BRING IN A SACKING WINDOW FOR BOSSES

RON ATKINSON reckoned he got the sack from one job because he had an iffy pre-season photocall.

But talk to so many managers and it feels like that. In the back of their minds, they believe they're only three or four games from the boot.

That's why bosses need protection from axe-wielding chairman and their knee-jerk reactions.

I'd like to see a 'sacking window' just like there is a transfer window for players.

If you're a manager, given money to spend in the summer by a chairman who says he's got total faith in you, what sense does it make for that same chairman to boot you out after just a handful of games?

What sense did it make for Norwich to back Bryan Gunn when the club got relegated but then to kick him out within a few weeks of the new season?

And what sense did it make for Steve Gibson to publicly pin his faith in Gareth Southgate only to sack him in October with Middlesbrough a point off the top of the table?

Those are just two incidents - there are countless others.

If, though, a manager was safe from the sack until Christmas, you'd find a whole lot more stability in clubs that might otherwise be de-railed by a decision made in haste.

I've been there with Blackburn. The chairman backed me in the summer, gave me money to spend - although not that much - and told me to put together a long-term plan.

A few dodgy results and the press were on my back, the fans weren't happy and suddenly I started getting bad vibes.

There weren't any noises of support from the boardroom and the players began to wonder what the hell was going on.

Was I safe? Was there a new man on the horizon? Were they safe if somebody came in? Suddenly it's a vicious circle.

A couple of bad results, confidence drops, doubts persist about the manager's position, players take their eye off the ball, more poor results, even less confidence . . . you can see where this is going.And if results are so bad the chairman has no option but to chop him at Christmas, at least the new man has a month to wheel and deal during the transfer window and start with a clean slate rather than having to pick up the pieces of his predecessor's legacy.

Then there's another six months for him to make his mark on the club, safe in the knowledge there's no twitchy finger on the trigger upstairs.

Without some kind of protection for managers, we're going to see an industry littered with people who were once considered bright young hopes but who are now so jaded and disenchanted they won't fancy giving it another crack.

The great managerial dynasties were all given time - Fergie at United, Wenger at Arsenal, Dario Gradi at Crewe. For one reason or another, chairmen kept faith even when things weren't going well and they were rewarded.

Imposing patience on the boardroom might just give managers a chance to really pout some roots down, instead of wondering just how long it's going to be before a post-match P45 instead of a lager.

• I GOT MY SHARE OF FERGIE'S FLAK

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