As we once again only managed a draw against Blackburn – our 12th in the league this season – and Alex McLeish’s fan approval sank even lower to the dark depths of just 5% on Bantr, why shouldn’t Randy Lerner follow Chelsea’s lead and shake things up a little?
As it stands, with an eight point cushion over the bottom five and twelve games to play, relegation is as likely as McLeish winning three on the bounce, but the club are carrying on with the least popular manager in the league and it is only drawing fans into submission.
It has long been argued that McLeish must go and barring a marvellous upsurge in form and fortune in the leagues final weeks, it seems highly likely that will be the case in the summer, but why not now?
One of the possible reasons for not sacking him already is due to the dearth of experienced managerial talent currently available – something typified by Terry Connor’s panicked appointment at Wolves. So why not do as Chelsea have and appoint a gifted, but callow manager to see out the rest of the season?
Chelsea now have the chance to see if the talented but relatively untried Di Matteo is cut out for the business of running a big club. If he fails, no problem, nothing was expected. If he triumphs then great, you have a cheap and low risk appointment made easy for the summer.
Bringing in some fresh ideas to sweep away the stale atmosphere currently hanging around the McLeish reign could rejuvenate the decent squad currently playing within themselves. If it doesn’t work out then it’s not a problem as they would struggle to do worse than how McLeish is currently on course to finish the season and Lerner could say thanks, but no thanks, without any hefty pay off fees or messy contract struggles.
There are plenty of exciting young coaches in the football league who would jump at the chance to prove themselves on a larger stage, so why not take that risk and see if you can find a diamond in the rough? Would you rather see someone like Lee Clark handed the reins for the final 12 games to see what he can do or watch McLeish’s long ball dirge scrape together the points needed to finish 15th?