Jolley brave Mariners are worth salute

WHEN it was announced that Grimsby Town had appointed Michael Jolley as their new manager, there were probably plenty of people who said: Michael Who?

But give the Mariners credit for making a brave decision rather than going for one of the bosses regularly taking jobs on the managerial merry-go-round.

It would have been easy for the League Two club to have gone for an experienced boss bearing in mind that they have been sucked into a relegation battle and are desperate to preserve their League Two status.

Time will tell if Jolley, a 40-year-old economics graduate with coaching experience with Burnley U23s and in Sweden, is a good appointment or not. But there is no reason he can’t be a success.

Perhaps it’s a time for new thinking, a new approach to take the club to the next level. They certainly hadn’t had a good season under the experienced Russell Slade.

Sol Campbell was also in the running for the Grimsby job and let’s hope he gets an opportunity soon, too. As a former Tottenham, Arsenal and England defender, you would think that he would have plenty to offer.

As our columnist Glenn Moore suggests on page 13, it could be an inspired decision to appoint him. We’ll never know if no-one is willing to take a chance on him.

Management is a precarious business – the sacking of Birmingham boss Steve Cotterill last night highlighted that once again – but there are still plenty of people who want to do it. The rewards can be great, though the flak they take these days can be hard to handle.

As the season reaches a climax, the number of managerial changes has multiplied. Chairmen are panicking about their clubs’ status next season, but there are no guarantees that making a change will lead to a ‘honeymoon period’.

The beauty of football is its unpredictability.