Appointed on responsibility, sacked on accountability: Understanding involuntary termination in football management. What can we learn from coaching studies

Abstract

This conceptual review paper explores the decision practices that lead to the pervasive practice of short-term tenure and involuntary termination of managers' employment in professional soccer. The underlying assumptions are unsustainable; managers are hired on responsibility for performance and fired on accountability for results. Having critically appraised relevant literature to interpret and restate the problem, concepts associated with sport coaching provide a clearer and novel articulation of the decision factors in soccer organisations. An appreciation of expertise, goal management, role clutter, impression management and celebrity offers relevant insights. At an individual level, managers' attributions in relation to positive and negative outcomes may sow the seeds for subsequent dismissal. Managers would benefit from raising awareness of the distinction between responsibility and accountability, showing greater humility in claiming role impact, and demonstrating expertise in aspects of management for which they are directly responsible.