Don’t forget, clubs need protecting...

So here we go again. Managers being sacked... managers facing the sack. It sounds stupid, but I agree wholeheartedly with Danny Murphy, who, on page 2 of this week’s issue, says there should be a window for dismissing managers. Murphy highlights a season he was at Blackburn, when he had five bosses during a single campaign. That’s utterly ridiculous. How are players supposed to operate at anywhere near the levels they are being paid to under such a hopeless scenario.

I always feel it’s too easy for players to quit on their gaffer. When they know the board is circling and the sack is imminent, some players – not big in number admittedly but perhaps with an axe to grind – simply give up. I wonder how many York City players were putting a shift in for their boss Jackie McNamara at Nethermoor on Tuesday night when the Minstermen were rolled over 6-1 by Guiseley.

But there is a flip side. Bringing in a window wouldn’t just be there to protect the managers, but also the clubs. Managers can be quick to jump ship when a better job comes up. The exit is often tempestuous and while there is compensation (bigger, more aspiring clubs in Non-League football don’t care much for contracts) it does little for the club who is now faced with finding a new man for the dugout and the right fit for the players – many of whom the previous and now departed boss may have brought in. All of a sudden, a club can find themselves back in the blocks and having to start the race again.

We all know such a move is never going to happen. Clubs and their chairmen will do everything to have that flexibility. But it’s a bit of security for both parties rather than a contract that holds little weight.