Seeing the successful Return of Darren Ferguson to Peterborough made me ask why it is that many managers do a great job at one Club, but can't repeat it elsewhere. Curbs did a fantastic job for us, didn't survive at West Ham, and despite being mentioned as a potential England Manager hasn't worked since. Aidy Boothroyd did great at Watford but is now available again after being sacked by Coventry. There are many such examples, but why ?
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I bow to nobody (except maybe ohh ah) in my love for Curbs but he (and Gritty early on) did not have the pressure from the fans that they would now because returning and redeveloping The Valley was paramount. Curbs' ultimate achievements were even greater of course as he progressed the Club with, despite, the conflicting financial pressures of ground development.
West Ham fans have always had unfounded delusions of grandeur and ours are going the same way. Parky was Curbslike in many ways yet a vociferous section of our support wanted him out from the first day he was appointed. If an unknown Curbs was appointed today he would be berated in the same way. Even an undisputed Charlton legend, Chris Powell, has a 250 plus post thread giving him stick!
Be fair, how many of those posts are actually 'giving him stick' ? The majority of posts are either supporting him, or questioning whether he is going to prove to be the right man. With 1pt in 21, its perfectly understandable people are asking those questions.
Anyway, back to topic.
There are so many different facets that make up football management, and i genuinely believe there is little difference between a lot of people managing in the game, given they all broadly have the same footbaling knowledge. Over time the good ones will consistently perform, but i think in the short-term, a huge part of it boils down to luck and getting the right breaks.
So no, i don't think managers have to fit their clubs in any way. In time, if a manager is successful the club with go on to fit him, not the other way round.
I often think this. Pardew clearly is a good manager, he's not failed elsewhere, but he was awful with us and suddenly became a very poor judge of player. Parky has promoted teams from league 1, Dowie was awful but highly thought of at the time and Powell is a sentimental appointment that isn't going well right now. You wonder if it says more about the cub than it does the qualities of the likes of Pardew,
The point I'm making is that after 10 (or is it 11?) games his future is already being called into question. He won his first 4 matches so one could argue that a manager, even one as loved as Powell, gets half a dozen games grace before (some) knives come out.
To answer Granpa's point one would say in theory Chris Powell is a perfect fit for Charlton yet the evidence of many posters on Charlton Life suggests that it does not matter and he will be judged on 6 games or so whoever he is.