As
Nottingham Forest enters a new era under the ownership of the Al-Hasawi family,
they enter it without manager Steve Cotterill. Despite only taking over in
October after the sacking of Steve McLaren, the former Notts County man has
been removed from his position with immediate effect. It seems a pretty harsh
decision considering that he steered the club away from relegation after a
series of off-field issues, including former owner Nigel Doughty’s death that
left Forest’s long term future uncertain.
Such
is the world of football these days that managers are barely given a chance to
prove their worth to new owners, or sacked without any justifiable reason and
Cotterill will undoubtedly be disappointed to be unable to lead Nottingham
Forest forward next season. Here are ten more of the most unfair managerial
dismissals in recent years:
1. Lee Clark
Despite
leading Huddersfield on a 43-game unbeaten run and into the playoffs twice,
Chairman Dean Hoyle still decided to remove the former Newcastle midfielder
with the Terriers sitting third in the league. Hoyle branded his former manager
‘arrogant’, stating that Clark had more desire to protect the unbeaten run than
get the club promoted. The decision worked out in the end though, as new boss
Simon Grayson took the side up via the playoffs.
2. Mark Hughes
Many
were surprised when Welshman Hughes was even offered the chance to keep his job
at Manchester City after the takeover from Sheikh Mansour. After all, Hughes
wasn’t exactly the big name that City required to lead the club into a new era,
despite going about his work efficiently and effectively. However, a run of two
wins in 11 Premiership games saw Hughes dismissed in December 2009 and although
Roberto Mancini struggled initially, he’s brought home the bacon in the long
run.
3. Sean Dyche
Watford
were many pundits’ tips for relegation in the Championship last season having
lost a good proportion of their playing squad to other clubs and manager Malky
Mackay to Cardiff. However, former Hornets centre back Sean Dyche did a
remarkable job considering the financial restraints placed upon him and
everyone at Vicarage Road was happy with the 11th placed finish. The Pozzo
family had other ideas following their takeover this summer though and decided
the club needed a flavour of Italian to get them to the next level. Out went
Dyche, in came Gianfranco Zola.
4. Carlo Ancelotti
After
failing to attract Guus Hiddink on a permanent basis to Stamford Bridge, Roman
Abramovich went after long-term target Carlo Ancelotti from AC Milan. He landed
his man in 2009 and everything went perfectly for the experienced Italian who
led the Blues to the league and cup double in 2010. However, it was too good to
be true and having finished the next season trophyless and losing to Manchester
United in the Champions League quarter final, Ancelotti was replaced with the
new kid on the block, Andre Villas-Boas. The rest, as they say, is history.
5. Sam Allardyce
Having
worked wonders at Bolton all those years ago, Allardyce has never found himself
a popular option for clubs given his love of the long ball game that fans hate
to see. He did manage to establish himself at Blackburn though, leading the
club out of the trouble Paul Ince had got them into and he looked set to
establish his side as a solid mid table outfit. The Venkys had other ideas
though, firing Big Sam upon their arrival before appointing Steve Kean, a
decision that has proved to be one of the worse decisions in Premier League
history.
6. Chris Hughton
The
likeable Hughton won the affections of every Geordie in Newcastle having saved
a sinking ship that was floundering in the Championship. He got them up at the
first time of asking and had them well on the road to Premiership survival but
Mike Ashley had other ideas. To the anger of the Toon Army fans, he removed
Hughton and appointed Alan Pardew, a man seen as fairly average by anyone who’s
ever supported a team he’s managed. Not this time though, Pardew seems to have
sprinkled the magic dust over St James’s Park and Hughton’s dismissal isn’t
quite so frowned upon in the North East these days.
7. Gary Megson
Megson
has never been the most popular man in football, indeed many supporters pray
with relief when he isn’t appointed to the open vacancy at their club. He
endured a dreadful relationship with the supporters at Bolton, but finally
built up a rapport with the fans at Sheffield Wednesday having led the side
into a playoff position. Milan Mandaric ruined that cosy situation though,
removing Megson despite the side’s wonderful league position. He appointed Dave
Jones instead and much to Megson’s annoyance, the former Cardiff boss led the
Owls up automatically.
8. Harry Redknapp
‘Arry
rescued Tottenham from the depths after Juande Ramos left the club languishing
in the drop zone. Redknapp got the side into the top half that year, before
leading them into the Champions League the year after where they enjoyed some
memorable times, especially against the two Milan clubs. Although Spurs
collapsed last season having been in with a shot at the title in January,
Redknapp’s side still finished fourth, good enough for the Champions League had
it not been for Chelsea’s freak result. Not good enough for Daniel Levy though,
whose relationship with Redknapp had been damaged over the England affair and
the axe was swift to fall this summer. Andre Villas-Boas now faces a tricky
task ahead.
9. Neil Warnock
Warnock
did his usual trick of getting a side promoted from the lower leagues with QPR,
who hadn’t seen Premier League football for years. Although the R’s were
struggling by Christmas, they were outside the relegation places when new owner
Tony Fernandes came in. He decided Warnock wasn’t the man to keep the team in
the Premiership though and appointed Mark Hughes instead, giving him a healthy
transfer budget in the process. Warnock had plenty of reasons to be aggrieved,
especially considering he wasn’t given the chance to work with vast resources
and also that Hughes only kept the club up on the final day of the season.
10. Vicente Del
Bosque
Real
Madrid have a history of changing their manager more times than they change the
tablecloths in the club’s canteen, but current Spanish boss Del Bosque can
probably feel more hard done by than most. Having won two La Liga titles, two
Champions Leagues, a Spanish Supercup, a UEFA Supercup and the Intercontinental
Cup during his time in charge, he oversaw one of the most successful periods in
the club’s modern day history. As the Galacticos started to arrive without the
manager’s permission, the club shockingly chose not to renew Del Bosque’s
contract in 2003. The club subsequently failed to win the title again till 2007
under Fabio Capello despite splashing the cash while Del Bosque has led the
national team to glory instead.
By
The Coin Toss
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