Why Scotland should beware 'sack the manager' mania in football and rugby
Scotland should have faith in the managers of the national football and rugby teams
As football fans prepare for Scotland’s most important game in nearly 30 years, I should probably admit I’ve not really been following the game for about 17 years. That was the last time I was at Pittodrie to watch the team I nominally support, Aberdeen, play Bayern Munich off the park in a 2-2 draw (that was never a penalty, we wuz robbed).
Despite such achievements, the next season, manager Jimmy Calderwood left the club – officially by “mutual consent” but amid fan grumbling – despite coming fourth in the league and qualifying, once again, for Europe. However, this was not the worst example of ‘sack the manager’ mentality.
Aberdeen manager Alex Smith missed out on winning the league on the last day of the 1990/91 season. He’d also won two cups. However, these achievements did not save him and, in 1992, Smith became the first manager in the history of Aberdeen FC, founded in 1903, to be sacked.
READ MORE: Scotland team to play Denmark: The divisive choice, major switch-up and Billy Gilmour conundrum
Man U’s long wait for trophies under Ferguson
Some may regard ruthless dismissals as necessary or part of the modern game. And sometimes, it seems to work. A club facing relegation can get a boost from a new manager, although it often turns out to be temporary.
However, there’s a stunning example of the opposite approach. Manchester United stuck with Alex Ferguson, another former Aberdeen manager, for four years until he won his first trophy, the FA Cup. And it took him all of seven years to win his first English league title.
The rest, as they say, is history with Ferguson transforming Man U into a dominant force in English football for the next 20 years. The club hasn’t won the league since he retired in 2013.
This should be a cautionary tale for those who may be tempted to call for manager Steve Clarke to be sacked if Scotland fail to claim a place at the World Cup by defeating Denmark or navigating the later play-offs, despite twice qualifying for the Euros. It should also apply to those calling for the head of Scotland rugby coach Gregor Townsend, following defeats to New Zealand and Argentina.
Ridiculous circus
They say managers must be judged by their results. However, this often comes down to “is the team not doing as well as I’d like?”, rather than what should be the real question: “Are they good at their jobs?” Are Clarke and Townsend good? I’d say yes.
Clearly, results and managerial ability are closely related, but they are not the same. Since Alex Smith was sacked, Aberdeen has had 20 managers. How anyone can possibly think that’s a good thing is entirely beyond me.
The ridiculous circus of managerial sackings is one of the main reasons why I became a lapsed Aberdeen fan. A few games into the season, with things going badly, people would start calling for the manager’s head and a depressingly familiar cycle would begin again. I admit my knee-jerk response to the question “should the manager be sacked?” has become “no” as a result.
However, if Scotland is to succeed – and experience the joys of competing on the world stage – we need to recognise that, almost always, the road to success is long, hard and full of setbacks, and that if we are to reach our desired destination, there are times when we must have faith.
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