Longest Serving Managers (English Leagues)
1. 1983 Dario Gradi (Crewe Alexandra)
2. 1986 Alex Ferguson (Man Utd)
3. 1991 Alan Curbishley (Charlton Athletic)
4. 1996 Barry Fry (Peterborough Utd)
5. 1996 Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)
6. 1997 Brian Laws (Scunthorpe Utd)
7. 1997 Brian Talbot (Rushden & Diamonds)
8. 1997 Ronnie Moore (Rotherham Utd)
9. 1998 Stan Ternant (Burnley)
10. 1998 Gerard Houllier (Liverpool)
11. 1999 Brian Horton (Port Vale)
12. 1999 Bobby Robson (Newcastle Utd)
13. 1999 Sam Allardyce (Bolton Wanderers)
14. 1999 Neil Warnock (Sheff Utd)
Every other manager has started post-2000. Of those 14 managers who were appointed pre-2000, FIVE are Premiership managers which is quite impressive (25% of all Premiership managers). Both Charlton and Bolton have been relegated under their managers yet they are still in charge.
This begs the question - how long should a manager get?There are several things that could happen (in terms of league status) -
1) The club improves, either to stay at a higher level than before or to win promotion or league titles. We will not consider this because obviously you wouldn't get rid of the manager until such a time as the situation changed
2) The club gets worse, either dropping down the league or suffering relegation. We will not consider this either as the manager is liable to be sacked. If the club sticks with the manager then sees an upturn in fortunes, the manager will be in a different category again
3) The club stays were it was and no real advancement is made. While the club may have dropped a few places or gained a few places, the club has stagnated and no longer going anywhere
So how long do you give a manager when the club is "going nowhere" in the league under his reign?[/color]