Trigger-happy football club owners are damaging the prospects of young English players and managers, according to the League Managers Association (LMA) Chief Executive Richard Bevan.
Speaking at the United City Global Sports Summit at Old Trafford on Tuesday Bevan revealed that 50% of managers in English football do not get a second job.
The statistics disprove the myth of the ‘managerial merry-go-round’ and shed light on a serious issue within football.
“The biggest problem in the game is that clubs regard managers as sub-contractors not employees,” said Bevan.
“Then if the managers only have a set batch of games they may not play the eighteen-year-old that is on the bench.
“So the volatile nature of management can also affect the development of young players.”
In the 2012/2013 season the volatility of the industry was evident with 19 of the 24 English Championship clubs changed their manager.
Bevan suggested clubs often adopt ‘a sink or swim’ mentality if they do appoint a young manager.
The ‘chop and change’ philosophy whereby managers are axed if they do not bring instant success makes the LMA’s job of looking after 90% of bosses in English football more difficult.
But in spite of the austere conditions managers face today, Bevan is encouraged by the current crop of talent throughout the leagues.
“The next generation of managers have a hunger to survive,” he said.
“I really like Paul Tisdale at Exeter he’s one of the league’s longest serving managers and a bright manager who’s always coming up with new ideas.”
“Of course there is also Sean Dyche who’s doing a fantastic job at Burnley.”
Bevan gave a presentation in which he outlined the way the LMA looks to protect a manager’s exclusive rights to preside over team affairs, including squad selection and transfer activity.
This is something recent events at Cardiff City have most certainly called into question.
Last month Cardif manager Malky Mackay’s trusted head of recruitment Iain Moody was controversially axed in favour of unknown Kazakh and friend of owner Vincent Tan’s son, Alisher Apsalyamov.
Apsalyamov has since been told to stand down by the Home Office due to issues with his visa and, although Bevan refused to be drawn on the issue, he did praise Mackay.
“I think Malky Mackay has dealt with situation very well and is doing an excellent job at Cardiff,” he added.
Image courtesy of PremierLeague.com via Youtube, with thanks
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
