MARCH 14 ― The fickle nature of footballing fortune is once again making itself evident with many managers at European’s leading clubs lurching from one extreme to the other in recent weeks.

In Spain, for example, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was forced to hold an impromptu press conference on Thursday to deny reports that he is poised to sack boss Carlo Ancelotti following a poor run of form which culminated in a Champions League 4-3 home defeat to Schalke on Tuesday.

Although Los Blancos still progressed to the last eight after winning the first leg 2-0, it was a shocking defeat for the Spanish giants and leaves Ancelotti in a precarious position after seeing his team win only eight of their 15 games so far in 2015.

It is a stunning reversal in fortune for the Italian boss when you recall that Real headed into the Christmas break on the back of 22 consecutive victories and newly crowned as World Club Cup winners, prompting serious debate as to whether they were the best team in history.

Now Ancelotti’s fate may well rest upon the outcome of next weekend’s trip to his team’s arch rivals Barcelona, whose manager Luis Enrique has experienced a similar journey on the managerial game of snakes and ladders…but in the opposite direction.

2015 started in spectacularly bad fashion for the Barca boss, whose team lost their first game of the year at Real Sociedad the day after Enrique had a training ground argument with star player Lionel Messi, subsequently leading to headlines claiming Messi had demanded Enrique’s sacking and threatened to leave the club.

Since then, the Catalan club have pushed off from that moment of conflict and chaos to win 15 of 16 games, surging to the top of La Liga and progressing to the Spanish cup final. Quite a turnaround for a man supposedly on the verge, as Ancelotti is now, of getting the sack.

The story is similar in England, where Louis van Gaal is the latest to fall under the managerial microscope after his Manchester United team exited the FA Cup against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday night.

United are also looking by no means certain of finishing in the Premier League’s top four to secure a crucially important return to the Champions League, and the team’s unconvincing form has led many supporters to question Van Gaal’s credentials.

This is the same Van Gaal, remember, who was widely hailed as a managerial genius after guiding the Netherlands to the World Cup semi-finals in the summer, with United fans almost unanimously hailing his arriving as the signal for a return to better times.

Tomorrow’s home meeting with Tottenham is the start of a decisive run of fixtures for United, who will also play Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea in the next few weeks, and Van Gaal is sure to receive a frosty reception if that challenging set of fixtures sends the team out of contention for a top four place.

Heading in the opposite direction, meanwhile, is the man in charge of United’s biggest traditional rivals: Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool.

Just a few months ago, you will remember, Rodgers’ job was supposedly under threat after Liverpool were dumped out of the Champions League in the group stage and found themselves languishing in the middle reaches of the Premier League.

Amid claims that he was tactically naïve and had only enjoyed success last season thanks to the goalscoring exploits of Luis Suarez, Rodgers calmly got on with his job, remodelled his team’s playing structure around a back three in defence…and now sees his team just two points behind United after winning 9 of their last 11 league games.

Louis van Gaal (right) is the latest to fall under the managerial microscope after his Manchester United team exited the FA Cup against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday night. ― Reuters pic

From Ancelotti and Enrique to Van Gaal and Rodgers ― and many more besides ― the story is the same for football managers: one minute you’re up, the next you’re down.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for supporters ― and club directors ― to be a little more patient in tough times.

If Liverpool had sacked Rodgers in November, where would they be now? Probably not fifth in the Premier League and in the FA Cup semi-final. And if Real Madrid sacked Ancelotti now, would it really increase their chances of winning La Liga or the Champions League this season? Probably not.

Liverpool, to their credit, did not dismiss Rodgers; Real Madrid fans should, likewise, hope that Perez stays true to his word and does not dispatch Ancelotti.

And if Van Gaal was the best man to lead Manchester United out of their slumber last summer, he still is now ― he deserves, at least, a couple of seasons to show whether he can make it work.

There has to be a limit, of course: Arsene Wenger, for example, has been given too many chances and endured too many failures at Arsenal now, I believe.

But when a job is only half-done, it cannot be judged. Some games are won, others are lost, and today’s fool could well prove to be tomorrow’s hero. And one of the best things about sport is that the identity of tomorrow’s heroes cannot yet be known.

*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.