Wayne Rooney being sacked by Birmingham City was somewhat inevitable if his previous managerial record was anything to go by.
That didn’t stop the Blues taking the plunge and getting rid of John Eustace despite him having the team flying high at the point he was sacked.
If nothing else, Rooney’s poor tenure will have given Birmingham’s owners the short, sharp shock that they needed and, like clubs that have also employed the likes of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, will make them think twice.
A big name player doesn’t necessarily make a great manager, and it appears former super agent and Premier League co-creator, Jon Smith, agrees.
“There’s this desire to bring on the young talent too quickly as managers,” he said for his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
“[…] Promoting people into positions because they were successful players doesn’t necessarily mean they then become a successful manager, and there’s many that have fallen by the wayside over the decades.
“Look at John Terry. He’s been a number two, a number three and has now actually gone back to Chelsea’s Academy to learn more of his trade. Doing it the right way.
“He’s a dynamic character and my instant forecast is that he’ll be a really successful manager of the future if he decides to tread that path because he’s learned his trade properly, similar to Mikel Arteta under Pep Guardiola before blossoming at Arsenal.
“Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard all appear to have been fast-tracked – not sure that’s the best way forward.”
As the game evolves, so do the needs of the modern day manager.
In much the same way as Messrs. Pardew, Allardyce and Redknapp are seen as yesterday’s men, England’s golden generation of players need to accept the game has also moved on significantly since they were in their pomp.
Time, evidently, waits for no man.
If the likes of Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard and their like – Gary Neville is another example – want to be considered as good a manager as they were a player, then they need to ensure that they apply the same standards to their managerial career as they did to their playing one.