Top-flight managers give 110%

The average working week of a top-flight football manager is nudging 90 hours, according to a new survey.

The research conducted by the Independent newspaper and League Managers' Association, reveals that bosses in the Barclays Premiership are working, on average, 87.5 hours in a routine week.

Some 25% of Premiership bosses claim to work more than 100 hours per week, while the theme of working long hours also extends to the lower divisions.

Bosses work for 75.4 hours in the Championship, 73 hours in League One and 84.3 hours in League Two.

Another finding of the investigation showed differing views on drug use, with 64% of Premiership bosses eager to sack any player found to have used recreational drugs, compared to just 23% in the Championship.

In respect to performance-enhancing drugs, 83% of Premiership managers would seek to have one of their players dismissed if found guilty of abuse, while that figure falls to 54% in League One.

Managers were also asked their views on the use of video evidence during matches, with 100% in the Premiership and 96% overall keen to see TV replays used to decide questionable goal-line calls.

The league's top-flight managers are apparently more keen to see such technology introduced, with 83% arguing it should also be utilised to decide penalty calls, compared to just 48% overall.

More than 60% of all managers in the top four English divisions took part in the survey, and precisely half of the Premiership bosses would welcome the use of video evidence during a match to rule on an incident missed by match officials, in contrast with just 20% from League One.