Well well well, another Premier League manager gets the chop and it's none other than Newcastle United's Sam Allardyce. That makes him the eighth top-flight head coach to be shown the door in the space of five months. I know there's always been a hire-and-fire-'em culture in England when it comes to football management, but was it always as bad as this?
With eight men gone, it means there's now only twelve remaining who must surely be starting to feel the tightness of their shirt collars at this point. By the time I've typed up this article, we'll probably lose another one, so without further ado let's see if we can work out who's next for the guillotine.
Arsene Wenger
Practically part of the furniture at the Emirates and a man who can seemingly do no wrong. Unlikely to lose his job anytime soon, but surely the Chairman must have been hoping The Gunners would have won the Champions League by now? Cause for dismissal?
Sack Odds: 250/1
Martin O'Neill
Most people will say he needs a bit more time to weave his magic before Villa start achieving, but with the club now up to seventh in the table, perhaps change is already underway? That said, Villa sack their managers almost as often as they get a new kit deal, so don't bet against it…
Sack Odds: 50/1
Mark Hughes
Blackburn seem resolutely content to keep Sparky in the manner to which he's become accustomed, and that's perhaps because they're not too ambitious in what they hope to achieve. He's not won anything yet, but he has moved them forward by getting them into the UEFA Cup and the top half of the Premier League table. A bad run of form could see him out of a job, though…
Sack Odds: 33/1
David Moyes
Everything in the garden's rosy for Moyes at the moment. They're in the Carling Cup semi-finals, the last 32 of the UEFA Cup and are up to 6th in the Premier League. Again, no silverware in the cabinet so far for the Scot, but he's proved he can point the team in the right direction. No change, we feel.
Sack Odds: 80/1
Rafa Benitez
Those Scousers still expect the earth, and who can blame them when they've won so much in the past. Rafa's still trying to reproduce those glory days and you can never write him off, but having almost been eliminated from the Champions League a couple of months ago and with an illogical fondness for squad rotation, maybe that distant sound of grumbling will start getting louder…
Sack Odds: 50/1
Sven-Goran Eriksson
To recent an arrival to be seriously considered for the sack. Not only that, but he's guided Man City up to fourth in the table. Nosebleeds all round for fans of the club, then. Barely a hope in hell of being dismissed… unless he gets distracted by skirt once again.
Sack Odds: 200/1
Sir Alex Ferguson
Retire, maybe, but you can't sack Lord Alex of Ferguson, can you? Nah, come on - it'd be like selling your granny. No, don't even think about it. Impossible…
Sack Odds: 500/1
Gareth Southgate
…but then at the other end of the scale is the former England defender who always had a keen eye for a penalty shoot-out. He might be best mates with chairman Steve Gibson, but Southgate's giving much cause for concern through his underachievement. He's been constantly touted as the next manager to get the sack for the last three years, and he's only been managing for the last year and a half. Now that's bad.
Sack Odds: 12/1
Harry Redknapp
He has his ups and downs, does Harry, but right now his Portsmouth side's riding the crest of the wave. They’re eighth in the league and a UEFA Cup place looks well within reach this season so what could possibly go wrong (apart from half your team leaving this month to play in the African Nations Cup?) He's doing a good job at the moment, and we don't see that changing.
Sack Odds: 66/1
Steve Coppell
This time last year, we were all raving about the job Steve Coppell had done at Reading. Now, they're on the slide, albeit slowly. Consistency has been the keyword for Coppell and he's struggled to find it with his players this season. There's every chance he could turn it around and has the time to do it, but if the relegation trap door comes into view, who knows what might happen?
Sack Odds: 25/1
Roy Keane
Speaking of relegation, that's what Sunderland are currently staring in the face. Other newly-promoted clubs Derby and Birmingham have already shown no mercy in giving the boot to the men that got them promoted in the first place, but then again has it done them any good? Keano needs to start finding decent results and fast otherwise it'll be back to dog-walking again…
Sack Odds: 10/1
Alan Curbishley
Curbs managed to see out the end of last season by steering The Hammers away from the drop and now things are going altogether much better. They're into the top half of the table and have even proved that beating the likes of Man United isn't beyond their capabilities. A UEFA Cup place might be a bridge too far, but Curbishley's already won the board and the fans over with West Ham's improved form, so no need to panic, we feel.
Sack Odds: 66/1
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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12 comments:
In my estemation, there are only 3 managers who are 100% safe. SAF, Wenger, and Sven. O'Neil is 99% safe, as well as Moyes. All the others could find themselves sans employment with a downturn in form. Hughes has lost alot of luster. Benitez is world class, but a strong personality that the American's don't seem to like. Southgate should be out and probably won't last the season.
As far as Big Sam is concerned, NUFC made a huge mistake by firing him. 8 months is not enough at a club that is in disarray. I know Newcastle denizens think the world of their club, but it's a small club with very little going for it right now. Their best chance was with a manager like Big Sam.
