World Cup 2010 / Ben Lyttleton / 12 October 2009 / Leave a comment

Managers come and go but knowing when to do either is essential to how we perceive bosses, says Ben Lyttleton.

"Bilic had the opportunity to stand down after Euro 2008. He was linked with jobs at Hamburg and Schalke. Now he is likely to be on the market again, but the clubs who might be linked with him are at least one rung down from that level."

Think of the coaches who ignited the imagination at Euro 2008, and see where they are now: Fatih Terim, whose Turkey side reached the semi-finals, will resign on Wednesday after the weekend¹s 2-0 defeat to Belgium ended hopes of making a play-off spot; Slaven Bilic, the Croatia boss, is also set to stand down now Ukraine¹s win over England has left them likely to miss out on South Africa.

Even Lars Lagerback, of Sweden (not quite as exciting a figure as the other two but he has got his team to the last five international tournaments), will quit if the Group A strugglers cannot overtake Portugal for second place. "I am privileged to have worked so long with these guys, but I'm disappointed that we did not score more goals during qualifying," he said.

While the experts will tell you that the coaches can make all the difference, their respective failures have not made Terim, Bilic and Lagerback bad coaches. Rather, international football can turn on a single incident in a single match which makes all the difference: in Croatia's case, it was when they twice hit the post with the score at 2-2 in the home tie against Ukraine. Had one of those efforts gone in, then Croatia would be preparing for a play-off, not Ukraine.

Bilic had the opportunity to stand down after Euro 2008, when his stock was at its highest: he was linked with jobs at Hamburg and Schalke. Now he is likely to be on the market again, but the clubs who might be linked with him, like West Ham, are at least one rung down from that level. One of the skills a leader needs is a sense of timing, of knowing when the time is right to leave.

By the same token, there is also a good time to join a team and in that respect Fabio Capello can pat himself on the back. England may not have qualified for Euro 2008 but they were hardly a poor side: again, they missed that fortune needed during qualifying ­ when Steven Gerrard hit the post against Russia, when Mladen Petric happened to hit an unstoppable pile-driver in the Wembley rain to make it 3-2 to Croatia ­but they are now one of the favourites for the World Cup, at [7.4].

Ciro Blazevic of Bosnia-Herzegovina is another coach who joined at the right time. In fact, the Bosnian situation could not have been worse when he took
over: 19 players went on strike after the previous coach was sacked and the FA's secretary-general was charged with tax evasion but Blazevic recognised the talent in his squad ­ which contains Wolfsburg duo Edin Dzeko and Zvjezdan Misimovic and Hoffenheim's fit-again Vedad Ibisevic ­ and his team are now in the play-offs, and a decent [2.24] to qualify.

One other new coach who might have taken over just at the right time is Dick Advocaat of Belgium. Considering the talent in the Belgian side at the moment, ­ with a spine of Vermaelen, Van Buyten, Fellaini, Defour, Hazard and Mirallas, it is bizarre that they have struggled so much in this campaign. Lack of discipline and mental frailty have been blamed but Advocaat, the Dutch boss nicknamed Little General, will soon put paid to that. Already he has upset Van Buyten, by appointing the less experienced but Dutch-speaking Vermaelen as captain, and fallen out with Fellaini over an operation on his wisdom teeth.

But if anyone can restore Belgium to their glory days of the 1980s it is Advocaat. They are [2.0] to beat Estonia on Wednesday but a longer-term bet will be on the Belgians to qualify for Euro 2012. Advocaat may divide opinion as a man, but as a coach, as he proved at Rangers (winning the treble in 1998) and Zenit St Petersburg (Uefa Cup winners 2008), he knows when it¹s a good time to take charge of a team. And that is half the battle.

Tags: Belgium, Croatia, Fatih Terim, Russia, Slaven Bilic, Turkey, World Cup football betting odds, World Cup Qualifying Betting Odds