The Sack Race: Part 1

Filed in archive Managers on November 26, 2005

Source: 4thegame

Surprisingly it took until December for the first managerial head to roll in the English Premiership, but Alain Perrin of Portsmouth is the unlucky winner of this season's sack race, though he had stiff competition. Perrin, hired in April to replace Harry Redknapp, won only four times in 20 games at Pompey.

At the moment betting is focused on Neil Warnock, who has taken Sheffield United to the top of the Championship. Iain Dowie of Crystal Palace, Sir Bobbdy Robson and a smattering of other names are also in play, though Warnock is supposed to decide before Monday morning if he will take the hot seat to keep the struggling team in the Premiership.

This episode, like one that may repeat it at Aston Villa, shows the problems of activist onwers forcing the change of managers every half season. Such pressure doesn't typically allow incoming managers to stamp their mold on the team, and often this meddling is accompanied by tight purse strings.

Who's next? Fingers point to O'Leary at Villa, McCarthy at Sunderland, and perhaps even Moyes at Everton. And who will fill their shoes? Likely an assortment of equally average suspects who circulate from team to team producing similar results. *Sigh*