Some are luckier. As Fulham manager, Martin Jol has played 29 games, winning 10 drawing 9 and losing 10 – and that includes some less than illustrious opponents in the Europa League. Yet Jol is one of those managers that will never get the vitriol of others. His face fits as the genial, astute, knowledgeable manager. Over at Wigan, Martinez seems to fit the same profile too – you’d struggle to envisage the fans turning on him, even if the club were relegated. I’ve heard plenty of Tottenham fans blast Harry Redknapp over the last year or so for his management skills – they have gone quiet recently. Plenty of Manchester City fans would never accept Mark Hughes because he played for “them”. Aston Villafans revolted at the possible recruitment of Steve MacLaren, and got Alex McLeish instead. Out of the frying pan…..
Roberto Mancini has been a great case in point. In his early days he was no better than his predecessor to many, their key tool in pointing this out being the comparison of points per game, the two figures being almost identical. There was no time to assess his merits over a long period, to see how he shaped the team and club. No, he had trillions to spend, so we can all judge now. Any defeat led to calls by a minority for his head, in the same way that any player was utterly useless and a waste of money if god forbid one week they didn’t put in a man of the match performance. But when a manager delivers a club’s first trophy in 35 years and first qualification for the Champions League, these people tend to pipe down.
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I wrote a blog in the summer asking how much power fans should have? We are the lifeblood of the game after all, the soul of the club (if such a thing were to exist, which it doesn’t), but we are also incapable of sensible, rational thoughts much of the time. Knee-jerk reactions are our forte. Always have been, always will be. As one person commented below the blog:
“Far too many supporters are overdosing on football manager games and think they have an idea about running a football club.”
But more to the point it’s not just results that decide how fans judge a manager. It’s their perception of the man, irrelevant of the cold, hard facts. Their past, how they come across in front of a camera, whether they say the right things, how glamorous their appointment was. That’s not to say the likes of Coyle or Martinez or Jol are getting it too easy -Coyle should (and probably will) be given time to save Bolton’s season – it’s just a shame the same courtesy wasn’t extended to others. You’d think that fans would judge managers on results – but sometimes that’s barely half the story.
Written by Howard Hockin for FootballFancast.com.
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