EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Rae sacking is an indicator the silly season has begun
BILLY BROWN usually braces himself for managers and coaches to be sacked during October and November.
That’s the time of the season when chairmen and chief executives tend to get twitchy and pull the trigger, thinking the grass is always greener.
But veteran Brown didn’t expect the silly season to start last week when Alex Rae was booted out by St Mirren, just a handful of games into the new campaign.
Brown – a senior committee member of the Scottish Managers and Coaches Association – also shook his head in disbelief when some Rangers fans and media pundits questioned Mark Warburton’s ability to be in charge of Rangers and some Morton supporters called for Jim Duffy to be booted out.
Unfortunately, Brown can’t see this trend changing. He can only see it getting worse and fears this culture we have of sacking managers after less than a season in charge will only put off good people wanting to get into the business when they hang up their boots.
The former Hearts, Kilmarnock, Bradford and Falkirk assistant manager told The Sunday Post: “I do match analysis work for Raith Rovers so I was at Alex Rae’s last two games in charge of St Mirren. The abuse he was taking from some of the St Mirren fans was out of order.
“He has since lost his job and for any manager to be sacked after five or six games just isn’t right.
“If any manager is good enough to start a new season with a club then what changes dramatically in the course of a few weeks that results in them being shown the door?
“I thought the St Mirren board would have been a bit stronger and given Alex the time he deserved. He’d only been in the job for nine months and had five or six new players to try to gel together.
“He is the first one and, unfortunately, there will be more to follow.
“The attention will quickly switch to someone else and there are a few who will be under pressure if they lose a couple of games in the next few weeks. It’s ridiculous.
“I mean we’ve had Morton fans wanting Jim Duffy sacked. Jim is a firstclass coach and he should be appreciated for the job he is doing at Morton – not hounded.
“It’s also ridiculous to suggest that Mark Warburton is on the verge of being sacked. Again, he has brought in a whole batch of new players. Yes, he’s had a hard time of it dealing with the Joey Barton situation. But he will learn from it. “It was less than a year ago, in the eyes of the Rangers supporters, that Mark was the best thing since sliced bread. So, give him time and let him progress. It’s unrealistic to think Rangers can win the Premiership this season, so everyone has to look at the bigger picture.
“There needs to be a sense of realism, here. He needs time to find a balance.”
Brown has first-hand experience of being given time and a board of directors showing patience and being rewarded for it.
When he was assistant manager to Jim Jefferies at Hearts, during their first season in charge in 1995 they slipped to the bottom of the league after a few games when they lost to former club, Falkirk.
But there was no panic and Brown recalled: “We were given time and it came good. However, yes, we were under pressure. But we delivered success – we won the Scottish Cup in 1998 and qualified for Europe on a regular basis.
“I talk about the fine lines between success and failure and I remember a tactical move we made for a league game and it turned out to be a pivotal moment. We played with three midfielders – Stevie Fulton, Stefano Salvatore and Colin Cameron.
“We pushed Colin right up as an attacking midfielder to pose a threat and to also nullify the opposition holding midfielder and it worked. We clicked, won the game and never looked back.
“One decision made such a massive difference over the course of the season.
“So, I know about the little margins. There needs to be more time given to our managers. People in boardrooms must show more patience.
“This is the only profession where people are hired and fired at such a pace.
“If we continue to do this then players will seriously think twice about going into coaching and management and that would be a great shame.”