No Time For Mistakes. Football Managements Lost Qualities

Loyalty.  Stability.  Patience. These are three words that have been dragged out of football.

With the importance of the Champions League qualification, League success and television exposure now being dictated by the cash that flows through football, like a unrelenting river, clubs, with their high wage bills and costly transfer budgets, are looking for success in the immediate future rather then the long term.

The sacking of Gian Piero Gasperini after just five games in charge of Internazionale is yet another indication that its tough at the top when your in charge of one of the world's biggest football clubs.

Gasperini Gone

Gasperini joined Inter on June 24^th 2011, replacing Leonardo after the Brazilian chose to make a run for the border joining French outfit Paris Saint-Germain and their new Qatari investors.

Over the August transfer window the former Genoa manager brought in striker Diego Forlan from Athletico Mardid as well as Mauro Matias Zarate from Lazio and midfielder Andrea Poli.

However his signings, despite creating a buzz off the pitch, failed to inspire when on the field and Inter lost four of their first five competitive games of the 2011/12 season.

The Inter board has deemed this disappointing start to be enough to remove Gasperini from his position with immediate effect. Claudio Ranieri is now the odds on favorite for the high profile position.

One Of Many

Gasperini now becomes the third manager to walk away from Internazionale since the departure of Jose Mourinho in 2010, following in the footsteps of Leonardo, his predecessor, and Rafael Benitez, who’s tenure at the club lasted just 7 months.

Inter are not the only high profile club who’ve been quick to axe their top man when results don’t go the right way.

Just last season, Roy Hodgson spent a meager 6 months as Liverpool manager while Chelsea at one point, went through five managers (including a caretaker spell by Ray Wilkins), between September 2007 and June 2009.

Even the mighty Real Madrid went through ten managers (including Fabio Capello and Manuel Pellegrini), since the appointment of Jose Antonio Camacho in the summer of 2004.

It Just A Piece Of Paper

Contracts seem now to be meaningless when sides take a dip in form and the cost of such short-term appointments is tremendous.  It seems that the money wasted when a club has to pay off a manager’s contract however, is of less importance when it potential income to be gained through league titles and Champions League football.

Maybe though if manager's contracts weren't being paid off every 12 months some clubs would be less reliant on the money gained from success and would instead be able to build for the future. A little ironic should this be the situation.

The contract length now has no meaning to club owners and it's turning the appointment and removal of a manager into something of a farce.

Building A Legacy.

The rash decision-making that surrounds managerial positions is preventing the modern game from developing the great links and historic relationships that managers had with their former clubs.

Fabio Capello has managed a number of different clubs, including Real Madrid and Roma, yet it is his time at AC Milan that he is best known for. His four league titles, three Italian Supercoppas as well as one European Cup are Capello’s rewards for a five season long spell at the club, one that will never be forgotten by both the club and it's fans. 

Similarly Alex Ferguson's 25+ year spell at Manchester United. The Scottish born manager has been at the club since 1986 but was only able to bring a trophy to the club after three years. Since that first success however, Ferguson has turned United into the most successful club in English football and maybe the world.

In the modern game though, the majority of clubs would not tolerate a three-year drought without a trophy, especially at a club the size of Manchester United. It's unthinkable now, especially after the 22 years of glory since then, to think what would have happened had Ferguson been given his P45 two trophy-less years into his spell at the Red Devils.

These are the sorts of legacies that managers are rarely given the opportunity to create thanks to the lack of patience by both fans and managers when things take a turn for the worst.

The Exception That Proves The Rule

Arsene Wenger at Arsenal is the only manager I can think of whose failure at a top flight club has been tolerated for over three years. 

The French Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996 taking Arsenal to four FA Cup final victories and three Premiership titles including the season of the invincibles, a season during which Arsenal failed to lose a single game.

Yet since the 04-05 season Wenger has failed to bring a single trophy to the Gunners trophy cabinet and his side has played the third wheel to both United and Chelsea's title campaigns. 

Wenger’s style of management involves time and patience and is focused around the development of youth players but the faith put in this Wenger's system by both fans and the Gunners board is a rarity in the game and one that the Frenchman is lucky to be granted. 

Even now after seven trophy-less season the faith bestowed in the Arsenal boss is almost unwavering. There are few in the game who would be granted such a luxury.

It’s A Sign Of The Times

The modern game is a money driven business when teams are at the top. Success is measured in cash and targets have to be met to keep the money rolling in.  When targets aren't met changes have to be made and managers have to be held accountable for their shortcomings.

The pressure to succeed is greater then ever as fans and owners demand a return on their emotional and financial investment.

A relegated side from the Premiership stands to lose over £30 million as they fall from top-flight football while missing out on Champions League football can cost a top club an average of £23.5 million. This combined with the loss in stature means clubs that miss targets can slip down the pecking order very quickly as players go in search of a better caliber of football to ply their trade in.

Money talks, and managers walk, even after just five games.

Football is no longer the beautiful game, where the majority of managers would see out a contract, while players would spend the majority of their careers one club.

Gasperini is just another casualty of football and business's relationship and I’m sure his successor will suffer a similar fate should things take a turn for the worst.

It's not a funny old game anymore. It's a cutthroat and ruthless one.