Di Canio appointment storm: are agencies the answer?
4 April 2013
A sports industry recruitment firm tells Recruiter that football clubs could benefit from getting agencies involved in the appointment of first team managers.
Thu, 4 Apr 2013A sports industry recruitment firm tells Recruiter that football clubs could benefit from getting agencies involved in the appointment of first team managers.
This comes in the week Sunderland AFC have come under fire for hiring manager Paolo Di Canio, who had previously given a fascist-style salute to fans of his Italian club Lazio on multiple occasions.
Jim Chaplin, the chief operating officer of specialist recruiter Sports Recruitment International, tells Recruiter: “The appointment of football managers is one of the few areas of senior level recruitment which is still managed directly by clubs and without the help of search firms.”
Di Canio, who sports a tattoo assumed to refer to former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, refused to comment on politics at a press conference this week announcing his hiring, calling the controversy “ridiculous and pathetic”.
Hiring for such roles “is clearly in need of change”, Chaplin goes on to say, pointing to the high turnover rate as evidence for this, which he claims is “directly linked to insufficient and often ineffective processes that clubs are running”.
“The stories that came out of Swindon while Di Canio was in charge would have deterred many chairmen from appointing him. His relationship with the players and with the board was turbulent in the extreme,” he adds, but notes: “If Di Canio keeps Sunderland up [avoiding relegation from the Premier League], the board can claim to have been successful.”
A spokesperson for the Football Association (FA) tells Recruiter: “The clubs will have their own protocols in terms of HR, but in terms of the FA, the only guideline for clubs that compete in the top division and could compete in Europe is that they hold the UEFA Pro Licence.” The spokesperson says that as far as he is aware Di Canio holds and has held this for a number of years.
The appointment has also strained relationships with the Durham Miners Association union, which is closely linked to the club. His arrival at his previous UK coaching role, at Swindon Town FC, saw union GMB withdraw its sponsorship of the club.
Di Canio’s appointment also saw Sunderland’s non-executive director David Miliband resign in protest. However, the former cabinet minister had announced a few days before that he was resigning from UK politics and moving to take up a new job in New York.
Chaplin comments that in general, “sporting brands are changing their recruitment criteria and there is now more of a focus and responsibility on being role models and ambassadors for the club with sponsors, stakeholders and in the community at large”.
In a 1 April statement on its website, Sunderland chief executive officer Margaret Byrne claimed it attempted to “act in the best interests of this club at all times… It is disappointing that some people are trying to turn the appointment of a head coach into a political circus”.
In the same statement, Di Canio said: “I don’t want to talk about politics because it’s not my area. We are not in the Houses of Parliament, we are in a football club. I want to talk about sport. I want to talk about football, my players, the Board and the fans.”
This comes in the week Sunderland AFC have come under fire for hiring manager Paolo Di Canio, who had previously given a fascist-style salute to fans of his Italian club Lazio on multiple occasions.
Jim Chaplin, the chief operating officer of specialist recruiter Sports Recruitment International, tells Recruiter: “The appointment of football managers is one of the few areas of senior level recruitment which is still managed directly by clubs and without the help of search firms.”
Di Canio, who sports a tattoo assumed to refer to former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, refused to comment on politics at a press conference this week announcing his hiring, calling the controversy “ridiculous and pathetic”.
Hiring for such roles “is clearly in need of change”, Chaplin goes on to say, pointing to the high turnover rate as evidence for this, which he claims is “directly linked to insufficient and often ineffective processes that clubs are running”.
“The stories that came out of Swindon while Di Canio was in charge would have deterred many chairmen from appointing him. His relationship with the players and with the board was turbulent in the extreme,” he adds, but notes: “If Di Canio keeps Sunderland up [avoiding relegation from the Premier League], the board can claim to have been successful.”
A spokesperson for the Football Association (FA) tells Recruiter: “The clubs will have their own protocols in terms of HR, but in terms of the FA, the only guideline for clubs that compete in the top division and could compete in Europe is that they hold the UEFA Pro Licence.” The spokesperson says that as far as he is aware Di Canio holds and has held this for a number of years.
The appointment has also strained relationships with the Durham Miners Association union, which is closely linked to the club. His arrival at his previous UK coaching role, at Swindon Town FC, saw union GMB withdraw its sponsorship of the club.
Di Canio’s appointment also saw Sunderland’s non-executive director David Miliband resign in protest. However, the former cabinet minister had announced a few days before that he was resigning from UK politics and moving to take up a new job in New York.
Chaplin comments that in general, “sporting brands are changing their recruitment criteria and there is now more of a focus and responsibility on being role models and ambassadors for the club with sponsors, stakeholders and in the community at large”.
In a 1 April statement on its website, Sunderland chief executive officer Margaret Byrne claimed it attempted to “act in the best interests of this club at all times… It is disappointing that some people are trying to turn the appointment of a head coach into a political circus”.
In the same statement, Di Canio said: “I don’t want to talk about politics because it’s not my area. We are not in the Houses of Parliament, we are in a football club. I want to talk about sport. I want to talk about football, my players, the Board and the fans.”
