SAF: Tough for young managers

Published May. 24, 2011 3:15 p.m. ET

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The United boss said the precarious nature of the job plus dealing with celebrity players and trigger-happy chairmen made it a different occupation to when he started. Ferguson, 69, who was named as the League Managers' Association (LMA) manager of the season on Monday night, said: "I'm glad I'm not coming into the game nowadays. It's full of difficult situations - handling the media is difficult, then you have to deal with the players' profiles and agents, and there are different types of chairmen to when I started. "I think it's often a knee-jerk reaction to sack managers - their performances are assessed very, very quickly and that's a big, big challenge in the game. Some young managers suffer because of that, and that's something the LMA are trying to improve. "More than ever, management is a precarious industry. I say to all young players that the first thing they need is a good chairman. "There has been a lot of unusual sackings lately which I've found hard to understand. "Roberto di Matteo was probably one of the most surprising of the season because West Brom were playing arguably some of the most attractive football in the Barclays Premier League and scoring goals. "The threat of them going down was probably why Roberto lost his job. But I would rather watch a team playing the right way, whether they went down or not." After receiving his LMA award, Ferguson offered his support to sacked Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti, and then sympathised with those managers who had suffered relegation. "To the managers who had the terrible disappointment of going down - sometimes as a manager you don't get the rewards you deserve," added Ferguson. "Blackpool played a fantastic game and gave something to the Premier League, we will always remember how they played with abandon, enjoying it and always playing attacking football. "I've already thanked Ian Holloway for his contribution to the game this year. "Fortunately I have no worries about Alex McLeish - I have known him since he was a kid and he will be back alright. He's used to dealing with adversity and he will do so again."