The managerial merry-go-round

This week saw the first manager sacking in the Premier League, with Steve Bruce leaving Sunderland, for once being shown the door rather than walking himself. Of course late November is slow by usual standards, but what isn't surprising is the names being bandied around as his potential replacement.

Every vacancy that seems to occur these days has it's usual suspects, almost like the ambulance chasers that call themselves no-win no-fee solicitors. Martin O'Neill. Mark Hughes. Steve McLaren's name has been mentioned. But why the reluctance to recruit someone else? Someone who doesn't have an infamous agent, or perhaps a more media-savvy profile.

The louder you scream, the faster the ride

Like signing players, the tempting offer is to recruit from abroad, established players with a track record and perhaps a degree of sparkle. But managers are different - why are they moving in the first place? Supposed rising stars like Andre Villas Boas are bought for millions of pounds, and with things as they are, may well not be long before he's already overachieved.

Most top English vacancies seem to be met with links to Guus Hiddink, who while he did wonders with PSV Eindhoven, Holland and South Korea, seems more and more motivated by cash, and his last job with Turkey did little to light the touchpaper.

Shiny happy people

Herbert Chapman was just 29 when he started his managerial career (with Northampton), and turned out to be one of the great innovators of the game, with many ideas still in common use (white balls, floodlights, shirt numbers). Would he have got a chance in the game today? Even then, he was due to become a mining engineer before chance offered him the role.

Football has evolved enormously over the years, but in it's basic form, it could easily be described as two chess masters (the managers), manipulating 11 chess pieces across the board. Even the young up and coming masters need a break. Maybe Sunderland could make a master stroke and appoint a complete unknown who will give the fans and the club a decent shot, without needing to resort to countless Bosmans, ex-Man Utd players and cloggers.

Or they could just appoint Mark Hughes, and see Roque Santa Cruz instead.

The Rubbish Managers XI

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