How Much Is Too Much?

Wrexham AFC were relegated to the Conference Premier, now the National League, in 2008. Since then they have had six permanent managers and two caretakers. Only one manager has left at his own accord, with a change made every 18 months or so.

On paper, Dean Keates' record as a football manager so far isn't that impressive. Of eighteen games he has won six, drawn six, and lost six. Four of the wins have come in the last six matches, leaving his record up to the end of 2016 as two wins in eleven. It is his first managerial job, having previously been a player and coach at the club for the past six seasons. Wrexham fans say Keates inherited a poor squad and has done wonders to turn a relegation haunted side into one with a vague hope of a play-off spot.

Keates signed an eighteen month deal in late October. Barely four months later he has now signed a new three and a half year contract. Even Keates told the local press on his new deal: “It was a surprise when they first mentioned it to me."

And so it should be.

This isn't a club whose ownership is new to the game. It is a club who has sacked a series of managers, allowed those managers to issue unsustainable contracts to players, yet seemingly chooses to ignore the lessons of the past and hand out a contract to a manager that is ten times the length of his total experience in the role.

Sometimes you have to stop being a fan when being a Director of a football club, especially one whose owners saw at first hand, as supporters, that poor management can put a club into a financial tailspin.