YOU’VE GOT TO BE FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH TO LAND A JOB DOWN SOUTH
As Alex McLeish knows only too well, f inding a job in the increasingly f ickle world of English football is about being
It’s who is hot, who is doing well at the moment. Tim Sherwood is in vogue, so he’s linked with jobs
AS long as Sir Alex Ferguson’s kingmaker qualities haven’t evaporated completely after one slip-up on his own doorstep, Neil Lennon might be extremely grateful for sharing tea and texts with the ex-Manchester United manager in recent years.
Forging a relationship with Ferguson has greased the skids for many a managerial appointment in the British game. If Lennon has indeed taken the biggest risk of his life by quitting Celtic and there genuinely is no job opening ajar, then the most heavyweight recommendation of all would be a wise weapon of choice to use to break into the English game.
For a study of the cluttered marketplace of which Lennon is now suddenly a part — the rush for managerial positions in the top two divisions down south — suggests that one of the game’s greats putting a word in at boardroom level is just one stroke of fortune required on a campaign trail littered with obstacles and strewn with rivals in several different guises.
One such challenger well known to Lennon, Alex McLeish, has been promoting himself in that recruitment arena since walking away from Nottingham Forest on February 5, 2013, so is well aware of the fierce nature of the competition.
‘It’s an incredibly tough market right now,’ said McLeish. ‘There are a lot of coaches out of work and not enough jobs at a high level to go round. Neil is fresh, like I was when I came down from the Scotland job.
‘You’re the new kid on the block and, regardless of what he’s done i n Scotland, the fact he’s played in England probably helps his case. They know he’s progressed to a coach and taken Celtic to great heights in Europe. So there are plus points for Neil at the moment.’
Lennon plumped for a place in a World Cup TV studio, rather than potentially the most tricky Champions League qualifying effort yet, as a platform for highlighting his claims. Liberal mentions of how he got at Barcelona on that night of nights at Celtic Park would be a start if he’s covering a Spanish game or examining Lionel Messi’s impact for Argentina.
Certainly, it will be critical to cash in on those heroics of securing a last-16 place before the memory fades. The inhabitants of big club boardrooms in England, as McLeish has learned, have become quick-fix fanatics.
Why, Tim Sherwood has been a manager for five months and lost his job. He impressed enough at Spurs, though, to become a fancied contender for a host of jobs, including the vacant West Brom post, and at clubs that already have bosses in place.
‘I felt in the beginning that what I’d managed to do in European football was very important to getting a break,’ said McLeish, who was poached from the SFA by Birmingham 18 months after guiding Rangers to the Champions League last 16.
‘The thing is, I’ve still got that. But no one seems to be turned on by it now. So it’s difficult to gauge how long that appeal can last.
‘I think, chairmen and chief executives are now swayed by the flavour of the month. It’s a fickle kind of outlook. It’s who is hot, who is doing well at the moment. Tim Sherwood’s situation emphasises that point. He’s a guy in vogue, so he’s in running for the jobs.
‘Your star is on the rise if you’ve had a particularly good season and people are talking about you. Two years ago, I was high up on lists. But a year or two later I’m finding that I’m somewhere in the middle.’
Championship chairmen looking beyond the obvious homegrown candidates could also be barriers to Lennon’s bidding. Even in a 46-game battleground like the second tier, Middlesbrough sought to gain an edge by turning to Spain and appointing Aitor Karanka, who had never been a No1 before. It did help that he’d been assistant to Jose Mourinho.
Brighton bought in, too, by bringing former Barcelona youth coach Oscar Garcia to the south coast for what turned out to be a one-season stint, despite reaching the play-offs. Copycat appointments could be a feature of this close season.
‘I don’t doubt there are trends at play as well right now,’ noted McLeish. ‘I think everyone has been seduced by Barcelona in the last six years or so and there’s been a move, now in the Championship, to get a foreign coach and try to play that way.
‘I believe that guys like Tony Pulis and Steve Bruce have bucked some of those trends and that’s why I’d like to think I’ll get a crack myself because my experience is on a par with them.
‘But the other trend, of course, is that you don’t last much longer than 13 months. Some are given three years but there’s a hell of a lot of casualties to create that statistic. There’s almost a market alone for impact managers now.’
Blackpool, Brighton and Charlton are the current vacancies in that section, while West Brom and Southampton — if Mauricio Pochettino is tempted to Spurs — are possible landing spots in the elite for Lennon.
‘Listen, he’s got a chance,’ said McLeish of Lennon’s top-flight ambitions. ‘There’s no doubt he can do it if someone takes the chance on him. Having been in one of the toughest jobs in football is a help and I don’t mean because of the opposition he’s faced. It’s because of the nature of the job and massive expectations and demands of the club.
‘I know that myself. I agreed when Gordon Strachan said we could be Prime Minister after running one of the Old Firm clubs. I must admit, when I saw that Neil had left Celtic, I thought he must have something lined up.
‘He’s taken a massive decision. It’s a very bold move to leave a club of Celtic’s stature. Sometimes you have to take charge of your own destiny. Whether it’s right or wrong, you’ve got to make a decision. If you don’t make one of any kind in life, then you are liable never to be successful.’