Is Stability A Recipe For Sporting Success?

Reading the newspapers for the past few days, I've been interested to read what sporting experts have been saying about the issue of stability. As the latest Premier League football manager has been sacked, the news has been met with much shaking of heads.

There seems to be a general feeling that the owner of the club (in this case Chelsea) has made a mistake. Experts are quick to point out that success is associated with loyalty and stability. Looking at the example of football, can we see this to be true?

The most obvious examples of stability in English football are currently provided by Manchester United and Arsenal. Two of the country's largest football clubs have been keen to stick with their managers for long periods of time. The two managers concerned, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, have brought considerable success.

This is used by many to demonstrate that stability and success go hand in hand. If you stick with the manager, success should follow. But these two men may not provide great sporting examples in some senses. Although they were able to produce successful teams, it does not hold true that all managers or coaches are capable of bringing continued success in the same way.

Indeed, we might reflect on the fact that some successful individuals may struggle for victories after a period of time. As a result, they may owe their roles to past glories, rather than a particular belief in future successes.

This introduces an interesting area when considering sporting success. How long should a team owner stick with a manager or coach? Does this period of time change depending upon the track record of the manager in question?

Different team owners will take differing approaches, often depending upon their own beliefs and expectations. For some, there is a willingness to stick with an employee, even when many outsiders feel that success is a long way away. Is such an approach an indication that the owner is too stubborn? Possibly, but it may also be influenced by this belief that stability is the key to winning matches and trophies.

That has become such an acceptable fact that it feels unfashionable and rather odd to question it. But here's a question that might cause us to question this perceived fact:

Between 1993 and 2003, Real Madrid (the Spanish football team) had 10 managers. That means that they were hiring and firing at an incredible rate. So did they lose many games during this period?

The answer is that this period saw the club win 16 major honours! So maybe there's more to sporting success than relying on a single individual!



You can find out more about sports trophies and sporting success online, as discussed by Simon Barnett. This article may be used by any website publisher, though this resource box must always be included in full.