There have been a number of stunning managerial changes in recent weeks — from Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid to Ruben Amorim at Manchester United — and the cutthroat nature of a career in football management will not be lost on Gary Rowett.
The 51-year-old former Derby County, Birmingham City and Leicester City defender was sacked as head coach of Championship side Oxford United just two days before Christmas. The call came just over a year after the one that appointed him.
Rowett had helped keep Oxford in English football’s second tier last season following his arrival on Dec. 20, 2024. But after one win in 10 games, which saw Oxford slip into the relegation places, club chairman Grant Ferguson and the board decided it was time for a change.
“Gary joined during a challenging period and deserves immense credit for the hard work and leadership,” said Ferguson in a statement. “However, following a disappointing run of results, we have had to take this difficult decision in the best interests of the club.”
A nice way of saying, “Thanks, but see you later.”
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The timing of Rowett’s dismissal makes it particularly brutal, but for managers, it’s part of the job. Already this season, six Premier League bosses have been sacked — Nuno Espirito Santo (Nottingham Forest), Graham Potter (West Ham United), Ange Postecoglou (Nottingham Forest), Vitor Pereira (Wolves), Enzo Maresca (Chelsea) and Amorim (Man United).
Eight Premier League clubs changed their manager last season, and it’s not unusual for more than half the 20 top-flight clubs to fire coaches over the course of a campaign. The next dismissal is never far away.
Thomas Frank is under increasing pressure at Tottenham Hotspur despite taking over only in June, and Arne Slot has faced questions about his position mere months after leading Liverpool to the title. There were doubts over the summer over whether Daniel Farke would even see Leeds United play a game in the Premier League despite masterminding their promotion from the Championship last season.
Xabi Alonso, unveiled by Real Madrid in May, was sacked on Jan. 12 after losing to rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa.
“A career in football management is one that can be both rewarding and challenging,” said Richard Bevan, CEO of the League Managers Association (LMA). “The role of the manager or head coach is increasingly complex, with significant and varied demands requiring high levels of skill, flexibility and resilience.
“To be a football manager is to work in an employment market that is characterized by short-termism and high turnover.”
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According to LMA statistics, the average tenure of dismissed managers and head coaches in men’s and women’s English professional football last season was 1.35 years. Postecoglou was axed by Forest after just 39 days, with the official statement landing 17 minutes after the final whistle of his eighth game in charge. In Scotland, Russell Martin was sacked by Rangers in October after 17 games, while Glasgow neighbors Celtic dismissed Wilfried Nancy just 33 days into a 2½-year contract signed in December.
“If you look over history, I think managers were always the ones who the buck stopped with,” former Brentford, Aston Villa, Norwich City and current Charlotte FC boss Dean Smith told ESPN.
“In the past, managers were given a little bit more time. There wasn’t this hire-and-fire mentality. It’s really tough that it’s so highly scrutinized now, so you understand the position you’re in.
“You’ve got to go into clubs, and all you can do is control what you can control.”
Whatever issues a club might be dealing with, the manager invariably becomes a lightning rod for criticism as the public face of the team. Amorim had concerns about United’s recruitment operation and the strength of his squad — worries shared by the majority of supporters — but he was well aware that only one man would eventually pay the price regardless of the club’s other failures.
“You can feel that something has to change and you are not going to change 22 players,” Amorim said after the shock Carabao Cup exit to League Two minnows Grimsby Town in August.
Postecoglou, Martin and Nancy all expressed the need for time to get their ideas across in the days before their sackings. Frank has branded his job at Tottenham as “a marathon.” Maresca, fresh from winning the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup, lost his battle with the Chelsea board for more power at Stamford Bridge.
A manager’s job is essentially determined by his ability to keep everyone happy — players, fans and the hierarchy.
“Managers and head coaches are tasked with leading often very diverse and multicultural playing squads as well as ever-expanding teams of performance support staff,” said Bevan. “Additionally, they must navigate relationships with owners, chairpersons, chief executives, technical directors and so on.
