According to the League Managers Association, the body that represents managers in English football, the average tenure for its members across the top four leagues of the men’s game is 1.4 years. In the Championship, where the pressure is arguably greatest given the potential riches offered by promotion, it is just 0.8 years.
The cliché is that ‘it’s a results business’. But managers inherit a team they would not
necessarily have recruited and need time to develop their way of playing. Fans and owners rarely give it to them. A replacement is recruited, often at considerable
cost, and the whole cycle starts again.
Ray Wann, a partner and head of employment at Sheridans law
firm who has represented both sides in severance negotiations, says that, based
on his experience, clubs that sack a manager towards the end of their contract
are more likely to pay out the full amount. However, talks become tougher when
a manager is fired with a long time left on his deal.
“Then you’re basically ending up with a negotiation between
manager and club to determine what the actual appropriate compensation would
be,” Wann told The Athletic.
These sums, among the elite clubs, can be eye-wateringly
large. Erik ten Hag and his staff were paid £10.4 million when they
were dismissed in November; sacking Antonio Conte and his coaches in 2018 cost
Chelsea over £26m; while Jose Mourinho had banked more than £50m in
compensation payments alone by 2021 — a sum that will be worth more now.
When out of work, managers regularly take the opportunity to
learn from other coaches, or hear from leaders working in other professions.
They can do this through the LMA, which also offers support
to sacked managers, via its team of mentors, sports psychiatrists and/or
psychologists and legal experts. The LMA also now helps managers cope with
anxiety and depression and offers advice if they want to try and work abroad,
or even retrain in another profession.
Perhaps surprisingly, a lot come back for more.
Comments
Post a Comment