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It is often stated that football clubs these days are run like businesses. But writing in the Financial Times Simon Kuper argues that they are not businesslike enough and that 'incompetence is part of the football industry.' He claims that 'Many clubs recruit the women on their office staff for their looks, the men because they played professional football or are somebody's mate.' There is a reluctance to recruit executives from outside football: 'Partly this is because the traditionally working-class football industry distrusts education. Partly, says Emmanuel Hembert, head of the sports practice at the management consultancy A.T.Kearney, it's because many clubs are dominated by a vain owner-manager. Hembert says these owners "often have a pretty big ego. They prefer not to have strong people around them, except the coach. They pay really low salaries."' One might add that if a club gets relegated it is the junior managerial staff on 20-30k a year whose jobs are most at risk.
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