7 Managerial Changes in 7 Days
Whoever said that Christmas was the season to be jolly? That’s certainly not been the case for these 7 managers.
The 25th November was exactly a week ago, and since then we’ve not have 7 managerial sackings in that space of time, and if we carry on at the rate of 1 per day there’s soon to be nobody left!
Guy Whittingham was the first to go last Monday, being sacked as Portsmouth manager after failing to stop their rot. He took over in November last year and has therefore had a fairly lengthy run in comparison to many managers today. However, with them currently languishing in 18th place in League 2, the club chose to part company with him.
Crawley Town followed suit two days later, terminating the contract of Richie Barker after no wins in the last 7 games, and having only scored one goal. He was one of the candidates linked with the Portsmouth job before his dismissal so he may not be out of a job for too long.
With Thursday came another sacking, that of Sean O’Driscoll from Bristol City, after only 2 wins from their opening 18 matches. He leaves them dangerously close to dropping into League 2, and the new manager will have a huge task on their hands to turn it around.
Barnsley’s loss against Birmingham on Saturday proved to be the final straw for their owners, who sacked David Flitcroft, with the club rock bottom of the league. After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, it looks like it will be a similar fight this year as they search for the right man for the job.
Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday are only one position above Barnsley, and their loss on Saturday also resulted in a managerial departure. Dave Jones has been in charge for a year and a half, and guided the Owls to promotion the season before last, before helping them survive last year. However, the increasingly frustrated supporters are now hoping for somebody to steer them away from the drop zone.
Yesterday came the sacking that we had all seen coming for a while, with Martin Jol being relieved of his duties at Fulham. Rene Meulensteen has taken over first team duties following the 3-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday.
And the seven was complete this morning with Wigan parting terms with Owen Coyle, this one by mutual agreement. Their fourth defeat in five games came at the hands of Derby at the weekend and puts dents in their hopes of returning to the Premiership at the first go whilst it’s out of their hands whether they now progress in the Europa Cup.
You’d be forgiven for being a bit confused at who is where at the moment, and I’m sure there are many more managers nervously looking over their shoulder at such an important period in the footballing calendar.