Wilkinson praises Strachan move
Howard Wilkinson is pleased Gordon Strachan has decided to take a break from football management rather than allowing the pressures of the job to affect his health.
Southampton today announced that Strachan would not be renewing his contract with the club at the end of the season due to “medical and other personal reasons”.
The stresses involved in club management have been highlighted in recent years with Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier undergoing life-saving heart surgery and former West Ham chief Glenn Roeder having an operation on a brain tumour.
Wilkinson, the chairman of the League Managers Association, would like to see more managers following Strachan’s lead if they become concerned about health issues.
The former Leeds and Sunderland manager said: “I know he has always been very concerned about the effects on him and his family.
“I’m personally pleased. It is good for him and his family and good for his next club, whoever that is.
“It is well paid, and I don’t know too many who would complain about that but in terms of having a rest, it is undoubtedly one of the best things you can do. These days given the pressures, in the long run it is a very wise thing to do.
“No matter how much distance you try to put between yourself and your job, it is a 24-hour or 18-hour job.
“No matter how much you try to put the media, the fans and results away from you they do tend to build up and have an effect.”
Wilkinson has no doubt that Strachan will return to management after his break and believes he will come back with renewed vigour.
He told Sky Sports News: “I think if he has a year out that after 12 months people will think he is an even better manager than he was at Southampton in some respects.
“He will be fresher and will have had the chance to digest the things he has done up to now.
“Someone has got to set the trend or the fashion and I am pleased he is setting the fashion.”
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