Number of managerial sackings 'embarrassing' say LMA boss following sacking of Michael Appleton at Blackburn

Richard Bevan accuses football of becoming 'arrogant'

The number of coaches dismissed this season is showing up football as “arrogant” and “embarrassing” according to the head of the League Managers' Association.

Earlier this week, Blackburn dismissed Michael Appleton after just 67 days in charge, and then this morning League One side Stevenage parted company with Gary Smith.

The departure of Smith took the total number of managers and coaches to have lost their jobs during the 2012/13 season to 103. Of those, 33 were sacked managers.

Bevan, the chief executive of the LMA, claims the number of departures are at a five-year high and that all of them have been unfair.

"It's embarrassing for the game that all of those sackings are unfair dismissals. The volatility is undermining the profession," he said.

Among the figures, 14 managers have resigned while another 60 coaches have been fired.

"That's over 100 people, 100 managers, 100 families," Bevan told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I'm not sure where the arrogance of football comes from that we don't have to behave as any other industry."

In the top flight, four managers have lost their jobs. Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea, Brian McDermott at Reading, Nigel Adkins at Southampton and Mark Hughes at QPR - all of whom were sacked.

The figures in the Championship are more startling. In a league comprising 24 teams - 17 managers have departed. In League One it is 15 and in League Two 11.

The departure of Appleton from Blackburn this week has been among the most surprising decisions this season. The former Blackpool boss had only been in charge for 67 days and was the third manager to be fired by the club's Indian owners this season.

"The owners probably made the first mistake when they sacked their executive chairman John Williams and their managing director Tom Finn and since then they've gone downhill," said Bevan of the situation at Blackburn.

"Everything in business is about communication. Michael told me he had no conversation at all during his tenure since January with the Indian representative running the club.

"He's got 20 players on the injury bench. What he needed was support, not a letter of sacking. To have five managers this season is nonsense.

"Blackburn need to look very hard into stability, they need to look at communication with the fans and they need to look very hard into how they can invest in personnel, look medium term. That's the only way they're going to climb up the table."