No ‘room for improvement’ in footie anymore
April 29, 2008
Times have changed in top flight football these days, and I really feel for the managers at the top of the game (well I would do if they didn’t earn the salaries they do!). Gone are the days where you can build a wining team from youngsters coming through the youth team, or gradually build a squad that takes you into Europe after a few seasons. Now that many of the clubs are being bought out by billionaire businessmen, there’s no time allowed for managers to ‘bed in’ and develop the team ethos and competence that’s required for the major tournaments. The latest manager that looks like he’s next for the chop is Sven-Goran Eriksson, who has apparently been told he will get the sack at the end of the season, due to recent poor performances, in particular throwing away a 2-0 lead at home against struggling Fulham at the weekend. This to me is absolute madness, City have had a relatively fantastic season in comparison to the last couple, and I think it’s unreasonable to expect anything more than what has been achieved in the time Eriksson’s been there. The target set out last summer was to finish in the top ten and currently they’re ninth, so the goalposts (excuse the pun) have been moved somewhat if the Thai owner, Shinawatra’s expectations have been raised because of City’s early good form, which happens often with clubs when there is new management in place. Other managers have had similar experiences, where they are expected to hit the ground running and have a miniscule amount of time to deliver results, Sam Allardyce’s experience at Newcastle being another example. I know it’s all about money now and clubs have to perform big to bring in the profits expected of the new owners, but to me this approach just seems to put teams back through a lack of consistent leadership. It can’t be very motivational for the players who have been getting used to the style of a manager, only to read in the papers they may soon be having another, and it’s not brilliant for the fans either.
Does this type of thing happen in business as well? I think so. Business is so competitive now that senior managers need to be able to deliver new and increasing requirements at a much quicker pace than before. Expectations are really high, especially for companies that are moving into larger competitive arenas from small scale operations. But it’s no good reacting in the way of the major football clubs: perform soon or you’re out. Because the next person will also need to have time to develop in their role, settle into the organisation and learn what it is that needs to be done. The role of HR in all this needs to be to help to manage the expectations of owners / senior managers in terms of what can be achieved, and to assess what is needed by the individuals in the high pressured roles to help them to get up to speed and delivering as soon as possible. And this is not an easy job!
Comments
Got something to say?