5:25pm Friday 19th March 2010
By Andy Cryer
SAM Allardyce admits the world of football management has become a ‘scary place’ and claims if he had the chance to start all over again he might choose a different career.
With title-chasing Chelsea visiting Ewood Park tomorrow afternoon, the Blackburn Rovers boss was left reflecting on the latest top-flight managerial casualty, close pal Phil Brown, and fearing for the future of any wannabe Sir Alex Fergusons.
Even Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti comes to East Lancashire amid fears for the safety of his own job, despite being in contention for a league and FA Cup double, with Allardyce admitting football is rapidly in danger of falling victim to short-termism.
Allardyce’s former Bolton Wanderers assistant Brown was placed on ‘gardening leave’ by Hull City earlier this week, with his bosses obviously feeling the job he did of taking the Tigers into the Premier League and keeping them there was not good enough.
And Rovers’ supremo believes it is becoming increasingly difficult for any manager to build something of substance at a club – with the dreaded axe seemingly never far away.
He said: “I think that Brownie has been devastated by the news because he did not think that was going to happen to him. We almost have Alzheimer’s in the way we look at football now because it is so short a span – whatever you have done in the past is quickly forgotten and all of a sudden you are under pressure for your job.
“The life of a Premier League manager is down to 1.3 years, which shows what a volatile world we live in.
“Whatever level of club you go to there is an expectation you have got to have a certain amount of success.
“But success cannot be bought overnight no matter how much money you have got. It has to be built relatively slowly.
“If you look what Carlo did where he was before, you can see that given time he can put some success into a football club. But if you are going to go for short-termism all the time, you are going to get the yo-yo effect. One really good season and then the next is not as good as it should be, “You have got to build something that lasts – not something that is built on sand and could crumble at any time.”
Chelsea’s European exit at the hands of Inter Milan earlier this week saw Ancelotti admitting he believes his job would be in danger if he failed to lift the Premier League this season.
But, as they travel to Rovers tomorrow with the slight advantage in the title race, Allardyce admits he can’t understand the mentality.
“Things were going like that before Mourinho left – that was why he went,” said Allardyce. “Ultimately it depends on the players more than the manager.
“They can blame the manager, the fans can blame the manager, the chairman can blame the manager. But if you look at the players and the size and strength of their squad, they have to share the blame.
“I don’t know why there is such a panic, though. They have had a bad result and a bad performance – it happens. But now they are in a good position to win the league. If we can spoil the party in their title race, then great. But if they keep playing the way they have been, they are going to be very close to winning the Premier League this year.”
Allardyce himself is doing his best at building for the future at Ewood Park, with a handful of youngsters already established as first team regulars.
He has already proved his credentials by helping Bolton into Europe and to the brink of the Champions League but when asked if he would do it all again, Allardyce admitted starting out in management had become a lot less appealing.
Allardyce said: “It is a scary business. I can remember Fergie saying many years ago he wouldn’t like to be coming into management as a young manager now and that is when I was in my early 40s. I am in my 50s and almost thinking now If I was a young manager coming into it, would I fancy it? The answer to that is maybe not.”
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