AS WE ALL know from hours of Football Manager, being the head honcho at a football club is no easy task. Not only do you have fickle fans to contend with but there’s the constant threat posed by directors of football, megalomaniac owners and the dreaded vote of confidence.
Today, former Manchester United legend and Molde manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over the reins of Cardiff City Football Club despite the behaviour of owner Vincent Tan.
With that in mind, we’ve gathered around the water cooler in TheScore.ie Towers and thrashed out just what are the worst jobs in the Premier League and why.
Here are our contenders:
Cardiff
We might as well start with the club in the news. How can you work for a man who thought it was cool to change a club’s colours and logo before seemingly booing the team for throwing away a late lead after sacking their manager?
Of course, you could argue that Tan’s millions helped get Cardiff to the Premier League but the control he seems to expect in the day to day running of the football team may be too much for any manager.
Manchester United
Actually, once David Moyes eventually gets the sack, this might not be a bad gig at all. For a start, there’s a decent amount of money to spend, a huge fanbase and a history of giving managers time to mould a team.
On the other hand, you’re not Alex Ferguson and you’re unlikely to win as many trophies as he did so your time at the club will inevitably pale in comparison.
Tottenham Hotspur
There are people who believe they’ll win the lotto twice this week who think Spurs fans have unrealistic expectations. Not since Newcastle United (and more on them later) has one club achieved so little and expected so much.
The role at Spurs is further complicated by a trigger happy board that have appointed, on average, a new manager every two years for the last twenty years. At least you’re almost certainly guaranteed a good compensation package when they fire you.
Newcastle United
We’ve already alluded to the fact that Newcastle fans may have an elevated sense of self but by far the worst thing about getting the Newcastle gig is having to work under director of football Joe Kinnear.
He did, afterall, start his new role by getting the names of his players wrong and then allegedly tried to sign a player already with the club. How could you possibly work alongside JFK?
Chelsea
On the surface, this looks a decent job. There’s a strong squad (excluding the strikers), money to spend and you’re not overburdened by the weight of history that cripples some clubs.
However, as numerous managers have found out, the style of football required to win games and the style Roman Abramovich wants to see, are vastly contrasting. If the Russian had his way, Chelsea would play with six up top, something no manager — outside of those whose CV includes Football Manager experience — could agree to.
What do you think? What’s the worst gig in the Premier League? Let us know in the comments below.
