A FEW years ago, I called an out-of-work manager to ask if he’d applied for a vacant post in League One.
This was a guy with a solid reputation in the EFL and a promotion on his CV. Was he ready to come back?
“Why would I do that?” he laughed. “I’m being paid very handsomely by (insert old club here) to not work until next year!” Such instances are why sympathy for any sacked football manager must always be qualified by the size of their payoff.
Take Henning Berg. In 2012, the Norwegian was dismissed by Blackburn after a 57-day tenure that yielded one victory. Harsh? Certainly. But he was...