As the number of football bosses collapsing under pressure increases, Health Correspondent Barry Nelson asks if there's any way they can do the job but give stress the boot.

WITH their mega-buck salaries and celebrity status, Premiership football managers have one of the most glamorous jobs in sport. But as the collapse of West Ham manager Glenn Roeder demonstrates, the downside of the vocation is the pressure which exposes those bosses to murderous levels of stress.

Doctors are still carrying out a battery of tests on Roeder, a former Newcastle defender, who remains in a stable condition at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel

At first medics suspected the 47-year-old Hammers boss might have an underlying heart condition but the latest information suggests that the problem has been caused by the blockage of a minor blood vessel in his brain, probably caused by a stroke.

While noone can say for sure whether his team's desperate fight for Premiership survival caused his illness, all the evidence points to a causal link.

Top-flight football is littered with casualties: in former Scotland manager Jock Stein's case the pressure proved fatal, the Celtic legend suffering a devastating heart attack during a World Cup qualifier back in 1995; current Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness had to undergo a triple heart bypass the day after his Liverpool side's FA cup semi final against Portsmouth in 1992; and probably the most well known recent soccer manager victim is the Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier, who was whisked away for emergency heart surgery after suffering chest pains during a match against Leeds two years ago.

Houllier, who has made a well-publicised comeback to the Liverpool dug-out, poignantly expressed his support for Glenn Roeder and wished him an early recovery.

After his heart attack, Houllier made a remark which could easily be a motto for the exclusive club of Premiership managers - "We push it to the limit because football is our life."

So is this fearsome casualty rate inevitable - or can everyone who faces pressures at work or at home learn to cope?

Newcastle University stress expert Dr Joan Harvey is sympathetic about the plight of our top football managers but points out that damaging stress levels are, paradoxically, also felt at the bottom of pile.

"It's well known that senior managers are vulnerable to health problems brought on by stress, but people at the rock bottom of organisations who feel they have no control over what they do every day, can also suffer," says Dr Harvey, who often talks to business people about managing their stress levels.

Managing a squad of very different individuals and welding them into an effective team is very hard, she says. "I would say that the people at the very top of football really earn their money. Just how vulnerable you are to heart problems and strokes depends on how well you, as an individual, can handle the inevitable stress."

Dr Harvey suspects that veteran Magpies boss Sir Bobby Robson uses humour as a way of coping with life at the top - and urges others to learn by his example. "People like Bobby Robson seem to be able to handle the stress. He loves the game, he is doing what he has always wanted to do, and he has a proven track record."

The chartered psychologist, who lectures on stress at the university's school of management, says: "I suspect that Robson's coping mechanism when he is stressed is to have a good laugh with people."

People often think Dr Harvey is joking when she mentions the importance of humour but she insists having a laugh can be a life-saver.

"Humour is a brilliant way of coping with stress. It's hard to be really tense and have a good belly laugh at the same time," she says.

While West Ham's results this season have not been cause for much humour, Dr Harvey says it is important to stand back and put life into perspective.

"Having a laugh helps to put things into perspective. We seem to be panicking about what is going to happen at work tomorrow when there's that poor Iraqi child who suddenly has to cope with having no family and no arms," she adds.

Exercise, even taking a brisk walk, is a reliable way of helping people who are stressed out, says Dr Harvey. "Getting steamed up at work produces a lot of adrenaline which has nowhere to go. Your body is telling you that you are being chased by a lion but all you are doing is sitting at a desk in a front of a computer. If you take exercise, you are doing what your body wants you to do."

She also recommends various forms of meditation and yoga as proven ways to wind down body and soul. One of the best things you should do is develop an interest outside of work.

"I do research into my family's history, my husband goes sailing. Whatever you do, it takes you away from all the aggravations and tensions at work," says Dr Harvey.

But stay away from the pub. Drinking when you're under pressure can soon escalate and will only add to your problems, she says.

"The worst thing you can do is to worry about problems, going over and over them in your mind."

* The Which? Guide to Managing Stress was published yesterday. It can be ordered by ringing 0800 252100 (£10, post and packaging free) or at www.which.net or from bookshops.