The Christmas season is now drawing to a close, some of us a saw a white christmas, and the fireworks along the Thames river in London were nothing short of spectacular on New Years Eve, however this festive season has not been quite so good for four football league mangers.
It appears that chairman of football clubs never really got into the whole christmas spirit, and it was Burnley boss Brian Laws who was to the first to be thrown out into the cold by his boss Barry Kilby. Despite being relegated last season from the top flight, Laws was given the opportunity to take the claret and blues back to the big time.
After the 2-0 home defeat to Laws former side Scunthorpe, he was sacked however he left the club just two points outside the play-off places and in 9th place- strange decision?
Well it appeared that Burnley's Lancashire rivals Preston took a leaf out of their neighbours book by booting out their boss, son of Sir Alex Ferguson- Darren. The club are rock bottom of the Championship and the decision will come as no real surprise to many Preston fans, however with Sir Alex suffering early knockbacks in his time at United all them years ago- who knows where Ferguson Jnr could have led the club had he of been given more time.
Never has the meaning 'New Year, New Start' been more appropriate than at the next two clubs. New years day and two more managers found themselves added to the turkey list. The first to be sacked on New Years Day was Crystal Palace boss George Burley after his side slumped to a 3-0 defeat away at Millwall. The club are struggling at the wrong end of the Championship table, however the signing of former Spurs front man Stefan Iversen gave off the wrong impression that Burley was safe for the time being.
And finally the fourth man to start looking for a new job is Mark Stimson from Barnet. Appointed only in the summer after being sacked from Gillingham, Stimson was tasked with the job to keep Barnet in League Two- after yesterday's defeat at home to Aldershot, the London based side were in the bottom two but only on goal difference.
So its clear that the festive spirit did not quite reach out to every boardroom across the country. Only time will tell if these decisions that have been made are at the right time for these prospective clubs, however the hangover from Christmas may just continue a little longer if they haven't.
Do you agree with these sackings? Who do you think will take over at any of these clubs, and do you think Christmas and the New Year is the right time to start looking for a new boss?
As always let me know.
Dougie Freedman has our team playing in an organized manner. The signings we have made without Duggy will be key for us staying up in my opinion so yes it was a great thing that Burley got sacked.
ReplyDeleteJust reading all your stuff now Ryan mate looking good!