 | Clubs should be more loyal when things are not going so well and forget the rubbish and everything that goes with it Steve Burr
Northwich Victoria manager |
The stakes on offer might not be quite as high as the top level of the game, but Conference football is proving just as ruthless in the sack race.
Mark Cooper's recent departure from bottom club Tamworth has taken the number of clubs changing their managers this season up to eight.
That amounts to a third of the clubs playing in the Conference National, with seven casualties coming in the bottom half of the table in what is becoming a desperate fight against relegation.
Weymouth, whose over-spending led to the departure of Garry Hill earlier this month, are the one exception.
But Tamworth, Southport, Cambridge, Rushden and Diamonds, Grays (on their fourth manager this season), Crawley and Forest Green Rovers have all got rid of managers as they scramble to stay out of the bottom four.
For the first time this season, four teams will go down to Conference North and South and clubs are evidently doing what they feel is necessary to avoid being one of them.
"We are concerned and disappointed every time a manager loses his position but that is the name of the business we are in," John Moules, chief operating officer of the Conference, told BBC Sport.
"It's in keeping with the rest of football. The Football League had a 40% turnover (of managers) this year so this is synonymous with the way football is at the moment.
"And with 20 of 24 teams full-time, it's the harsh world we live in."
For some, though, that world is too harsh at clubs which find it tough just to survive at Conference level.
No division operates on an even playing field and equally in the Conference there is an imbalance between full and part-time, attendances and spending power.
| MANAGERIAL DEPARTURES Cambridge - Rob Newman Crawley - John Hollins Forest Green - Gary Owers Grays Athletic - Andy King & Frank Gray Rushden - Paul Hart Southport - Paul Cook Tamworth - Mark Cooper Weymouth - Garry Hill |
Cooper felt his removal was a panic decision with the Lambs, who have one of the smaller budgets in the league, currently at the bottom of the table but with games in hand due to progress in the FA Cup and FA Trophy.
Paul Cook, who was sacked by Southport at New Year, also felt he should have been given more time after having to assemble a squad from scratch last summer on a full-time basis on limited funds.
And according to Northwich Victoria boss Steve Burr more factors should be taken into account by clubs who are quick to sack their managers, who, unlike their League counter-parts, do not have a supporting body like the League Managers' Association.
"Only one team wins the league, one wins the play-offs, one wins the Trophy and perhaps one has a good cup run," Burr told BBC Sport.
"But it just seems to be the slightest thing and clubs get rid of their managers. They want the good times and they don't want to stick with them through the bad times.
"It doesn't matter what club you're at. If you haven't got the same resources financially to get better players, nine times out of 10 you will finish below the team that has."
He added: "It's something I feel strongly about. When things are going wrong everyone wants to criticise and have a go.
"But I believe clubs should be more loyal when things are not going so well and forget the rubbish and everything that goes with it, with these anonymous voices on the internet and phone-ins. Supporters see the team on the pitch, and that's all they see."
| Teams that have been successful are the ones who have stuck with their managers - like Nigel Clough at Burton |
Burr, vastly experienced as a player and manager in non-league football after previous spells with Stafford, Macclesfield, Nuneaton and Hucknall Town, fears expectation levels are getting out of hand.
He said: "If you look at the table, it's probably, apart from Cambridge, about what it should be.
"Our aim, like that of Altrincham, Tamworth and Stafford, is to stay in this division. As managers we want to be up the top and winning every week, but really you can only do as well as what you've got to spend.
"I'm not saying that the clubs who have got rid of their managers haven't given them support. They probably have, in the best way they can.
"But teams that have been successful are the ones who have stuck with their managers, like Nigel Clough at Burton.
"At the start of last season the supporters were hounding him and giving him criticism.
"But then they had their FA Cup game against Manchester United and he has come through it because he is a good manager.
"And Mark Cooper is a good manager. I see him out at games, he works hard and only two weeks ago he had Tamworth in the FA Cup against Norwich and probably brought in �200,000. Clubs should stick with a manager like that.
"Maybe a new guy coming in will give them a lift for a number of games, but that won't solve the problem for next season."
| 606: DEBATE |
Burr has experienced his share of ups and downs since taking charge at Northwich in 2004 with relegation over a breach of league rules two years ago followed by Conference North title success last season.
The Vics still have work to do to be certain of avoiding an instant return but Burr believes his club understands the demands he and his team faces.
"To be fair to the supporters of Northwich, 90% of them are realistic and know that if we stay in this division we have achieved something," he said.
"We are building slowly to get stronger each year and try and get to a full-time position.
"I have never been one to jump up and down if the chairman doesn't give me this that or the other. We always try and do our best with what we have got.
"If it doesn't work and I lose my job, that's football. But a lot more clubs should be realistic about what they are trying to achieve with what they've got."
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