Mooley
TK Veteran
BIT of trouble with results down at Barnet? No problem, send for Fergie.
Hassle between the chairman and coach at Hartlepool? Sounds a job for a diplomat like Arsene Wenger.
This may seem fantasy football in trouble-shoot mode. But it will become a realistic prospect in the near future.
For English football is about to become the first in the world to employ a mentoring system for its managers.
The revolutionary scheme will be officially launched in March as a joint initiative between the League Managers Association and the FA.
It is the brainchild of the LMA and their chief executive Richard Bevan and has a very real objective at its core.
There have been 54 sackings across the 92 league clubs in the last year alone, a figure which hits 140 when coaching staff are included.
The aim of this new scheme is to stem the culture of firing bosses by offering support before the point where jobs are in jeopardy.
It is a simple enough principle. For example, if some weeks ago Gary Megson reckoned his spell at Bolton was heading for hard times, he could call the LMA.
An assessment of the problems would then be made and a proposal put to the manager and his club on how advice and support would be made available.
It is not quite a Samaritans service for football's troubled souls but the purpose is to offer help.
Think Terry Venables' Red Adair rescue mission to Middlesbrough to help fight off relegation alongside Bryan Robson in 2001.
Historically, one of the biggest obstacles to helping football managers at risk of the sack is the manager himself.
After all, proud men do not admit mistakes or a need for help easily.
Except this scheme is LMA-run, making the prospect of asking for and receiving advice more palatable.
By ensuring the scheme is at least partly funded centrally, it ensures the objectivity and integrity of the mentor and the advice given. In other words, the guy coming to help is there to assist and NOT undermine with the hope of becoming the next man in the job.
As every professional coach in the country is an LMA member, the potential resources for aid are amazing.
True, it may be a few years before a retired Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger may be called out in an emergency but they are already contributing when they can.
Arsenal boss Wenger recently gave a seminar at an LMA conference on 'managing disappointment' regarded as both insightful and educational. He also lined up beside Fergie, Fabio Capello and Everton's David Moyes for an LMA series of online management courses which have had thousands of coaches logging on around the world.
Yet it is not just on-field issues with which the programme aims to help out, just as those in jobs will not be the only ones who benefit.
One out-of-work coach recently spent two weeks studying the accounts and budget projections of a club before accepting the offer to become their manager.
He simply wanted to reassure himself there was a future for the club before signing the contract. It is little wonder job security has become an issue. It currently takes a manager an average of 19 months to get back into work after being sacked.
That is part of the reason why the LMA is also offering the chance to learn languages to increase the possibility of working abroad.
To expand that further, an online employment register is also being developed.
In addition, the scheme will offer media training as well as specialist skills in other areas like the business side of football.
Managers can get information and guidance on social problems facing the modern game too, such as gambling addiction and drug use.
Most of the courses will be based at the new National Football Centre at Burton, due to open next year.
For the moment, though, any manager from Carlo Ancelotti at the top to Darlington's Steve Staunton at the bottom has a safety net.
Top coaches like Venables, George Graham and Howard Wilkinson could be just a phone call away.
The project could also save clubs a fortune.
Chelsea alone have forked out around £30million to the last three managers sacked at Stamford Bridge - Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari.
In future, money may well be the reason a chairman picks up the phone rather than his manager's P45 when results are below-par.
Hassle between the chairman and coach at Hartlepool? Sounds a job for a diplomat like Arsene Wenger.
This may seem fantasy football in trouble-shoot mode. But it will become a realistic prospect in the near future.
For English football is about to become the first in the world to employ a mentoring system for its managers.
The revolutionary scheme will be officially launched in March as a joint initiative between the League Managers Association and the FA.
It is the brainchild of the LMA and their chief executive Richard Bevan and has a very real objective at its core.
There have been 54 sackings across the 92 league clubs in the last year alone, a figure which hits 140 when coaching staff are included.
The aim of this new scheme is to stem the culture of firing bosses by offering support before the point where jobs are in jeopardy.
It is a simple enough principle. For example, if some weeks ago Gary Megson reckoned his spell at Bolton was heading for hard times, he could call the LMA.
An assessment of the problems would then be made and a proposal put to the manager and his club on how advice and support would be made available.
It is not quite a Samaritans service for football's troubled souls but the purpose is to offer help.
Think Terry Venables' Red Adair rescue mission to Middlesbrough to help fight off relegation alongside Bryan Robson in 2001.
Historically, one of the biggest obstacles to helping football managers at risk of the sack is the manager himself.
After all, proud men do not admit mistakes or a need for help easily.
Except this scheme is LMA-run, making the prospect of asking for and receiving advice more palatable.
By ensuring the scheme is at least partly funded centrally, it ensures the objectivity and integrity of the mentor and the advice given. In other words, the guy coming to help is there to assist and NOT undermine with the hope of becoming the next man in the job.
As every professional coach in the country is an LMA member, the potential resources for aid are amazing.
True, it may be a few years before a retired Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger may be called out in an emergency but they are already contributing when they can.
Arsenal boss Wenger recently gave a seminar at an LMA conference on 'managing disappointment' regarded as both insightful and educational. He also lined up beside Fergie, Fabio Capello and Everton's David Moyes for an LMA series of online management courses which have had thousands of coaches logging on around the world.
Yet it is not just on-field issues with which the programme aims to help out, just as those in jobs will not be the only ones who benefit.
One out-of-work coach recently spent two weeks studying the accounts and budget projections of a club before accepting the offer to become their manager.
He simply wanted to reassure himself there was a future for the club before signing the contract. It is little wonder job security has become an issue. It currently takes a manager an average of 19 months to get back into work after being sacked.
That is part of the reason why the LMA is also offering the chance to learn languages to increase the possibility of working abroad.
To expand that further, an online employment register is also being developed.
In addition, the scheme will offer media training as well as specialist skills in other areas like the business side of football.
Managers can get information and guidance on social problems facing the modern game too, such as gambling addiction and drug use.
Most of the courses will be based at the new National Football Centre at Burton, due to open next year.
For the moment, though, any manager from Carlo Ancelotti at the top to Darlington's Steve Staunton at the bottom has a safety net.
Top coaches like Venables, George Graham and Howard Wilkinson could be just a phone call away.
The project could also save clubs a fortune.
Chelsea alone have forked out around £30million to the last three managers sacked at Stamford Bridge - Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari.
In future, money may well be the reason a chairman picks up the phone rather than his manager's P45 when results are below-par.