Too quick to pull the trigger?

Well it seems that January is the footballing equivalent of a full moon. The new year is here and apparently clubs are trying to see how many managers it is possible to sack in a month. With Liverpool announcing Roy Hodgson’s dismissal at Liverpool today that takes the number of recent high profile casualties to 5 and with the likes of Houllier and Ancelotti among others apparently hanging by a thread, the situation could yet get worse. It’s an increasingly common sight in football and a worrying precedent in my eyes.

Take the case of Roy Keane receiving his marching orders earlier this week. Yes results were poor but to what extent is it the managers fault? Keane expressed the difficulty he had in enticing big players to rural Suffolk (and he’s not the first Ipswich manager to face this hurdle), yet he still managed to sign some solid Championship players. The fact of the matter is that when they took to the pitch they didn’t perform. Sometimes if a manager puts his best eleven on the pitch and they don’t play to the best of their capabilities, what more can he do?

It is rumoured that the sacking of Keane could cost Ipswich upwards of £2 million. Rather than spending this money getting rid of the manager, surely giving him the money to spend on the squad would have a more positive impact on the squad. Keane’s contract ended in the summer and if the board still felt a change was needed then they could do it for free.

At least there is some solace for Ipswich fans in the fact at Carrow Road the shoe appears to be on the other foot. With Norwich City running smoothly and mounting an assault on the top of the Championship table Paul Lambert is rumoured to have taken the strange decision to walk out. If his decision is in connection with Burnley’s rejected approach to talk to the Norwich manager then it’s a decision I don’t understand. It will be interesting to see how the situation unravels.

Ipswich appear to be ready to appoint Paul Jewell as manager before their next league game and looking at his previous record it’s a decision that could go either way. I really like Jewell and he did a great job in getting Wigan promoted however, he was less than convincing at Derby and Bradford. I for one would like to see Ipswich show a bit of ambition and go after someone else’s manager. For sheer comedy value i'd love it to be Paul Lambert. But for me, someone like Lee Clarke at Huddersfiled would be the perfect choice, a young manager who is doing a great job and the club could build something around.... unfortunately i'm a blogger and not the owner.