BOSSES, BOARDS & BAMPOTS
Brown: Directors are a disgrace for binning good managers too quickly because some idiots complain on social media
IT used to be called the managerial merry-go-round.
But Billy Brown reckons life in the dugout is more like the ghost train these days with a quarter of gaffers in Scotland out of a gig before Halloween.
Dumbarton dumped Stevie Aitken on Monday night at the same time Airdrie were handing Stephen Findlay his jotters – meaning 12 of the 42 SPFL clubs are no longer with the same managers who started the season, with half a dozen of them currently managerless.
Those two plus Livingston, St Mirren, Dundee United, Partick Thistle, Falkirk, Morton, Raith Rovers, Stirling Albion, Berwick and Queen’s Park have all either punted their managers or watched them quit in an early-campaign bosses bloodbath.
Managers and Coaches Association chairman Brown has been watching in dismay and reckons it’s trigger-happy directors who should be copping the flak rather than the poor fall guys on the touchlines.
The former Hearts, Hibs, and Killie No.2 admitted alarm bells are ringing as the men in suits are hitting the panic button at the first sign of trouble rather than holding firm to allow decent gaffers the chance to dig themselves out of bother.
Brown said: “It’s a huge concern. Instead of blaming the managers, a lot of the directors should be looking at themselves.
“If you appoint a manager, give him a fair amount of time to build a team. And he doesn’t do it right then they have every right to sack him.
“But if they don’t give him enough time or don’t give him the resources required then get rid of him, it’s not the manager’s fault.
“Some of the sackings this season have been nothing short of disgraceful. At the end of the day it’s the prerogative of the clubs but sacking the manager is not always the solution.
“These guys don’t have magic wands, it’s often the same group of players. They might start playing well again but it doesn’t take long for the same problems to resurface.”
Brown’s biggest gripe is the
sense directors are ignoring previous work and folding at the first sign of pressure.
He added: “The most galling one now is managers are not allowed to go through a sticky patch. Every time they have a bad run his job is in jeopardy.
“It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t matter who you are. Even down south I keep seeing Jose Mourinho is going to get sacked. This is one of the best managers of all time.
“He’s having a bad run but his job is in jeopardy. You don’t become a bad manager overnight.
“Things can go against them, there can be injuries, suspension, form can go off the boil, any
number of things. But managers are not allowed these spells any more.
“Stevie Aitken going is ridiculous. Dumbarton are a part-time club and at this stage last year Stevie was being touted for a lot of good jobs.
“He maybe wanted to stay loyal to Dumbarton but when he goes through a sticky spell were they loyal to him? No.
“I know things weren’t going so well for Alan Archibald at Thistle. They got relegated and haven’t had the best of starts.
“But look at the job he did there over a number of years with promotion, followed by seasons in the Premiership.
“He could have gone to other clubs on a few occasions but stayed loyal. It just shows loyalty is not a two-way street.”
Brown is worried the managerial blender is chewing up top gaffers and spitting them out.
He said: “I look at some of the brightest young managers in the country and they way they have been treated.
“Paul Hartley goes in to Falkirk but he’s not got his own players. He makes changes in the summer but three league games in he’s sacked. He never got a chance to get the team to gel.
“It was the same for him at Dundee. He lost seven games in a row. It was the first sticky spell of his entire career and he was gone.
“A couple of years ago we looked at Paul and Jackie McNamara as the best young managers in the country and look how they get treated at the first signs of trouble.”
Peterhead gaffer Jim McInally
is now the longest-serving manager in Scotland, with seven years’ service at Balmoor.
The Blue Toon boss reckons it’s player power putting the heat on the men on the hotseat.
McInally said: “It is just the way of football now as players are running the show.
“If the players are not happy, they use the manager as an excuse for not playing well and the pressure builds on a club’s board. The manager then goes and the cycle kicks off again.”
But Brown sees the problems
coming from the boardrooms. The rise of the internet nutjob has got the men in suits itching to keep punters on board.
He said: “No manager is safe now. There used to be a time when it was the players rather than the manager who took the responsibility.
“Once players cross the line it’s up to them. I sit in stands these days and will see a striker blast the ball over the bar from two yards – and the fans will turn round and blame the manager!
“They’re getting blamed for things that are outwith their control. They are the ones in the firing line and then you have things like social media putting pressure on boards.
“They need to be stronger and back their man. They should realise any bampot can go on social media. They have to withstand a certain amount of criticism rather than take the easy option to avoid some of the flak.
“Directors are entitled to do what they like but to have seen so many go this early in the season is massively worrying.”