Harty: The Sussex-linked football managers who may find their next jobs hard to find
Who’d be a football manager? Actually, maybe a few would if they considered the size of Jose Mourinho’s bank account, ‘The Special One’ has now received sums reportedly close to £100m in pay-offs from clubs he’s left.
In the past week or two, a pair of managers with specific ties to Sussex have been given the boot. And while they will receive substantial pay-offs for their respective sackings, there’s an argument to say that the latest derailing of their careers will mean it takes the actions of a very brave chairman to get them back on track.
Former Albion manager Graham Potter was first to fall by the wayside the weekend before last when he was sacked by West Ham United, who released a brief statement on the Saturday morning.
Regardless of the Hammers’ recent results and the level of their performances, the circumstances surrounding Potter’s departure from the London Stadium were distasteful, in my view.
As readers will know I’ve never been Potter’s biggest fan, but I thought the behaviour of West Ham showed a distinct lack of class.
Despite actively pursuing Potter’s replacement, Nuno Espírito Santo, for most of the previous week, they put Potter in front of the media for the pre-match press conference on the Friday – before the sacking him the following day. And it was reported that as Potter drove into the training ground to say his goodbyes, Nuno was sat outside waiting to go in and take training.
The EPL may be the best league on the planet, but that kind of treatment is highly reprehensible.
A week later, it was the turn of Sussex-born Russell Martin to get the elbow – he was sacked by Glasgow Rangers late on Sunday night after a bad run of results and following a bizarre incident at Falkirk earlier in the day, when police had to help get Martin away for his own safety for fear of the actions of some his own supporters.
Yes, Rangers’ results have been poor – but is that also about the squad predominantly assembled at Ibrox before Martin arrived, a group of players who would currently have trouble giving Burton Albion a run for their money?
While the both reported pay-offs will keep the duo off skid row for the foreseeable future, they must be dwarfed by the severance payments Mourinho has previously enjoyed, and for both these managers there’s a serious question of whether the bell has been unfairly rung at the last chance saloon?
Modern day football dictates that managers who previously get sacked for not being up to the job later get given a similar job by another board of directors. But have these two now reached a point where they are effectively unemployable in the top two divisions?
Any amount of money your might have in a bank account can’t really compensate for that.
And perhaps it’s also very much one in the eye for the case for having English managers at the top of our game.
Regading Potter, I’m indifferent, but I do hope Martin does get another chance at a decent level. But it might take a very brave, almost thick-skinned chairman to appoint him.