Moyes, Van Gaal... Clayton Blackmore?

Van Gaal 

Moyes

There is no substance to this article at all, just wanted to share some pics from the late 1970s and early 80s that show that any average midfielder can go on to manage Manchester United.

There's hope for Clayton Blackmore yet - especially as these pics suggest he could be their secret lovechild anyway!

Please explain Laudrup's sacking to me...

Ok, so Swansea have lost 6 of the last 8 in the League and are only two points above the relegation places, but how do you sack the guy that won you the League Cup last year and got you to the last 32 of the Europa League?

He won you your first major trophy and less than a season later he's been sacked.

Good luck to the new manager who has to come in and change things, even though he can't buy any players until the summer. Michu may return from injury to help them do that, but how are Swansea going to persuade their best players to stay now that Laudrup has been fired? I'm not saying another manager can't get good players in, but Laudrup's acquisitions from Spain are going to want out.

It's a strange one. The Danish manager was a bright spark in the League, playing attractive football and charming his way through interviews. And he could manage too. He may have struggled to juggle the competitions this year, but Swansea are a decent side. League results haven't been as good as last year, but they dumped Manchester United out of the FA Cup and generally play good football.

Swansea play Cardiff this Saturday and also face Everton, Liverpool and Napoli (twice) in February. The management obviously thinks an outsider is going to better with this squad than Michael Laudrup could. I'd be surprised - especially if newly appointed coach Garry Monk gets the job, because he has zero experience at any level.

So another Premier League sacking. Alan Pardew will be off soon if results at Newcastle continue, and then Arsene Wenger will be the only one left who has spent more than 3 years in charge of one team.

When is the right time to fire the manager?

Paolo Di Canio only lasted a handful of games this season before being fired by Sunderland.

There's no doubt he's a egomaniac, nutcase, passionate, crazy Italian, but surely the owners of Sunderland knew that when they hired him. He was able to save them from the drop last year and was given free range, and a massive budget to sign new players. He then imposed his strange, unpredictable, overwhelming style of management.

He called out players for being lazy, unfit, unable to speak English, eating too much junk food, drinking too much soda. Di Canio called out his players for their poor performances, abusing individuals and embarrassing the team and club. But we all knew he would.

So why was he fired? The players weren't happy? I'm sure the fans haven't been happy for a long time, but they don't get to fire the manager or sack the players. They don't get to change things or demand better.

Being bottom of the league in September won't get you relegated. Sure, the form is not good and the players haven't gelled yet. But a new manager now has to deal with that, and will surely request his own players at even more expense once the January window opens.

Maybe managers should get a window, the same way there is for transfers. I'm not saying Paolo did a good job, but he didn't really get to do the job at all. Fans deserve better. Chopping and changing can work, but there has to be some consistency. A quarter of the season minimum? 20 games? The owners have the right to change all they want, but I'd like to know how many times it works - because getting a quick fix guy isn't the solution if you fire him as soon as he loses a couple of games.