ONE of the biggest sporting talking points this week was the drastic changes the world of athletics may make because of proof that past winners of major competitions were taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Several athletes have received retrospective medals in recent years, but European Athletics has now made the shock proposal that the record books should be rewritten.

The thought of starting again with a completely clean slate has, naturally, annoyed the likes of Paula Radcliffe who set the women’s (mixed) marathon world record of 2:15:25 in 2003.

She totally disagrees with the proposal, as do other clean world-record holders.

I agree it would be wrong for their records to be expunged.

It made me think how I would feel if our FA Cup success in 1976 was erased from the record books.

Occasionally I wonder if there are some football fans who think the game was first played when the Premier League began 25 years ago.

Can you imagine if every footballing achievement prior to 1992 was done away with?

Not only would our FA Cup triumph be taken from us but so would our runners-up finish in the first division in 1983/84.

Just imagine the uproar amongst our supporters!

I can totally understand how Paula Radcliffe and co feel.

The Premiership changed football in many ways, but in many ways it is still the same game just as the marathon is still 26.2 miles long; the pitches are still the same size, teams are made up of 11 players and games are officiated by a referee and two linesmen.

The biggest single difference is money. Because of it the Premier League is like a magnet, attracting foreign owners, players and coaches.

I stopped calling most of them managers a long time ago. The introduction of ‘head coaches’ under ‘directors of football’ is definitely one of the main differences.

For instance, Messrs Shankly, Clough, Sir Bobby Robson and myself managed from the top to the bottom of the Football League.

We were given time, which I used to start youth centre academies in Newcastle and Bristol to link with one in London.

After signing the likes of Alan Shearer and the Wallace brothers I was able to watch them progress through the ranks.

Ted Bates and I had 30 years in charge at The Dell between us.

‘Head coaches’ get a fraction of the time we were given. After Arsene Wenger (21 years at Arsenal), the next longest-serving Premier League managers are three British lads in Eddie Howe (AFC Bournemouth), Sean Dyche (Burnley) and Mark Hughes (Stoke City), who have been at their clubs for four years.

Tony Pulis has been at West Brom for two years, four months and, believe it or not, Mauricio Pochettino has now been at Spurs for nearly three years.

Slaven Bilic has been at West Ham for nearly two years and Jurgen Klopp just over a year but the other 12 Premier League managers have not even done 12 months!.

It is not only in the Premiership that this is the case.

Leeds United have had ten managers in the last five years and Eastleigh have had five this season!

I can quite understand why people’s jobs are more dependent on first-team results than ever.

We were all given more time regardless and that patience was usually rewarded with trophies.

Some of the big-name managers now don’t even move their families to this country, never mind the city they’re working in.

This sort of attitude with the foreign coaches spreads to the players. When the opportunity arises to move up the ladder and increase their pay packet, I can understand why they take it.

Football is more transient these days but at least clubs like ours can be proud we achieved things that will always be in the history books.