大象传媒

while I can see where you are coming from Jim, I don't think this is practical. Take my Dundee United for example. We have lost our manager to the national team.....how would that fit into you plans for a Manager Transfer Window or even the alternative of no manager swaps throughout the season? As Burley had failed to take us to the World Cup (and so his season was over)he could be replaced but its outside of the domestic season and managers would have to wait until May before leaving so how would Scotland fill the vacancy? Actually I wish this were the rule as Levein would at least be with us until the end of this season!! :)

The entire window should be scrapped, it was brought in to make it a level playing field. Dont make me laugh. It has made the rich richer, the poor poorer.It is freedom of trade. And, the smaller clubs need it as much as the larger clubs. Before it was introduced, any team from 6 or 7 teams in all the major leagues could have won that league. Now, if you have 2 or 3 teams, you can count that as a major battle. Most leagues now is either a 1 or 2 horse race. Some level playing field that is.....

@ FarEastArab

Wee Jim is an Arab pal.

With regards to your point, Jim has already addressed it. If Burley would of been guilty of 'gross misconduct' for failing to get Scotland to the WC then surely Gordon Smith is guilty of the same?

What would of happened is that the SFA probably wouldnt have picked Burley.

you see?

I can see where Jim is coming from here but I don't agree with him. There does seem to be a tendency in the media to take the view that every manager sacking is kneejerk. Jim's fello 大象传媒 blogger Chic being the most guilty. But the impact on a club when things are no longer working for a club is just too severe to limit changing a manager until a particular window.

A better system would be the one used in Italy which allows you sack the manager at any time but prevents you from appointing one who has worked for another Italian club in the same season. This would allow clubs to change managers if they so desire but prevent the knock-on chaos of causing other clubs having to change a manager during a period of relative calm for them. It would also encourage clubs to undertake a more robust assessment of their incumbent manager during the summer which is the best time to make a change rather than 'we'll give him until mid September and then see what happens' strategy so much loved by chairmen across the country.

If a team 'falls out' with one of its players, they are at liberty simply not to pick him for the period until the following transfer window; this would not be an option as regards managers.

What I find more concerning is the fact that players are allowed to sign contracts outwith the transfer windows - IF it extends their contract with their existing club.

There should be a requirement that the SFA, for Scotland, be custodian of all player contracts (as well as registrar) - and, other than those limited circumstances which already allow out-of-window signings, NO club may offer a contract to ANY player (even if already an employee of the club).

I cannot see the point of this idea Jim, sorry. As said if players are not peforming then you do not play them. So what would you do with the manager? Just keep letting him make bad decisions, may be poor man-management problems?
I think you are right that there is a need to make Chairmen more responsible for their choice. But I also think that the managers themselves should take most of the responsiblity and they know when they are doing a good job and when they are not.
But I have never agreed in the transfer window idea. If you want a level playing field just have a salary cap. It would be interesting to know if a salary cap would be a restriction of trade? I do not think so as it is not the individual players who are being restricted?

Not sure I agree with your 鈥榮ame rule鈥� suggestion, Jim, but I fully agree with your comment on the 鈥榮hort term鈥� thinking. When a player is dropped it is because he fails to measure up to the mark, but if all or a significant number of players fail to measure up to the mark, the team fails. Which if current thinking prevails, means that this has to be down to the manager. Right? Not necessarily. After all 鈥榶ou can鈥檛 make a silk purse out of a sows ear鈥�.

This short term thinking dictates that we link poor team performance with poor managers every time things go sour. The question we seem to be unable to ask is, 鈥楬as the manager provided good management?鈥� Whilst there will be plenty of situations where the answer will be 鈥榥o鈥�, the reality is that in many situations is answer is 鈥榶es鈥�, and that perfectly able managers are labelled failures without justification.

What this does to the individual I cannot imagine but Scottish Football cannot afford to loose what little talent it has. The responsibility to ensure quality management is that of the Directors through their own selection processes, their clubs policies and the levels of support that they provide.

If a team fails and adequate management has not been provided it is the Directors who should be held accountable. For only if they have fulfilled their role beyond all reasonable doubt, would it then be acceptable to sack a manager but if Directors buckle under the fury of fans, it is a measure of their lack of humility, integrity and ability.

