The Championship managers carousel waits for no Football Man | Football

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Few people can lift the altruistic, benevolent haze of Paris 2024 on a Monday morning as well as Peter Ridsdale, a man who would give Buzz Killington a run for his money at the Vibe Olympics, but the managerial merry-go-round waits for no Football Man. You’d think the chairman blamed for bringing Leeds United to their knees in the 2000s – who once spent club money on tropical goldfish to swim around in a tank in his Elland Road office – wouldn’t be at the sharp end of Football Decisions in 2024. But Ridsdale, at Preston since December 2011, has wasted no time in encouraging manager Ryan Lowe to open a door marked ‘Sling ya Hook’ just one game into the new Championship season. And by wasting no time, Football Daily means that Ridsdale apparently wasted a fair amount of time – an entire pre-season and a summer of recruitment and planning to be precise – before Lowe’s departure became a reality.

It has to be said that Lowe and Preston had a stinking end to last season, with any hopes of a surprise play-off spot evaporated with a run of five straight defeats in which precisely zero goals were scored. But it is odd that a narrow defeat to recently relegated Sheffield United on the opening day of the new season – easily one of the best teams in the Championship – was the straw that broke the camel’s back, even if Ridsdale insists the decision was mutual. Lowe’s team played reasonably well against the Blades, only to concede via a wildly deflected shot and a blundering goalkeeper. Not exactly things a manager can control, but that’s football, folks!

Ridsdale sacked a manager at the start of the season in September 2011 during a previous spell at Plymouth Argyle, where he had been parachuted in to rescue – you guessed it – financially struggling Devon club. The fact that Peter Reid had only a few weeks earlier dipped into his own pocket to pay Argyle’s heating bills and auctioned off his 1986 FA Cup runners-up medal to help staff who, like him, had been left unpaid by the club’s financial problems did not seem to count in the manager’s favour, as Reid was given his marching orders after a poor start to the season in League Two. If that seems a little unfair, Ridsdale were arguably absolved by avoiding relegation from the Football League by two points later that season. You can’t deny that Ridsdale get results. We can’t say whether they’re good or bad, but results they are.

And so, good luck to the next manager at Deepdale. Yes, you may have a relentless fixture list, a crushingly competitive and chaotic division to play in, considerable expectations not unrelated to the Sir Tom Finney statue you have to walk past every day on your way to work and only two weeks until the wood is shoved firmly into the hole in the transfer window, but at least there is the opportunity to work under director Ridsdale, who has just appointed Ched Evans as part of a three-man team overseeing Preston’s games against Sunderland and Swansea City this week. That’s football, folks!

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I appreciate small things much more than I did… waking up and feeling good, being alive, I appreciate it much more than I did 10 years ago” – Sven-Göran Eriksson speaks to Simon Hattenstone about his terminal illness, scandal and why he feels sorry for the next England manager.

It’s good to see that Sheffield Wednesday passive-aggressively warned fans ahead of the first game of the season on the first weekend of the Championship with the official statement that ‘while we cannot prevent supporters from wearing counterfeit shirts outside of Hillsborough, we do respectfully request that such products are not displayed in the stadium. Anyone found to be wearing a counterfeit shirt at Hillsborough may be asked to leave, with information passed on to the relevant parties’. Now, as a law-abiding citizen, I am of course always prepared to comply with such things. However, I would also like an open and honest explanation as to why an official replica shirt from a team that has not played in the top division for 24 years and has won only one trophy in 99 years costs £77 without the use of the terms ‘we’re’, ‘ripping’, ‘you’, ‘suckers’ and ‘off’” – Noble Francis.

I don’t know what astronomers have done to upset you – were you big Pluto fans, perhaps? – but fair play for winding them up in homage to the ultimate wind-up merchant, Pepe, by calling Johannes Kepler an astrologer (Friday’s Football Daily). After looking at the stars, I predict 1,057 letters from furious telescope enthusiasts” – David Madden (and 1,056 furious telescope enthusiasts).

Seeing Tim Ream’s transfer from Fulham to Charlotte (and especially Trevor Wastell’s email on Friday) has of course prompted me to write about the options for travelling from Fulham to Charlotte. Prospective travellers will no doubt be pleased with the wide range of flights from Heathrow, direct (via American Airlines) or one-stops, to see Ream in his new home” – Anthony Donnelly

As a loyal Poppies supporter I was delighted to see you mention us in Friday’s Memory Lane section (full email edition). I remember the monk well, he carried a ringing bell and rang it as he walked along the Kettering touchline. Needless to say he wasn’t very Christian at times” – Giordy Salvi

Send letters to [email protected]. The invaluable winner of today’s letter o’ the day is… Giordy Salvi. You can view the general terms and conditions for our competitions here.