“Success in the role requires strong organizational awareness, effective communication skills and an adaptable and contextually aware leadership approach.”
Smith had successful spells at Brentford and Villa. His tenure at Norwich was much shorter, in part because of the supporters, and he left Carrow Road with the club fifth in the Championship.
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“Norwich was a tough one,” he said. “The fans just hadn’t taken to myself for whatever reason and that can happen. I’ve got no bad blood to the Norwich fans, and I hope they do well, but I just didn’t think that they were going to give us an opportunity to try and change a way of playing that could give us a chance if we got back to the Premier League again.”
Whatever the reason — results, playing style, fan frustration or board pressure — once things start going downhill, the noise can be difficult to escape for an under-fire manager.
Ahead of Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League clash in December, Alonso held a news conference at the club’s training ground that was dominated by questions about his future. The game hardly got a mention. Frank faced a similar situation on Monday ahead of Spurs’ Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund, a fixture that came fresh off the back of another damaging home league defeat, this time against struggling West Ham.
Premier League managers are expected to hold news conferences before and after every game, as well as honoring their other commitments. Following United’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in December at the height of questions about his job, Amorim was required to speak to five broadcasters — three of them international rights holders — plus club media and selected radio stations.
“Football managers and head coaches operate in a modern media landscape that places unrelenting demands on them,” said Bevan. “They face constant scrutiny, where every result, decision, and comment is analyzed by the public and media in real time.”
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The intense nature of the spotlight means that when the going gets tough, there’s nowhere to hide.
“It’s never nice, but you understand it’s coming,” said Smith. “The intensity now with media within the Premier League is massive. Becoming a manager in the Premier League now is like being a prime minister at times.
“The amount of times you have to speak in front of the cameras is incredible. And when you’re going through that run of not winning games, you know the inevitable questions are going to come, but you’ve got to have a belief in what you do and just be steady in your answers.”
Ultimately, whatever a manager says, the only currency that really matters is results. Clubs make appointments in the hope that they’ve found a figurehead for years to come, but pressure mounts quickly if the team isn’t performing.
Time, usually, can only be bought by winning.
“It’s a fact, less time,” said Pep Guardiola, when asked about the job of a manager earlier this month. “I don’t think there is a country where you are safe if you don’t win games. If you don’t get results, it doesn’t matter — the past or the present.
“Every manager is hired for their ideas, and they are sacked for their results.”
Bevan says the pressure, scrutiny and high stakes of each game can take its toll on managers — both mentally and physically.
“The demands on football managers and head coaches are relentless,” he said. “Long days at the training ground, extended periods away from home and a relentless travel schedule often result in a range of physical health problems including lack of sleep, poor lifestyle behaviors, limited exercise and burnout.
“It’s clear that the volatility, scrutiny, organizational challenges and role complexity that makes up football management can, at times, lead to negative mental health consequences. Stress, anxiety, burnout and depression are common experiences across the management and coaching workforce and often, as a consequence of their role, additionally suffered by managers’ and coaches’ family members.”
Smith has a managerial CV that spans 15 years and over time, he has learned ways to cope.
“I went to watch Fleetwood Town play on a Tuesday night … and I bumped into [former Celtic manager] Neil Lennon, and then he said, ‘You look really relaxed, how are you so relaxed?'” he recalled.
“I said, ‘Listen, mate, you need to buy yourself a dog.’ My dog doesn’t realize how many teams he picked and just having that hour in the morning just to go and walk him just to take your mind off things.”
Still, in one of the toughest jobs in football, the pressure is never far away.
“I think it’s impossible to be completely immune,” added Smith. “You’re aware of it, but part of your character, I think, to be a good manager, you have to put it aside. I’ve never worried about getting sacked because in my head I’m not in control of that.
“What you’re in control of is trying to put a product on the pitch. Trying to get the best out of players so that they can go and perform and get a result.”
That, though, is easier said than done. Just ask Rowett, Amorim, Alonso and the rest.
