No Fliker. But if it misfires on a regular basis, looks like a bag of s**t and needs parts replacing every two minutes we would probably start asking questions.

Good point Fliker. That's the problem with analogies - they don't always work through neatly. Let me try again. If the driver kept stalling the engine, taking wrong turns and causing crashes then yes, I would change him or her although I still wouldn't expect the Fiesta to win the race. To cut through the analogy, the point is this. I wouldn't ever call for any manager to get the sack (even if his team went down) provided he was doing a good job with what he had at his disposal. By the same token, relative scarcity of resources is not a get out of jail free card for a manager who (for example) has a shocking transfer policy, has his team play awful football and talks tripe. It's a case for me of whether a manager is doing a good job, which isn't necessarily based purely on where the team finishes.

As smiler suggests it's how well he is driving relative to an objective measure.

The main problem that persists in all human endeavour is finding and agreeing on the things to be measured and then the values of each measured actor.

There isn't a system on earth that successfully does that.

Time, space and the observer all remain dynamic and may even evolve.

The Posh manager on the periscope link I posted on the paul davies thread is worth a listen regrading some aspects of how he chooses and sacks managers

Lol.

That's the wisest thing to do .

Might as well take the credit and dodge the bullet

Nice question Fliker. I am off to bed now to see if the migraine settles down. Is the club the car? Is the chairman the mechanic? Is the new coach the sat nav?

Lol.

Very good David.

Some intelligent points made on this thread so I won't lower the tone.