The ups and downs of a manager

By Glenn Speller
BBC Essex sports producer

Dicks said he had no qualms about showing his Grays players the exit

Last week I was asked a question we probably all get posed at sometime during our careers - 'If you weren't doing what you are, what would you be doing?'

Now, neither international playboy or male model have ever really been realistic as I'm too short for modelling and let us just leave the other one shall we? But being a football manager has always had a certain allure.

Watch loads of football, pick a team, take the glory, how hard can it be?

Of course we know it is not that easy and the fortunes of three managers in Essex prove that.

In September, Julian Dicks took the mantle at Grays Athletic and immediately launched a broadside at his players' lack of fitness as well as calling into question some of his charges' effort.

Dicks calls for 110% effort and yes, we know it is mathematically impossible, but is it too much to ask players to try, after all this is their living.

The former West Ham defender was never one to shy away from work and so those who do not match his requirements can expect to be looking for employment elsewhere very soon.

It is a thankless task Dicks has in trying to raise Grays back to the heights of their time under Mark Stimson, when the FA Trophy was won twice and the Conference play-offs reached as well. So maybe this is not a job I want.

Steve Tilson is a popular figure at Southend United from both his playing days and successful time as manager at Roots Hall.

But the former Blues midfielder now finds himself in charge of a threadbare squad, where he is unable to name the full complement of substitutes, and struggles in a division containing the likes of Leeds, Charlton and Norwich.

There is no sign of any extra cash for Tilson to bring in new faces and the loan market continues to be mined to try to strengthen what he has.

It is all a far cry from three appearances in finals at the Millennium Stadium, a League One title and promotion to the Championship.

While all this was happening, anyone would want to be in Tilson's shoes as his stock in the game rose.

But now it is a fire-fighting job, trying to keep the Blues' heads above water and reaching eighth last season was a major achievement. It is hard work at Roots Hall and I would not want to swap places.

Up the A12, Aidy Boothroyd is making management look easy as he has taken Colchester United on a seven-game unbeaten run since being brought in.

Three loan signings (Barnsley striker Kayode Odejayi, Watford midfielder John-Joe O'Toole and Wolves defender Danny Batth) have added to an already impressive squad and a change in the style of play has brought immediate results.

Yet Boothroyd insists the U's are far from the finished article but he is clearly a man in a hurry after 10 months out of the game following his departure from Watford.

And there is another example of the tightrope managers walk - Boothroyd took Watford to the Premier League and despite relegation they were back in the play-offs the following season.

But a poor start the next season and he was out of the Vicarage Road hotseat.

It is a small margin between success and failure, just ask all the out-of-work managers who, but for a free-kick here or a penalty there, might still be gainfully employed.

So maybe a career in management is not for me, too much risk and uncertainty, but I did see an advert for a stuntman the other day.