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Caldwerwood must stay. Petrie must stay

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Thought the last line in your blog was the most telling though you could also have added, 'act in haste and repent at leisure'.

Would Fergie have survived at Man U today without a patient board?

Far too many clubs are too hasty in dumping managers sometimes for the right reasons but often not - Roy Hodgson and Chris Hughton being two recent examples of the latter.

Aberdeen have spent more on firing/ hiring mangers in recent years than they have on players! Madness.

And Hibs are another club who just can't seem to stop the managerial turnover and at last week's game against Celtic the 'Calderwood must go' placards were there for all to see. I'm not a Hibee but give the guy time please!

Jack,

Whilst it's true that some boards are too quick on the trigger, I think 15 weeks is ample time to judge whether an appointment is a good one or not. I don't mean in terms of whether the team has won every single game, but more in terms of whether the players are playing for the manager or not, whether the manager has it tactically etc. Basically, it the signs of progress are there or not, although we might have our own ideas on what 'progress' actually means.

You cite Fergie as being the ultimate example, but even when Man U were struggling results wise, it was obvious who was in charge and that the players believed in him 100%. Can you say the same for Colin Calderwood?

Having said that, it's ironic that it was at the same club that John Collins faced down a player revolt, the ultimate example of things going badly for a manager, and put his stamp on the team - it's just a pity that Hibs weren't prepared to back his plans further.

Times (pun intended) haven't changed anything. The great Brian Clough got 44 days at Leeds.

#4 Yep, Hibs have blown it big time. They had a decent young manager in Collins who wanted to stamp out the ned culture at Hibs and the board chose to back the neds.

Since then they've gone through lots of managers and players, but of a steadily declining quality - replacing good with not so good. It's a strange policy and no surprise they are currently in such a mess. Calderwood has inherited a squad of players who are nearly all out out of contract and so have no reason to break a gut saving Hibs from relegation. No surprise he's having a hard time motivating the.

What should really worry Hibees is they have brought in a lot of transfer income in the last 5 years and yet the pot still seems to be empty so where do they go except into debt? And being debt-free has been the one source of pride for Hibs fans recently...

Ask Fergie how he went at Rangers.

Jack.
Ask Fergie about his time as a player at rangers and how that affected his managerial roles at St Mirren, aberdeen and Man. Utd.and how he handled the time he had to create success.

Jack, I think you should write a book on the philosophies of football. I swear, with your musings and a bit of structured research, you could make a good career in sport academia.

maybe they should have a "transfer window" for managers too, where no changes will be allowed other than during these periods. if you're stuck with your players for the season, bar the window, then you should be stuck with your manager.

"I think 15 weeks is ample time to judge whether an appointment is a good one or not"

Absolutely not true - managers all have their different styles. Some are masters of switching tactics, some are men-motivators, others stick to tried and tested formulae. Either way if they don't have players they want in their set-up, then they are working with not bad tools, but someone else's.

e.g. Someone like Sam Allardyce likes his big target men and nippy wingers; a box-to-box midfielder and a midfield general; and giant centre-halves; all played with an aggressive direct style.

If he inherits players that don't suit his system, he needs 2 or 3 transfer windows to build a squad that suits his style. This is not his fault - it is how he manages a team - and teams like Newcastle should have realised that, in Allardyce's case.

Now I don't know what Calderwood's tactical style is - but it is clear that the failing team he inherited aren't clicking with him at the moment. Is it too much to ask that he gets a solid year in, where he can ascertain who is a professional and who is raw talent with a bad attitude (*cough* Riordan *cough*), and let him bring in at least half-a-dozen players? Give him a fresh squad and a pre-season?

He hasn't had a chance to improve the club with signings of his own yet!

Good blog Jack,

Dead right!

We expect far too much, too quickly, from too little resources.

I think it is a measure of how little we understand management in this country in comparison to the likes of the French and the Germans.

The worst part of it all is that for struggling beginners on the management ladder, there is little or no support and once discarded, it is a case of once a failure always a failure.

Managers don’t just happen. They have to learn their trade and part of that is learning from failure.

Interesting to note that Arsene Wenger first began by failing to save his team from relegation only to go on to greater things with Monaco and 4th place with Arsenal is the worst he has done with them.

But ask yourself, Jack, can you see any bac ca laureated newcomers to the Scottish football scene, not to mention holders of twin degrees in Electronics and Economics or ability to speak 6 languages?

Such people are thin on the ground in football and whilst they may have a natural ability to make the transition to management, the vast majority don’t.

These are the ones who have to be helped. If they don’t learn naturally then they have to be taught.

Until we learn in Scotland that producing management talent is something that has to be nurtured every bit as much as brining on players, then perhaps we’ll see a brighter future.

Until then, we are all expecting miracles.

"Absolutely not true - managers all have their different styles. Some are masters of switching tactics, some are men-motivators, others stick to tried and tested formulae. Either way if they don't have players they want in their set-up, then they are working with not bad tools, but someone else's"

I would agree that these attributes may vary from manager to manager, but don't accept the premise overall. A good manager would get the best from the players he has at his disposal, whether that be through motivation, or structuring tactics around the players he has, and then tinkering with that when the transfer window opens. To simply say 'Well, I don't have the players' and persist with a game plan that clearly doesn't work until the opportunity to aquire new ones comes up, I would argue, is actually a sign that a manager isnt made of the right stuff.

Until we learn in Scotland that producing management talent is something that has to be nurtured every bit as much as brining on players, then perhaps we’ll see a brighter future.
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I think though Iain that Scotland has produced some very fine managers and for those who have been home grown, some of the finest the game has seen anywhere at anytime.

You don't have to be a Wenger who hasn't been that successful yet at the top level compared to his contemporaries but I agree with you that everyone does need time.

Try telling that to fickle fans and Chairmen though!

Well it took Pa Broon long enough to develop his 'talent' at club level!

15 weeks in a season which lasts around 30 is plenty of time to realise the incumbent is NOT up to the job.
Personally I would like Calderwood to be given more time, but that is for selfish reasons to give my club a better chance of survival.
The truth of the matter is that, with only 11 teams surviving in our league every manager isunder pressure not to lose.
The only way forward to give managers breathing space and allow them to nurture their, and their proteges talents, is to extend the league.
As it is, if a manager cannot make an immediate impact and at least show they are moving in the right direction, they will always be under pressure to fall on their sword. Not just from the boardroom but from the terraces too.