To only consider young football managers is a big mistake

“Allardyce left the club sitting 12th and I will be very surprised if they do much better next season.”

It’s no secret that I’m fond of a fine wine.

And those who consider themselves connoisseurs will often rave about the merits of a vintage blend.

Take it from me, though, age doesn’t necessarily mean quality.

If your ingredients are no good in the first place, the product doesn’t have much chance of getting better by hanging around for a few years.

And it’s exactly the same with football managers.

We seem to have a fad for young bosses at the moment and that’s not entirely a bad thing.

I praised Alex Neil last week and was delighted to see him round off the remarkable job he’s done with Norwich by winning last Monday’s Premier League Play-off Final.

I’m looking forward to seeing Eddie Howe take his Bournemouth team into the top flight next season.

They played some thrilling football to clinch promotion from the Championship, and he’s a man with some great ideas.

I hope he does really well and there’s nothing to suggest that he won’t be a success for many years to come.

But, on the back of his achievements, I wonder if clubs will increasingly look for managers who are still in their thirties?

To consider only young men for the top jobs would be a big mistake.

Look at way things went at Sunderland.

They struggled under Paolo di Canio, and then Gus Poyet.

Their fear of relegation led them to call in that old warhorse, Dick Advocaat.

His vast experience got things going again, and there will be top-flight football at the Stadium of Light next season.

I know he now considers himself too old to be working in club football but he might well re-appear in charge of a national team.

The manager I feel sorry for is Sam Allardyce.

The critics are always ready to label him as a dinosaur. Those who rarely watch his teams claim he’s as a long-ball man.

West Ham have binned him after three years and I’ll be very interested to see where they go from here.

Allardyce left the club sitting 12th and I will be very surprised if they do much better next season.

The Hammers are moving to the Olympic Stadium in 2016 and the theory seems to be that tickets will sell in greater numbers if a popular manager is in charge.

There may be something in that but they have to be in the top league.

Big Sam is only 60, and will surely be back in a top job soon and I’ll raise a glass to that.