I get the calls for a short term contract of a season for managers. Trouble is that makes your bloke a top target if the team does well? Either way, please god let’s have some continuity and stick it out with someone. The endless revolving door of mediocrity to crisis and back again is nonsense, expensive and tiresome.
I think the pragmatic approach of a short contract far outweighs the cost of these two/three year deals, especially at our level. If he is doing well you can extend mid way through. If he is doing well on a longer contract someone will pay you compo to nab him anyway, assuming they wanted to go. I dread to think how many managers we have paid over the years who were no longer actually employed by us.
I'd always go the short term route with some performance related incentive bonuses.