Who’d Be A Manager

Article by Christopher Lawton

The past few weeks has seen a spate of sacks across Championships clubs. While Wigan have filled their post with the Uwe Rossler, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley are still looking for permanent replacements.

I would also say to any manager stepping into the hot seat at those clubs – don’t get too comfortable. Following the removal of long serving stalwarts Nigel Clough (Derby) and Tony Mowbray (Middlesbrough) the longest serving Championship manager is Chris Powell at Charlton who has been in the job almost three year and some might argue is under pressure this season.

The next four managers Nigel Pearson (Leicester), Gary Johnson (Yeovil), Lee Clark (Birmingham) and Gianfranco Zola (Watford) are the only men who were in charge of their current team at the start of last season. That makes it 19 of the current Championship sides who have changed manager at least once since last October.

Over the years there has been much debate if changing your manager makes any difference at all. Personally, I suspect not. What we are seeing, however, is chairman reacting to the transfer window in January by replacing under performing managers sooner rather than later. A new manager installed now will likely have five matches, including the frantic Christmas schedule, in which to assess the squad and target new players. Maybe it will help sides perform better, but conventional wisdom holds that after an initial favourable burst of results you are more likely to return to the norm for the season.

It remains to be seen, therefore, if new managers at Barnsley or Sheffield Wednesday can make a difference. Barnsley operates on a tight budget and it is difficult to see if their current squad limitations can be so easily overcome by a simple change of manager. Sheffield Wednesday is one of those sleeping giants that have the potential to draw in support when the team is playing well. Right now they are struggling and with owner Milan Mandric looking to sell anyone coming in is going to be working under a tight budget.

The ray of hope for supporters of those teams is that the Championship is going to be a dog fight this season with form counting for little. Anything is possible with a good organisation and a bit of luck.

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