When Managerial Sackings Go Wrong...

In this week of injustice at Newcastle United Football Club, with Chris Hughton being sacked after two bad results, I was thinking about the other really bad ones that come to mind... Here are a few of my favorites...

Vincent Del Bosque - Real Madrid

This is the man who won every trophy under the sun. He won the Champions League twice and La Liga twice. He also had the Galacticos of Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos playing football light years ahead of their rivals. On the season Real decided not to renew his contract the club got to the Champions League semi-finals and won the league.

Since Del Bosque has left Real the club have employed numerous managers including Fabio Capello and Manuel Pellegrini and won only one La Liga title and no European trophies... Oh and just to prove his class Del Bosque is now a World Cup Winner after his Spain side triumphed in South Africa.

 Rafael Benitez - Liverpool

When Rafa Benitez came to Liverpool it had been 20 years since they had won the European Cup. This was far too long for England's most successful club in European competitions. Benitez came and and won it in his first season in an epic final victory against AC Milan. 

He also went on to guide them to another European Final on this occasion it was defeat to AC Milan which stopped him from winning the trophy again. In the league up against Manchester United and Chelsea who both have superior finances due to rich benefactors and larger stadiums, Benitez came close to winning the title on one occasion in 2008-2009 when they finished second.

Yes he had a bad season when he got sacked with Liverpool finishing 7th but what made this sacking controversial is that Benitez loved and understood the club. He had the best interests of the club at heart and when most people would've left after relentless pressure from the owners of the club Benitez chose to stay. Upon his appointment as Inter Milan manager Benitez came back to Liverpool and made a donation of £96,000 to the Hillsborough Family Support Group, he didn't have to do this but he did and reaffirmed his affection for the Club and its supporters...

Martin Jol - Tottenham

This is the man who had Spurs challenging for a Champions League place long before Harry Redknapp was the man of the moment at White Hart Lane. He signed the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Dimitar Berbatov who've all left their marks on the club. He built a squad capable of consistently challenging for a European place.

In Jol's final season at Spurs they lost their first two games and it became public that his job had been offered to Juande Ramos. This was a disgraceful way of treating the man who had led the club to two successive 5th place finishes in the Premier League. In the end Jol found out that he was going to lose his job during a 2-1 defeat at the hand Getafe in the UEFA Cup, via a text message from his nephew...

Gareth Southgate - Middlesborough

Well not a lot of people think of this one. Middlesborough were in 4th place in the Championship after being relegated under Southgate from the Premier League the previous season. They were only one point off the top and had just beaten Derby County 2-0, Southgate was on his way to undoing his failure of the season before, he was called into a meeting by 'Boro owner Steve Gibson and relieved of his role.

If you look at where they were when Southgate was at the helm, challenging for promotion. After Southgates sacking the club Middlesborough finished 11th missing out on the play-off places by 8 points. You can see how far the club has regressed by its current position in the table, 23rd in the Championship with 20 games gone.

Southgate was the man who helped Adam Johnson, David Wheater and Brad Jones into the first team and put Middlesborough's youth academy on the map. It can be clearly be seen that the club has been suffering since his departure.

Chris Hughton - Newcastle United

This is the one everyone's talking about. Mike Ashley has decided to sack the man who got Newcastle promoted from the Championship, spending virtually no money and has guided them to 11th place in the Premier League. He also oversaw the 5-1 battering of their bitterest rivals Sunderland earlier this season. Lately there has been a downturn in the clubs fortunes with heavy defeats to Bolton and West Brom but  between those fixtures there was an impressive draw against Chelsea.

The Newcastle job isn't and easy one with the likes of Andy Carroll and Joey Barton making the dressing room a difficult one to control. Hughton has done this and done it well, handling issues such as Carrolls court case and Bartons bust up with Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pederson with little on no fuss made. The man may not be the best or most experienced manager in the Premier League but he didn't deserve to be sacked....

Not A Bad Round For English Clubs... Champions League+Highlights

Well, well, Spurs have put in the performance of the round against Inter at White Hart Lane. Beating Rafa Benitez's side 3-1 with Gareth Bale putting in a man of the match performance, I'm sure Douglas Maicon is glad they won't play again in the near future. With Spurs winning 1-0 at half time after Rafael Van Der Vaarts cool finish the game was still in the balance, but an explosive second half perfomance from winger Bale who chipped in with two assists left Inter reeling.

In the other game in the group Dutch side FC Twente put in a shock performance to overturn German side Werder Bremen 2-0. But the talk of this group is a very impressive result from Tottenham, who look set to qualify from their group.
 

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Tottenham	4	2	0	0	7	2	4	7
2	Inter	4	2	0	0	8	3	3	7
3	Twente	4	0	2	0	3	3	-1	5
4	Bremen	4	0	1	1	2	4	-6	2

Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Inter Milan  (highlights)

Van Der Vaart 1            Eto'o 1

Crouch 1

Pavlyuchenko 1

Manchester United put in a professional performance against Turkish side with Darren Fletcherbreaking the deadlock before half time. In the second half surprise signing Bebe and Frenchman Gabrielle Obertan both scoring to kill the game off. No surprises in this group United looking like they've already qualified and Valencia not too far behind them
.

P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Man Utd 4 1 1 0 1 0 5 10 2 Valencia 4 1 0 1 3 1 6 7 3 Rangers 4 1 1 0 2 1 -2 5 4 Bursaspor 4 0 0 2 0 7 -9 0

Bursaspor 0- 3 Manchester United (highlights)
                        Fletcher 1    
                        Obertan 1

                        Bebe 1


Chelsea who I feel are the best equipped of the English sides to win the tournament, smashed Russian side Spartak Moscow with Nicolas Anelka looking particularly deadly and the talismanic Didier Drogba returning from suspension. Games at Stamford Bridge are looking like mere formalities these days and this one was no different when Anelka opened the scoring with a classy finish from the a tight angle. Two goals from defender Branislav Ivanovic and a penalty from Drogba finished off last seasons Russian Premier League second placed side.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	4	2	0	0	6	1	10	12
2	Spartak Moscow	4	1	0	1	3	2	-1	6
3	Marseille	4	1	0	1	1	1	5	6
4	MSK Zilina	4	0	0	2	1	11	-14	0

Chelsea 4 - 1 Spartak Moscow (highlights)
Anelka 1        Bazenhov 1
Drogba 1
Ivanovic 2

Finally the only English defeat of the night, Arsenal lost away to Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk. Theo Walcott put the Gunners ahead after a wonderful pass from Jack Wilshere put him through on goal with only the Keeper to beat. But and own goal from Craig Eastmond and and well timed finish from Arsenal old boy Eduardo meant Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season in Europe. Still favourites to go through but this performance was a stark reminder of the threat the teams in their group pose.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	4	2	0	0	11	1	11	9
2	Shakhtar Donetsk	4	2	0	0	3	1	1	9
3	Braga	4	1	0	1	2	3	-6	6
4	Partizan Belgrade	4	0	0	2	1	4	-6	0

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Arsenal (highlights)
Eastmond (OG)            Walcott (1)
Eduardo (1)

Well overall a relatively good week for English sides with 3 our of four notching up wins. All still look like they will go through. I feel this weeks player of the week from the sides has been Gareth Bale (i would also have a look at Benfica left back Coentrao who put in a spectacular performance against Lyon), I wrote an earlier article on him concluding he has more to do to prove his class at the highest level and he looks like he may be on his way to doing that. Team of the week has to be Tottenham after defeating the current champions Inter I feel they may be starting to find their feet in Europe's premier club competition.