Nowadays, when
everybody with a
deep pocket can
buy a football club,
the top European
clubs are no longer
run by real football
enthusiasts but are
rather in the hands
of those who don’t
know much about
the game. As a
result, club owners
treat managers as trash and they tend to show
them the boot as soon as the team lose a couple of
games in a row. There has been a number of really
stupid managerial sackings in the past and we have
listed the best of them for you.
7.) Sam Allardyce (Blackburn)
Sam Allardyce arrived at Blackburn at a time when
Rovers were starring into the eyes of relegation and
he didn’t take long before guiding the team to
safety and saving them from the drop in his first
season in charge. With virtually no investment in
otherwise pretty average squad, the Big Sam led
Rovers to a top table finish, while helping the side
reach Carling Cup semi-finals in his second season
at Ewood Park. Nonetheless, despite everything he
had done with Rovers, Big Sam was sacked in
December 2010 when Rovers were situated in 13th
place, with the decision shocking the fans and
players alike.
6.) Chris Hughton (Newcastle)
Chris Hughton was handed the tough task of
getting Newcastle back to the top flight following
the relegation from the Premier League and the
Irishman largely delivered despite being under
tremendous pressure. He managed to gain full
control over the dressing room, which was not easy
to do with Andy Carroll and Joey Barton making
the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and that
helped the Magpies record some pretty impressive
results upon their return to the Premiership.
Nevertheless, that didn’t convince owner Mike
Ashley that Hughton was the right man for the job
as the Irishman was sacked midway into the
season.
5.) Roberto Di Matteo (West Brom)
Roberto Di Matteo gained promotion with West
Brom in his first season in charge at Hawthorns
and thanks to some shrewd dealings in the transfer
market, the Italian created a very good squad that
were supposed to try and escape relegation from
the Premier League. Di Matteo succeeded in
building a very good side that not only recorded
some impressive results in the opening exchanges
of the season, but also played attractive attacking
football, outplaying sides like Arsenal, Everton and
Manchester United in the process, but that was not
enough to keep the Italian at Hawthorns as the
club owners decided to sack him following the poor
run of results midway through the season.
4.) Martin Jol (Tottenham)
Before Martin Jol arrived to White Hart Lane,
Tottenham fans probably thought Spurs would
never be able to challenge for the Champions
League place, but that soon changed as the
Dutchman created a team capable of matching
every Premiership side on their day, while leading
Spurs to consecutive fifth-place finishes. Just when
he was expected to make that final step with Spurs,
Jol was relieved from the post shortly after it was
revealed Tottenham had offered Juande Ramos the
chance to become Spurs manager.
3.) Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)
Morinho joined Chelsea after winning the
Champions League with Porto and he immediately
helped the Blues end Manchester United’s domestic
domination, winning Premier League and Carling
Cup titles in his first season in charge. The Blues
defended the Premiership title next season before
winning both domestic cups a year later, but
Mourinho was still sacked from the post in
September 2007 for failing to bring European glory
to Stamford Bridge.
2.) Brian Clough (Derby)
One of the most successful managers in history,
Brian Clough was sacked by Derby just few months
after winning the league title and leading the team
to European Cup semi-finals, as chairman, Sam
Longson, was angry with Clough’s appearances in
the media. That proved to be a blessing in disguise
for Clough and one of the poorest decisions in the
history of football as the Englishman led Derby’s
fierce rivals Nottingham Forest to consecutive
European Cup titles as well as numerous other
trophies.
1.) Vicente Del Bosque (Real Madrid)
Real Madrid fans have fond memories of Vicente
Del Bosque, who was one of the reasons why the
Galacticos played the way they did, especially as no
other coach after him has managed to repeat his
success. The low-profile manager led Real to two
La Liga titles and two Champions League trophies
during the four years in charge, but los Merengues
opted against extending his contract, which would
prove to be a massive mistake as Real have never
again looked as impressive as during the Galacticos
era.