McCarthy and the rise of the Scots

This week Mick McCarthy became the third premiership manager to get the axe this season.  It's a low total of firings thus far, but that number will inevitably rise before May.  The Irishman is well liked throughout the game but during Wolves bad run he found himself 'undermined' by his Chairman, Steve Morgan, after he entered the changing room post match after an embarrassing 3-0 defeat in which even Andy Carroll scored! The writing was on the wall for Big Mick after the battering they took at the hands, or should I say feet, or Woy Hodgsons average West Bromwich Albion side.


So McCarthy follows the dismissals of Steve Bruce at Sunderland and Neil Warnock at QPR.  Sunderland have made the greatest strides since replacing Bruce with the energetic Martin O'Neill, not only have Sunderland won some games but they're are the in-form team in the Premiership.  Mark Hughes hasn't enjoyed a honeymoon period in West London, but he has been able to blow some of Tony Fernandes' cash in the January window and strengthen the squad with much needed firepower.  Wolves however have now missed the window and by not allowing a new manager to get involved earlier and bring in some fresh faces they will face the rest of season knowing it's the current squad, who's results ultimately got McCarthy sacked, to get themselves out of it and avoid the drop.  The Wolves job is a tough one to take over, expectant fans of a club which has maybe stayed up in the Premiership a little longer than they perhaps are capable of (they of course escaped relegation on the final day of last season).


McCarthy may argue that with the backing that Roberto Martinez enjoys at Wigan he would have been able to turn it around.  Maybe it's his broad Yorkshire accent that hurts him, perhaps if the 'Irishman' had a thick Scottish accent he'd still be in the job.  Steve Kean, the most hated manager in recent Premiership history has weathered attack after attack from his own support but has managed to keep his job at Blackburn and therefore granted the chance to turn it around.  Owen Coyle at Bolton has the same kind of support and even though his team isn't playing the 'attractive' football, he is for some unknown reason associated with, he finds himself employed and relatively safe.  Alex McCleish appears to be anti-football in his style and setup and many Villa fans would rather have last seasons Caretaker manager and fellow Scot Gary McCallister back!

What then is it about these Scotsmen that make them so attractive in the English game?  Is it the fact that they have accents that half of football fans don't understand and the other half enjoy listening too even if they're talking drivel? Or is it that they are living off of great Scottish managers past and present, Docherty, Shankly and Ferguson to name a few.  Possibly they hope that their Scotch boys will be more like new coach Paul Lambert and take the Premiership by the scruff of the neck, or like King Kenny and hold onto his legions of supporters with undying love for his job and club.


Whatever it is there are 6 managers in the premiership who hail from north of the boarder and after seeing what's developed in the last 24 hours at Rangers it's no wonder they are fleeing their homeland looking for work in the biggest and best league in the world, maybe the surprise is so many of them find the jobs and are able to hold onto them so long, despite playing poorly and losing games...