SWANN TO SINK OR SWIM WITH HIS BIG CALL
WHEN managers of clubs at the bottom end of divisions are sacked, it is fairly straightforward to get your head round it.
You may think they deserved more time, but you can understand a club’s top brass deciding a change is necessary.
Everyone fears being relegated and slipping down a rung of the ladder. The consequences can be severe.
It’s a bit more difficult to grasp when a team is going for promotion and up in the play-off places.
That’s why it’s difficult to understand, without knowing all the facts, why Scunthorpe decided to axe Graham Alexander after last Saturday’s 1-1 home draw against relegationthreatened Rochdale.
Yes, it wasn’t the best result in the world and extended the Iron’s run to eight games without a win, but they did draw five of those.
They were still fifth in the division, though admittedly the pack were closing in.
Alexander took Scunthorpe to the playoffs last season – they lost to Millwall in the semi-finals – and surely would have been expecting to have the chance to see the job through this time.
“I live and die by these decisions,” chairman Peter Swann told BBC Radio Humberside. “I always try and give managers as long as I can.”
It is certainly a brave call. Time will tell if Swann’s decision was a masterstroke or a big mistake.