Just About Managing

The dangers of keeping a grip on reality at a football club are widespread. The latest case at Wrexham is a warning to all.

The National League club apparently allowed former manager Gary Mills to sign players to contracts that had trigger clauses extending them into the following season once a certain number of games were played by the player.

Every player had a set number of matches to start before their clause was triggered. Some of them already have been, but a crisis point had been reached with a string of players set to trigger their clauses and Mills' replacement nervously eyeing up his long terms plans.

These are generally players not necessarily in new manager Dean Keates' plans or capable of fitting into the future budget. Top scorer John Rooney sits on 29 starts and 11 goals, but has now found himself on the bench for the last two games as match number 30 triggers a new deal. Two further players have agreed terms to not trigger their clauses, and a few more are on the verge of triggering their extra year.

Managers have favourite players, or have a preference to a type of player. Often changing a manager is so much more than just him. His backroom staff tend to go out the door, and there is usually upheaval in the playing squad - and that comes at a cost.

At Newport, Graham Westley has all but frozen out a trio of players signed by a predecessor that he no longer wants. He's brought in 13 new players, and axed nine others, as well as having a clear out among the coaching staff. Even the club secretary departed, which was probably a first.

It's an expensive hobby sacking managers. Even the Chief Executive and Director of Football at Wrexham both left in November, a week after Mills' departure. Though the news about the clauses could be a potential reason why, we'll probably never know.