Brian Clough, Leroy Rosenior lead the way
Top 10 Harsh Managerial Casualties
Posted: 2010-08-17 21:17
South African football has a bad reputation when it comes to firing coaches, but there are some countries with even less for the men at the helm.
Leroy Rosenior - Torquay United (2007)
Surely the shortest serving manager of all time, Rosenior enters the list for sheer comedic value. He returned to coach his former side Torquay United and didn’t last as long as the half-time interval – ten minutes be precise. After doing his comeback press conference, Rosenior was told that the club had been sold and the new owners wanted their own man in charge. Referring to the club being sold, he told the BBC at the time: “It was something I knew was going to happen, but I didn't think it was going to happen after 10 minutes.”
Jorn Andersen – Mainz (2009)
One of the more harsh dismissals as Norwegian coach Jorn Andersen got the sack as he was getting ready for a crack at the Bundesliga on the eve of the new season. Andersen had secured Mainz promotion in his solitary season in charge as they finished second and scored the most goals in the German second tier. With just six days to go until their opener against Bayer Leverkusen, Andersen and Mainz parted company. “We have at Mainz clear a job profile to define how a coach should work with the team and the club,” said general manager Christian Heide at the time. To his credit, Andersen wasn't bitter. “I regret the decision of the club very much, but our ideas were simply too different. We don't part on angry terms.” Andersen's replacement, Thomas Tuchel, led Mainz to a very credible 9th in their first season back in the Bundesliga.
Luigi Del Neri – Porto (2004)
Current Juventus manager Luigi del Neri had the difficult task of replacing Jose Mourinho at Porto. He signed a three-year contract with the then European Champions after impressing at Chievo, but got no further than a handful of friendly games in pre season before being shown the door. He said at the time: “I believe after the excellent results achieved over the past two years the club directors were afraid of change.” Porto President Jorge Pinto da Costa was alleged to have lost patience with his new manager after he failed to return to Portugal on time following a break in Italy. Del Neri said in 2004: “I've tried to come up with a theory, a valid reason for my dismissal, but I still can't find one.”
Newcastle United – Various (1998, 1999, 2004, 2008)
The Geordies’ inability to win a major trophy in decades is in no small part to their trigger-happy approach to managers. Kenny Daglish, who got the club to an FA Cup final and a second spot in the league, was sacked two games into 1998/99. His replacement, Ruud Gullit, lasted the season and then left five games into the next campaign after daring to leave Alan Shearer out of the first team. Sir Bobby Robson lasted five years in the job before being giving his marching orders after a four-match winless start at the beginning of the 2004/05 season. The late England manager was scathing about the treatment he received in his autobiography and then Chairman Freddy Shepherd said of the sacking: “I didn’t want to be known as the man who shot Bambi.” Since then managers like Sam Allardyce (eight months) and Kevin Keegan (eight months) have walked through the St James' Gate revolving door. Keegan resigned for a second time three games into the 2008/09 season.
Juande Ramos – CSKA Moscow (2009)
There was a time when Juande Ramos was coveted by many of Europe's top clubs after leading Sevilla to consecutive Uefa Cup triumphs. He left for Tottenham Hotspur in October 2007 and was sacked almost exactly a year later. Sandwiching Real Madrid in between Spurs and CSKA Moscow, the Spaniard's time in Russia was a major disappointment, lasting just six weeks at the helm. Going 3-0 down before half-time against local rivals FC Moscow enraged the home fans, and the players had to be escorted off by militia police after the final whistle. Ramos was sacked afterwards, exactly two years after he was appointed at Spurs and one year and a day since he got the boot from White Hart Lane.
Hector Cuper – Real Betis/Parma (2007/08)
Poor old Hector Cuper. Losing consecutive Champions League finals is bad enough, bottling a Scudetto in 2002, add in losing on away goals on your own ground (when Inter were defeated by Milan in the UCL semi-final in 2002/03) and being sacked early by Inter the next season is enough to put any coach off the prospect of management. Cuper took over at Betis in the summer of 2007, but was gone before Christmas after winning just two of their opening 14 games. “Cuper has proven himself to be a gentleman throughout his time at the head of the team. It is the results that have been the reason for his departure,” said the club at the time. Undeterred, Cuper returned to Italy to coach Parma in March of the following year with the brief of keeping them in Serie A. Things didn't go according to plan with Cuper winning two, drawing three and losing five of his games in charge. Incredibly, he was given the bullet before Parma's last game of the season against Inter, with the relegation strugglers needing a win to survive. Parma lost 2-0 and were sent down to Serie B. Cuper, meanwhile, hasn't been put off management and is now the gaffer at Greek side Aris Thessaloniki.
Marcello Lippi – Inter (2000)
Along with World Cup 2010, Marcello Lippi's stint with Inter is one of the few duds of his distinguished career. He was expected to bring title success to the Nerazzurri as he had done with Juventus, but lasted just over a season at the San Siro. Lippi offloaded Roberto Baggio and brought in Robbie Keane for the 2000/01 season, which got off to a disastrous start. Inter were eliminated in the qualifying round of the Champions League by Swedish side Helsingborg and after an opening day defeat by Reggina, Lippi was dismissed.
Jose Mourinho – Chelsea (2007)
Winning every domestic trophy in three full seasons wasn't enough to satisfy Chelsea's demanding owner Roman Abramovich. The Russian craved the Champions League and pushed the panic button after an indifferent start to the 2007/08 season, where the Blues lost to Aston Villa and drew with Blackburn Rovers. After managing only a draw against Rosenborg in the Champions League, with 17 000 empty seats, the manager was released from his duties by ‘mutual consent’.
Jose Antonio Camacho – Real Madrid (1998, 2004)
Having graced the Santiago Bernabeu as a player, it was perhaps inevitable that Camacho would return one day as coach. He did on two separate occasions, with both of them combined barely lasting more than a Spanish wet day. He was drafted in to replace Jupp Heynckes at the then European Champions in 1998, but lasted just 23 days in the summer after a row with the club's President Lorenzo Sanz over his backroom staff. Camacho's second stint in 2004 didn't last much longer, clocking in at 115 days. He asked the club to sign Patrick Vieira, so they bought Michael Owen instead. This time he got to be in charge for some competitive games best remembered for a Champions League thumping by Bayer Leverkusen. Wound up the Galacticos with his criticism of “pointless fancy flicks”, he showed he meant business by dropping David Beckham and Raul. A defeat against Espanyol, where Madrid went down to nine men, was the final curtain and Camacho resigned again.
Brian Clough – Leeds United (1974)
Cloughie may have only been in charge of the 'Damned Utd' for 44 days, but it was enough to merit an acclaimed book and movie about his short tenure at Elland Road. He was a shock choice to take over the reigning league champions from his nemesis Don Revie as he'd regularly slaughtered Leeds over the years for their approach to the game. At his first training session he told the Leeds players to chuck all their medals in the bin as he believed they hadn't been won fairly. He saved his best line for injury prone Eddie Gray telling him that if he had been a race horse then he would have been shot! Unsurprisingly the Leeds players didn't warm to their new manager and he was booted out after just six games leaving the league champions languishing near the foot of the table after picking up just one win. Clough said at the time, “it's a sad day for football”.
Comment on this article:
TERMS OF USE: The comments posted below do not reflect the views of KickOff.com. Users are reminded that no misuse of this comment facility will be tolerated. Any abusive, racist or inflammatory comments will be deleted and the user banned. Please report abusive posts to editor@kickoff.com