It was only when I had finished at Newcastle that I realised management was no longer for me. The joy of winning did not compensate for the pain of losing. I thought, ‘This isn’t worth it any more’. It was time to find something else to do, and that was 17 years ago.
But let me tell you, when you’re in the job, you are fighting like mad to stay there. No matter how toxic things were, I always said to myself, ‘I’m here, I’m going to fight and do my very best for this football club’.
I would like to think that is the case with those Premier League managers who are under serious pressure right now.