Fragility of football management highlighted again

By The Newsroom
Published 28th Oct 2016, 08:00 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 03:12 BST
Walter Zenga was sacked as Wolves boss this week. Picture by Phil WestlakeWalter Zenga was sacked as Wolves boss this week. Picture by Phil Westlake
Walter Zenga was sacked as Wolves boss this week. Picture by Phil Westlake

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

The fragility of football management was again highlighted as the Albion's two most recent opponents both parted company with their managers after back-to-back wins by Chris Hughton's men.

The new Chinese owners at Wolves clearly thought 87 days of Walter Zenga was enough at Molineux, while winning the League One title in May obviously counted for very little for Gary Caldwell at Wigan Athletic.

Par for the course these days? Certainly a far cry from the Albion in 1988-89 when, newly promoted to the old second division (the Championship for younger readers), the Albion under Barry Lloyd recorded eight straight defeats at the start of the season, six in the league, and an embarrassing two-leg defeat to fourth division Southend in the League Cup. It wasn’t until October 1 when Leeds United arrived at the Goldstone that the Albion chalked up their first points by winning 2-1, before two more back-to-back defeats, so one win in 11. Yet the board stayed faithful to Lloyd who repaid them by finishing in 19th place with 51 points, nine away from the drop zone.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Lloyd was allowed to build slowly, culminating with a Wembley play-off final in 1991, where the Albion were 90 minutes away from a return to the top flight. History reports not only a 3-1 defeat to Notts County but a resulting financial meltdown which almost threatened the very existence of the club.

Would a ‘Lloyd’ scenario have played out in today’s game? Not a chance, the majority of chairmen and owners want instant results, quick fix success. Thankfully, I don’t put Tony Bloom in the category, bizarrely the dragging the heels of the Sami Hyypia situation highlighted this, thankfully he did eventually leave to be replaced by Chris Hughton.