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The mad managerial merry go round

Short termism is rife in football.   Managers are expected to achieve a rapid turn round although they inherit a squad of players they wouldn't have signed themselves.   The statistical evidence shows that there is usually a short-lived managerial bounce which lasts for three games as players try to impress the new gaffer.

The latest case in point is York City.  I appreciate that their fans are frustrated as they were an EFL club and a free standing city like York should be able to support a League 2 club with a decent catchment area. Also, the owners have poured in a lot of money and are getting impatient.

Matt Uggla bought the club in 2023 with his mother Julie-Ann and has pumped millions.  But he has also sacked three managers in two years.

The latest to go is Adam Hinselwood despite being the most successful permanent manager in the history of the Minstermen.  He won 38 of his 71 games which is a very good percentage.   He rescued them from relegation in 2024 and then got them to second place last season before they lost out in the play offs.  However, the start to this season has been slow.

As the NLP's Chris Dunlavy has commented, 'Hinselwood brought a sense of serenity and purpose to a club that, hitherto, had been run with all the stability of a third world dictatorship ... Rumours of boardroom interference in tactics and recruitment hung around like smoke from the North York Moors.'

Stuart Maynard is the latest person to take the poisoned chalice and believes that York can 'go right through the leagues', although that would be a real miracle.   My advice would be that when the Church of England works out who the next Archbishop of York should be, he gets him or her down to the ground to dispense a special blessing.

Maynard has been careful not to promise anything in relation to promotion, pointing out that it took the experienced Paul Cook two and a half seasons get Chesterfield out of the National League.

Of course, National League clubs and fans think there should be a three up, three down promotion arrangement and are baffled why League Two clubs won't support an enhanced chance of relegation.

I am just grateful that at my non-league club, Leamington, having the same manager for 15 years has enabled us to punch above our weight.

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