Saunders' Job Security

Football’s a ghoulish affair, isn’t it? We happily discuss a manager’s prospects of hanging onto his job, but wouldn’t be too pleased if our employment was put under such scrutiny, even if it was only by a couple of people at the water cooler. Still, that’s the deal if you pursue a career in the game, and who am I to be coy about it?

The fact is that a crucial issue as the season begins will be how secure Dean Saunders is. The general consensus is that, having been given a year and a half and got onto his fourth rebuilt squad, he now has to start producing. He’s had enough time to weigh up the Conference and develop his approach to the job, and you suspect the board will be more demanding than the Moss-Retout axis which employed him.

The general consensus, and I’m inclined to subscribe to it, is that he needs to have us in amongst the contenders around the start of October. Therein lies a question though. Is it good management to back someone then remove them eight weeks later? Saunders has been given the resources to rebuild the squad, has released a lot of players and brought a lot in. It’s his team; a new boss would surely want to reshape it in his own image.

If Saunders is replaced before the New Year, we will merely be continuing the downward spiral of constantly ripping up a squad to build a new one, and that instability’s a big part of what got us here in the first place.