Despite Argentina scraping through to the World Cup finals this week, thanks to a narrow and scrappy win over Uruguay, I still have my doubts about whether Diego Maradona will be in charge of the team in South Africa.

There were rumours in the build-up to this crucial match that Maradona would quit the team whether or not they qualified, claiming there is too much outside interference in the team.

He later denied making that threat, but there is rarely smoke without fire and all is most certainly not well in the Argentinean camp.

But the real problem, I believe, doesn't lie with outside interference or any internal politics. The real problem is that the Argentinean FA just don't have the right man for the job.

Maradona has been at the helm for nearly a year and during that time the team has lurched from one mess to another, culminating in their near failure to qualify.

Under Maradona's stewardship, Argentina have been on the end of some pretty disastrous results, including a 6-1 spanking by Bolivia and, more recently, three successive defeats to Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay.

The truth is, great players rarely make great managers.

History is littered with individuals who as players were stars but as managers became black holes. Being a genius on the pitch is no guarantee you will be a genius at management.

Before he took over as national team boss, Maradona had a couple of attempts at managing clubs. Results ranged from unimpressive to disastrous.

And since he has been in charge of the nation he loves, all the evidence indicates that his record at club level was no fluke. Experts and commentators have been questioning both his team selection and his tactics from the moment he started.

I think, and I said as much at the time, that Argentina were banking on Maradona's status as a legend to drive them forward. They assumed that what he lacked in actual managerial skills he would make up for in passion and motivational ability.

The evidence so far suggests it isn't working the way they hoped, which is particularly unfortunate for Maradona, whose reputation is taking a hammering.

Having said that, it would be wrong to point the finger at the ex-player himself. I think most former footballers who care about their country would jump at the chance of coaching their national team. And I am equally sure he has put everything he can into making it a success.

The finger of blame for Argentina's predicament can only be pointed in one direction - at the men who were blinded by reputation when they appointed a man to a job he wasn't capable of doing.

Now it is up to them to decide if he is good enough to continue. Getting rid of him would be a brave thing to do, considering his status in the country. But, equally, it may be the right move to make. Not a decision I would like to have to take though...

Patience or madness?

I am a great believer in the theory that struggling managers should be given time to turn things around.

Given that success or failure means so much in financial terms, I can understand why some chairmen decide to hit the panic button after just a few poor results.

But I believe that in all but the more drastic cases, clubs should let the man that landed them in the mess fight their way out of it. After all, standing by your man and giving him chance to sort it out can have some pretty spectacular results.

For proof of this you need look no further than Sir Alex Ferguson, who was just a game away from being sacked by Manchester United at the beginning of his Old Trafford career. And I think it's fairly safe to say that relationship has worked out reasonably well over the past couple of decades.

Yet despite my belief that patience pays dividends, I have to admit even I am shocked, stunned and not a little amazed that young Roy Keane is still in charge of Ipswich.

The former Manchester United player and Sunderland manager took over at Ipswich at the end of last season and his new club was immediately installed as one of the pre-season favourites for promotion.

However, instead of masterminding the team's charge up the table he has led them to the bottom of the league, having made their worst start to a season in their entire history.

Eleven games in - that's almost a quarter of the season - and they are yet to register their first win. In fact, they have only managed to put five points on the board out of a possible 33. It isn't, to put it mildly, looking good. Had anybody else overseen that sort of start to a season at just about any other club, they would almost certainly be looking for alternative forms of employment by now. After all, we just had an international break, which is an ideal opportunity to swap things around and give the new man a couple of weeks to settle in and start solving the problems.

But Keane has clung on, even getting a genuine vote of confidence from his chairman Simon Clegg, who must be guilty of one of the understatements of the season. "It's taken time to get going and that has been disappointing," he said, without a hint of irony.

In truth, I think both Keane and Ipswich have got themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. The Irishman, who had fantastic success at Sunderland, was appointed in a blaze of glory, no doubt on a pretty hefty salary.

So, on the one hand, if he were to walk away from this job, having already walked away from the Stadium of Light when things got a little tough, he would be bordering on unemployable. At least for a long while. So, despite his frequent tantrums and questionable staying power, I don't see him quitting.

On the other hand, Ipswich have invested a lot in Keane, not just in terms of what they are paying him, but also in terms of allowing him to build his own team. Getting rid of him now would not only be very costly, but also a huge admission of failure.

There is no doubt that Keane has got what it takes to get a team out of the Championship. Sunderland were languishing at the bottom of the table when he took over, but they eventually finished that season as champions. It just seems like his magic touch has deserted him.

The strange thing is I can still see Keane managing to salvage something from this season. When he took over, it was with the self-stated aim of getting into the Premiership at the first attempt.

"I would like to try and do it in one year. If I was not up for it I would be walking my dogs," the 38-year-old had said.

Sadly, that seems a very remote possibility now, and I think, considering they are already five points adrift of safety, he may have to lower his sights a little and make mid-table his realistic objective for the season.

Strangely, but probably because of who he is and the reputation he has, so far the fans have not completely turned against him, and I believe that is one of the key reasons he has not been shown the door.

However, if yesterday's home game with Swansea didn't yield the club's first win I think Keane may just find the fans have lost faith. And, with that, you can expect the manager to follow suit.

After all, it is a very fine line that divides a chairman being patient and being just plain daft.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com