Filed under: Blackburn Rovers, Premier League, Football
First Chris Hughton, then Sam Allardyce. The worry for managers at times like these is the domino effect. Or in the case of the new Blackburn owners who supply their chickens to the pizza chain, the Domino's effect.No wonder Allardyce is crying fowl, along with many in the game. He did what he was asked to do, which was to bring his experience to bear and steady a ship that was listing under Paul Ince, for whom a Premier League job came a touch too soon but who will, you feel sure, be back in the top flight one day.
After that, Allardyce made the most of limited resources and a limited squad to get Rovers into the top half of the table. It is his trademark and will doubtless be in demand again elsewhere.
The football not attractive enough for the new Venky's Group people? Well, sit down with the manager then. Talk about the sort of player it is feasible to get in and see if he can change things. Blackburn were not going to go down this season. See what happens in the January transfer window and experiment with the playing style, within reason, until the end of the season.
Something has become clear, though. When it comes to management, it used to be based on results. Sometimes sackings have been harsh, with managers not given enough time due to injuries, for example, but they all knew they were in a results-driven business. They trotted it out often enough.
Now, there is a difference. The sands are shifting. It is more a question than ever before of whether your face fits, particularly when new owners come in.
At Ewood Park, Venky's say they have a longer-term plan and Allardyce's management does not accord with it. What can it mean? That they want to bring in a bigger-name manager who will attract a better quality of player?
Well, we debated in this slot last week (though with some irony, it should be said) whether that was Mike Ashley's plan with Newcastle. Instead, he got in Alan Pardew - cheapish, grateful to be in work, and unlikely to kick up a stink if there is no money in the January transfer window.
Something similar may be going on with Venky's. Apparently they gave Allardyce a list of players they reckoned they could get, such as Kris Boyd and Geovanni, and would like to see at the club. It is quite likely that a couple of agents have got at impressionable new football people and told them that their players are the best things since cheap chicken.
Allardyce, quite probably, did not buy into it and had other ideas about players. That tends to be the problem with managers who know their stuff, know the market, and know how to assemble a team.
There could well be a trend developing here. New owners who reckon they are paying big bucks want more of a say in transfers. And they want managers who will do their bidding rather than cause trouble.
With one club official recently telling me that he expected Premier League clubs to change hands more often in the modern world, we could thus see more managers getting the sack from new owners.
Often the question in football - whether it is about the man coming in or the one being sacked - is: Who's next?
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2010/12/14/sam-allardyce-chris-hughton-newcastle-blackburn/
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