As Nottingham Forest enter 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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tom Mordey
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