So if fans want someone's neck is a noose, they should start with their own Chairman for in my opinion, the answers to short term thinking lie in the board rooms, not in setting up time frames during which short term thinking can be let loose and re-applied with even greater gusto.

Never mind the issue of the Managers for now - there are more important issues looming, as a fellow Arab Jim you need to get hold of Stephen Thompson and bend his ears - I have heard down under that Mixu Paatelainen has emerged as a strong candidate for the manager's post at our sacred club . This was noted from the News of the World. I am not sure if in fact this news article is accurate - but get a grip guys - Mixu Paatelainen !!!! no no no no no.

Jim if you hold our club dear to your heart then you will publish some form of comment on this tragic decision even to consider him - is a crime in its self.

I know this is not the current topic in discussion - but we need to get this issue back on the agenda for debate - we Arabs are going through a rough patch at present - and our players don't need speculation like this to make our performances on the park any worse than it is.

I think the Transfer Window should be from June to March (e.g. Jun 2010 to March 2011) with each player only being able to play for two clubs in that period.

Well I think removing the transfer window entirely would bring more chaos to an already chaotic situation. Could you imagine the transfer free-for-all that would occur should the windows be removed. If you could just bring in a player whenever it suited you, Man Utd would have bought/loaned a Centre Back in the middle of November, when they were struggling very seriously in that position. It would just see the big clubs buying players as soon as one got injured long-term, or when the realisation that they needed a certain position, leaving the smaller clubs to have to make do until the end of the season when they get the payoffs from the season.

As for applying the transfer window to managers I don't think it would be workable. Instead, applying normal employment laws to the managerial position, making it more difficult to fire managers.

we need to get rid of the window either in the case of no transfers at all during open season or the market is open always, this window business is a disgrace and a waste of time, there are no benefits to anyone and it only inflates prices

The current transfer windows, is a joke. Bringing in a transfer window for managers, would be an even bigger joke. Scrap the lot I say.

Jim,
I agree with the sentiment but apart from your last statement, the rest of of the points don't carry any weight for me.
Your right it isn鈥檛 fair. It isn鈥檛 fair that football can behave in such a manner that just walks over people to get what it wants.
Football may be a game but it is also a business and although football clubs, their directors or their team managers are in the public spotlight, they still get away with murder. It may seem like a lofty position to be a director or manager with a Scottish Football club but in managerial terms it is pretty far down in the 鈥榩ecking order鈥�.
If these people operated within a large international corporate under the scrutiny of tens of thousands of people, they simply wouldn鈥檛 cut it. They wouldn鈥檛 get to treat people the way they do and they wouldn鈥檛 last any length of time at all.
I notice that it is becoming more and more popular to use 鈥榣egal鈥� phraseology but don鈥檛 allow it to become devalued into a buzz word.
You are not talking about criminal law her but civil law and unfortunately nothing is quite clear cut and whether things are fair or not within the eyes of the law require a determination in the courts.
There is little doubt in my mind that Motherwell鈥檚 former manager for all his dislikeable arrogance was right when he said that, 鈥� football is an ugly industry鈥� and that managers and players do not receive the same protection of their rights that they would receive in other industries.
But on the other hand, the law that protects the rights of you and I is not so easily applied when it is undermined by people signing up to contractual arrangements that muddy the waters. Windows for managers are just one example.
Maybe that鈥檚 why players and managers don鈥檛 stand up to their rights. Maybe that鈥檚 why managers don鈥檛 sue for wrongful dismissal. Add board room bullying to their claim and the tribunal settlement start to rise. But in the end they sign the Compromise Agreement and so the legal protection they could have had, is lost without any form of recourse.
The law may apply to us all, but not if you don鈥檛 fight for your rights.
Scottish Football boardrooms have to up THEIR game and if they don鈥檛 then it is up to the fans to see that they do.

#10, Nick SD wrote:

"Could you imagine the transfer free-for-all that would occur should the windows be removed."

Well, yes. It would be the same as it was before the introduction of the transfer window.

Towards the end of the season, if a club was challenging for a place in Europe, it might be inclined to pay way over the odds for an able player from a middle-of-table club.

The club selling would gain enhanced revenue, allowing it to either spend more in the off-season or to upgrade facilities, etc. The club buying might well go on to gain a place in Europe, giving additional revenue, allowing it to do likewise.

Sounds like a plan to me.