Travails of a Gaffer

He's the be all and end all of an institution. The 'He' here is the so called manager of the institution called a football club. When his team does well, all is good and in times of despair, he becomes the sacrificial lamb. His conduct on and off the pitch characterizes the football club, in simple terms he represents the club. His one simple misdemeanor may lead to chaos and bad press. Such are the demands of a modern day football manager that it has become the poisoned chalice, a job not for the weak-willed and faint-hearted. Not to forget, the job of a football manager brings its own rewards, viz, a top pay, good network and facilities and a world in the limelight.

Perhaps the only job in the world which remains unaffected by recession or inflation or deflation, a football manager has minimum job security which implies that he has to toil

day in, day out without knowing when the axe will fall on him. Of course there are exceptions to this fact. Managers like the recently retired Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, managers from the old-school stable, virtually owned their jobs after umpteen years of service at their respective clubs. How funny and ridiculous it is to see today's managers being fired even before mid-season. How can one forget Roberto di Matteo's acrimonious sacking from Chelsea even before the season reached its halfway point. The way Roberto Mancini faced the boot of his Arab employers even after leading Manchester City to an unprecedented title triumph, shows how fickle this job at the high end could be. It could be all rosy one week only to see things turn worse the following week. The manager has to face all sorts of circumstances, from the trigger happy and success driven owners to the pack of wolves in the media. He is no ordinary being, a football manager's job, with all its trials and tribulations, has got to be one of the most challenging jobs of modern day.

Recent League Manager's Association reports suggest that clubs are dispensing with the services of their managers far too frequently, with 63 managers losing their jobs in England over the course of the just concluded 2012-13 season. Today, the average manager doesn't even have a season's time to stamp his authority on the club and its playing staff. Success, and the huge financial rewards that follow is what the club presidents and owners want, and they would rather have it quickly by getting another man at the helm than wait a season more. There are more subtleties and intricacies involved in managing and coaching a professional football team than what an average club president or owner can understand, it goes far beyond their realms of thought, which more often than not, end with the money-related stuffs. Fans too can be a fickle bunch, seemingly not as much as those aforementioned kingmakers at the top. To deliver on the fans' often-elevated expectations can be pretty demanding if you're not onside with them, and it could take time to build a bond with the supporters. It takes years to build a successful team, and only an impatient hierarchy to break one. Tactical training sessions take months to perfect, only if you've got the same squad of players to train. But with the present scenario of festive transfer windows, managers rarely get to work with a stable squad. That the gaffer is the face of the club is best illustrated by the fact that he is the one giving away press interviews before and after games. Win, and all hails him. Lose, and all hell breaks lose on him. And not to forget the varying degrees of mentality of his playing staff. Big stars often have that problematic attitude with their egos and self-esteem, and there comes in the gaffer again, to find the perfect balance to keep his players happy and content and at the same time, increase their appetite for success. Tough job eh? They trudge on a very thin line, the proverbial line between victory and defeat. 

And while thinking of the workload of football club managers, I wonder whether they have another life to live, their personal life, a life away from the spotlight, a life with family and friends? Of course yes, they definitely have that 'other' life, they are humans like us, they work like us, only that they have nowhere to hide when something goes awry, or nowhere to run to enjoy that moment of joy serenely with their nearest ones.

The travails of a gaffer are well pronounced, they go through a hell lot before even reaching the heights. The pressure associated is immense, to take care of owners' demands, managing player pressures and delivering on fans' expectations is far more demanding, it squeezes every bit of life in those managers. But these hard men tend to enjoy their jobs, they love the daily buzz surrounding them, they would rather try to negotiate a transfer on a Sunday than have a Sabbath. Their's is a job of great responsibility, and a post of greater respect and I hope that in impending times, they get the due respect they and their hard work deserve.