Coaching culls

There are few absolutes in life aside from the oft-cited death and taxes. In soccer management, those brave enough to follow this career path can add sacking to this list.

Many believe that from the moment his signature goes onto a contract, the coach is already on borrowed time; the dug-out becomes a death row cell, with every result either staying his execution or bringing nearer the day when the sporting director utters those ominous words: "the coach has the board's full backing"...and then delivers the killer blow anyway soon after.

While players fight for their place in the starting line-up on a weekly basis, each game sees the coach battling for his job; his reputation and job security are only as good as the results he can string together. Very few coaches enjoy immunity from this constant fight for life - and those who do have often been on the brink of being shown the door before a period of success buys them some breathing space.

The Bundesliga often comes under the spotlight because of its clubs' perceived impatience with managers. German clubs seem to favor early sackings, perhaps reflecting the cultural characteristics of efficiency and bluntness.

The Germans seem to believe that if someone isn't working out, it's better to cut them loose sooner rather than later. This gives the affected club more time to find someone capable of putting things right before the damage becomes irreparable.

So far this season, the Bundesliga has seen three such sackings by clubs wanting to make changes before the season - and possibly their top flight status - is lost. Mainz, Bochum and Hertha Berlin have cut their bosses loose before the season is even two months old.

(Hanover's cutting of its ties to Dieter Hecking was officially through the coach's resignation, but then again O.J. Simpson is officially an innocent man.)

Fast-sacking reputation brands Bundesliga ruthless

The hair-trigger approach has given the Bundesliga a reputation for being one of the most hostile environments for coaches in European soccer. But in truth, far from being the most cold-blooded when it comes to managerial assassinations, the Bundesliga rates among the lowest for coaching casualties among the top European leagues over a full season.

Last season, five coaches were given the bullet, a rating in line with the English Premiership - one of the most high-pressure leagues in Europe, if not the world. Of those five Bundesliga coaches fired, two of them were early casualties at clubs looking to change the guard before it was too late.

Stuttgart's Armin Veh and Borussia Moenchengladbach's Jos Luhukay were jobless by Christmas, while Schalke's Fred Rutten lasted until March when it then became clear that he was the latest in a long line of coaches unable to steer the Gelsenkirchen club to championship success.

Bayern Munich's patience with Juergen Klinsmann finally ran out in April, while a dismal season which ended in last place and relegation cost Michael Frontzeck his job at Arminia Bielefeld in May - bizarrely enough, with only one match left in the season.

Chances are, though, that these coaches would have been shown just as little mercy outside the Bundesliga - and if they had been working in Spain or Italy, they may well have been kept on an even shorter leash.

More Spanish coaches feel the sword

Like so many Toro Bravo trotted out for slaughter in the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, ten coaches felt the matador's sword in the 2008/09 edition of la Liga, double the number in Germany.

Five coaches were looking for work before the new year while the other five sackings were scattered throughout the season's second half. Espanyol actually sacked a coach either side of Christmas, regretting their appointments twice in one season.

However, despite the ruthless culling of coaches in Spain, La Liga did not top the sacking charts in Europe last season. In Italy, a grand total of 12 coaches woke up with a horse's head on the pillow beside them, making Serie A the most unforgiving league among Europe's elite in the 2008/09 campaign.

Italy tops the list of hazardous coaching environments

As in Spain, the sackings were equally divided between the season's two halves. Six coaches, including Roberto Mancini, the boss at reigning champions Inter Milan, were sleeping with the fishes before the tinsel was up, while the other half-dozen were picked off by swarthy types in fedoras and raincoats by the season's end.

Trumping the Spanish in another area, three clubs - Bologna, Torino and Reggina - sacked two coaches within ten months. (Reggina actually went through both of theirs in just over six weeks.)

So while Germany may have the reputation for swift and early kills, when it comes to working and playing for your job, the Bundesliga is considerably less hazardous that its southern European counterparts.

Author: Nick Amies
Editor: Matt Hermann