He proved he could get a small club to Europe based solely on industry and tactics, and not high priced transfers. Newcastle had a lot of dead wood at the club and Sam hadn't even finished clearing it so he could bring in his type of players.
The way teams win, and this is true of any sport, is by having great chemistry achieved through organizational continuity. A coaching carousel is the farthest thing from that. It simply unsettles your few talented players, who will now be looking for a way out.
I'm sure Benitez is safe until at least the end of the campaign. If he doesn't win any silverware and doesn't do well in the league I'd imagine he'd be kicked out. A cup win would be enough to keep his place, but if he doesn't reach the Champion's League next year he's definitely gone (unlikely, I know, but still possible).
It would be unbelievably bad to get rid of Rafa at any time soon, as it would just prove to make Liverpool even worse. Jol and Mourinho both show you don't have to be a rubbish manager to part company from the club, as does Southgate.
I cannot understand how Southgate is still in a job but Middlesbrough might as well keep him until the end of the season.
Big Sam should never have been employed as he wasn't the right man but if Newcastle didn't have such crap luck (and managers) they would hev won the Premiership 11 seasons ago and Keegan would have still sane, as he went ballistic with what SAF did to him (mind games).
Thanks for your comments so far, folks.
Chris B: Allardyce definitely deserved longer to make something happen. As Sky Sports News pointed out only last week, his predecessors were dismissed with the club in a far lower position than their current 11th place.
Adam: Agreed. I think the owners won't be too heartbroken if Benitez gives them a reason to sack him. Yes he's been successful for them, but Benitez generates an awful lot of frustration in between each high point.
P: I'm curious to know what you mean by crap luck for Newcastle. What did you have in mind on that point? Crap managers... in retrospect, maybe, but recent ex-players like Gullit, Pearce and even Roeder must have seemed capable enough of bringing glory to the club at the time. It's only now us cynics can say they were bad choices!
Yes, quite right Chris o. By bad luck I meant more the bad choices, bad defenders mostly. Even Allardyce made bad transfers. Bad luck has always been lurking over St.James Park such as the 20 point turn over Man Utd made on them.
As a Sheffield United fan, I know all about bad play and bad luck (even if are manager was good).
I'm not sure it's so easy for Newcastle as to say the cause of their problems is "bad luck." There are bad managers, bad directors, and bad resource management, which are probably the main causes of their woes. The new chairman will probably improve things in the medium-term, but since everyone expects a take-over to be followed by instant success (thanks, Roman), not achieving that instant success looks like a failure.
Mickey Mouse teams only sack their managers after 8 months...
A lot of the sackings this season in the EPL have been shocking. Teams like Wigan, Derby, Fulham etc should know there place...will the new guys do any better than the sacked ones?
Also why is no one tipping Coppell for the Newcastle joab...if Strachan leaves us i widnae mind him..nice fitba, high workrate and a system that gets results on a tight or no budget....
In November O’Neill has a worse record at Villa than O’Leary after the same number of games in charge. Unsure what it is now but they have been on a decent run.
If he gets Villa in the UEFA cup they will be pleased. He has got this air about him that people see no wrong. Villa won’t and can’t go any better than they are just now.
Canny see Keano getting his “Harry Potters” from Quinn.
Rafa is a dead man walking towards Madird
Sparky, Newcastle maybe?
Moyes is untouchable at the toffees, that ex corrie actor has just been on Sky saying so- he also said he spoke to the Newcastle chairmen who is in far east at the moment….long distance sacking was it?
Curbs you say he has won over the fans? The ones on 606 and talksport don’t seem to think so.
I reckon as long as Boro don’t get relegated Southgate will keep his joab…
But what do I know..
Hail Hail
So, you're a Sheffield United fan, eh P?!? Looks like we'll have something to talk about in the next round of the FA Cup (hopefully!) :-)
Fair point, Adam, but it was a ludicrous amount of money that Abramovich threw at the club. With common sense glasses on, no team could wish to replicate that on a fraction of the budget.
Agreed, Keving. No-one's mentioned Coppell at all... but then again he does keep a low profile, doesn't he? Still, as you say, he could work wonders at Celtic. As long as the size of the job didn't frighten him off after 10 minutes like it did when he went to Man City.
Point taken about the West Ham fans you heard on Talk Sport and 606, but I think there are many others like me that are frankly grateful that the club isn't being pencilled in for relegation at Christmas time! Hail hail, mate...
Yes as long as Man City get out of the way we will have a good game there Chris O!!
BTW: I am one of those few fans who doesn't believe it was west ham's fault we got relegated. (It didn't help though)
Well you learn something new every day - I had no idea you were a Sheffield United fan, P! Let's hope West Ham can win their replay and set up a great match in round 4!
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