Interesing 'Sacking' Statistic....

[inckley fox]

How many times is it the original manager in charge still, I'd say not very often does a man take a team up, come down again and still be with them.

 

There aren't many examples because sides either stay up and the manager keeps his job, or they go down and he doesn't. 

 

There are a few exceptions in recent years, and they're a mixed bag: Kean at Blackburn and Coyle at Bolton initially retained their jobs but were fired while doing miserably in the second tier. I suppose you could put Adkins in that category, too. Dowie walked out after just missing out on promotion after he took Palace down.

 

Boothroyd retained his job but his career fell apart after Watford went down, while Holloway had a full season with Blackpool and failed to achieve anything.

 

On the other hand QPR kept Redknapp and scraped back up (a ploy which didn't work for Southampton a decade earlier), Curbishley, Bruce, Reid and McCarthy all came back up with their sides too, though McCarthy would later get Sunderland relegated again.

 

I'm sure I've missed a few obvious ones out.

 

I suppose what's interesting is that there are no guarantees even when managers who have enjoyed great prior success are retained. Holloway, Dowie and Boothroyd have to be prime examples.

 

And there are more from our own history. Adams failed to assemble a competitive side upon relegation in 2004, Wallace had had the same problem in 1981, and Hamilton in 1987. It's hard to know how McGhee would have ended up in 96, but our collapse in form was already under way before he walked out. The only manager who has taken us down and then brought us back up is, I think, O'Farrell (and we were already on our way down when he came).

 

As I see it, managers create their own teams, and if that team isn't good enough in the top flight then he can either give it another go with the same set of players, in which case the momentum is often gone and the players' faith that he's their man diminished OR he can restructure the squad and do his best to make a better fist of it this time around, and even the best of managers don't have a 100% record when it comes to starting over.

 

The big problem is that firing a manager upon relegation frequently goes wrong too. Which is why I keep saying that talk of the long picture is misguiding - by far and away the best thing for the long picture is to stay up, and do whatever they need to do to make sure of this. I think that's probably keeping Pearson, but if the board aren't so sure they need to make their minds up very soon.