At some point in every football manager’s career, they are going to be faced with the type of question my children ask each other on long drives.
Would you rather be bitten by a shark or a lion? Break your arm or your leg? Get sacked or go by mutual agreement… well, not that one, but that is exactly the question every gaffer gets at least once.
Football clubs never actually say they have sacked their manager. They say they have “parted company”, the manager has “left their post” or just “departed”. But all of these phrases amount to the same thing: you’re fired.
But there is one formulation of words that does mean something slightly different, something slightly… better?
“We can announce that head coach Antonio Conte has left the club by mutual agreement,” Tottenham Hotspur announced this week.
Club chairman Daniel Levy then added, through gritted teeth: “We have 10 Premier League games remaining and we have a fight on our hands for a Champions League place. We all need to pull together. Everyone has to step up to ensure the highest possible finish for our club and amazing, loyal supporters.”
Compare that to the valedictory the club made two weeks before when women’s team coach Rehanne Skinner was “relieved of her duties”.
“Since joining us in…
