is surely food for thought.
Matthew Biggin - Matthew Biggin is currentIy studying a freelance writing course with an organization known as The Writer's Bureau, whereby he completes a ...
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