Aldershot manager Kevin Dillon is the latest to be shown the door by his club. That makes 16 sackings in the Football League this season.
Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the League Managers Association (LMA), has pointed out that the average lifespan of a manager is less than 14 months and in League Two last season it was nine months. 33 clubs out of the 92 in all divisions have had a manager for less than a year, including ten in the Championship.
Aldershot manager Kevin Dillon is the latest to be shown the door by his club. That makes 16 sackings in the Football League this season.
Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the League Managers Association (LMA), has pointed out that the average lifespan of a manager is less than 14 months and in League Two last season it was nine months. 33 clubs out of the 92 in all divisions have had a manager for less than a year, including ten in the Championship.
And it’s taking longer to get back on the managerial merry go round. The average time for a manager out of work has gone up to 1.7 years.
Bevan argues that the sacking culture is putting off home investors coming into clubs and putting money in. The Leamington-based LMA asked football management guru at Warwick Business School, Sue Bridgewater, to investigate how much difference changing a manager made. The research showed that the short-term honeymoon period after a change of manager brings about 2.5 additional points, but this benefit is lost completely after 12 games when the performance level dips back to the time when the change was made.
But then if one followed that argument through to its logical conclusion one would never change a manager at all. Stability works well if one has a truly outstanding manager, but even such a person can become stale and cease to maintain his performance levels. There comes a point where a club benefits from a new approach. As Beavan himself recognises it’s very much a results driven business.