Fabio Capello's appointment as the new England football manager puts the issue of employment contracts into the spotlight once again.
The Football Association (FA) was hammered by critics for its decision to award lengthy contracts with generous terms to the two previous managers, Steve McClaren and Sven Goran Eriksson.
McClaren was reported to have been given a year's salary of £2.5m in lieu of the two years left on his contract, despite failing miserably in the role.
Eriksson was still being paid by the FA until he found new employment at Manchester City, more than a year after leaving the England job.
Newspapers have reported that Capello has been offered a two-year deal until the summer of 2010, taking the national team up to the end of the next World Cup in South Africa.
This would make far more sense than the terms given to his predecessors. If Capello was to fail early on in the qualification campaign, the FA could terminate his contract and not have to worry about finding the cash for paying his contract off in full.
Better still, the FA could insist upon a contract terminable on notice, as is the way in the business world. Then the financial exposure upon termination would be limited to the notice period.
However, it is unlikely Capello and his advisers would agree to such terms. He would have seen the lucrative deals given to the previous incumbents and demand a similar deal. So the FA has created a rod for its own back with its poor negotiation in years gone by.
But that might be the price to pay for getting the best man for the job and putting English football back where it belongs.
