Local heroes as managers

Ya know, when I sat down to write this piece for my blog, I thought it would be a nice, little short thing – kinda like one of my typical THT Live posts. It turned out to be akin to one of my columns here, not a Live post.

In response to a newspaper column earlier this week by Mike Imrem, I wonder if it’s actually true if a team has a hard time firing a manager who used to be a star player for them. I found the answer a bit surprising, but was able to figure out a conclusion that made sense to me at least.

Short version: star players don’t seem to have a longer managerial shelf life, and if anything many are fired quicker than normal. I figure it’s because their local fame allows them to get hired in the first place, rather than a sense that they’re always the most qualified person for the job.