Today promotion, tomorrow the sack - The ugly face of modern day football

 

The incredible manner of Watford’s win against Leicester once again demonstrated just how exciting the end of season play offs can be.

The ecstasy of the Watford fans would have been mirrored by supporters of Crystal Palace, as they also secured a Wembley date with the possibility of promotion to follow.

Cardiff and Hull supporters would no doubt have felt similar emotions on securing automatic promotion a few weeks ago.

Everyone is now aware of the magnitude of promotion, the play off final itself is regularly referred to as “the richest game in football” and with the new three year domestic television contract set to begin, elevation to the top flight could be worth close to £100million.

On the surface this all seems good and the Premier League is obviously where players and managers alike would prefer to ply their trade, however, greater inspection shows that for bosses it can be a double edged sword.

Of the last nine managers that have won promotion to the Premier League only four have remained in charge for the duration of the following season at the top level.

In 2010 Chris Hughton made it to December at Newcastle before being sacked after a 3-1 defeat against West Brom; this is despite the club at the time being in a respectable 11^th position.

Roberto Di Matteo at least made it past Christmas before he was eventually relieved of his duties early February 2011.

The following year Neil Warnock, who like Hughton had brought his team up as champions was sacked by Queens Park Rangers in January 2012 and replaced by Mark Hughes.

This season, both Brian McDermott and Nigel Adkins have been dismissed less than a year after leading their teams to automatic promotion.

The message therefore to Malky Mackay and Steve Bruce is to bask in the glow of promotion for as long as you can and to Zola and Holloway, maybe don’t be too disappointed if you don’t make it up this year, it could significantly extend your tenure as manager of your club.

Allen Whyte

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