Football Manager Daily

Being a football manager can be a dream for many, although it can be a hugely pressurised job that many will not be able to handle as the spotlight shines brightly upon them.

The manager of the club is the first one to have fingers pointed at them when things are not going right and many will call for their head after a period of disastrous results or poor performances.

Bettors will be livid if they were to lose money on outcomes that they felt would be sure-fire winners especially after using sites like www.bettingsites24.in to find all the best odds available to them.

There have been instances in recent memory where managers have kept their jobs despite calls to go and some rather inexcusable moments – such as Ralph Hasenhuttl at Southampton.

Following their 9-0 defeat to Leicester City at home this time last year, many would have expected the Austrian to have been told to pack his bags. However, the board gave him time to work things out and he did, miraculously.

Indeed, Southampton were rewarded for their decision to keep him in the dugout, as they went unbeaten in 10 of their following 19 games and started to get away from the droop as they achieved a mid-table finish.

Hasenhuttl was also rewarded with a contract extension for a further four years; something that many would not have seen coming just months earlier.

Here are just some other managers who perhaps could have done more if the club’s hierarchy did not act as quickly as they did…

#1. Carlo Ancelotti – Chelsea

Carlo Ancelotti may have got his return to English football with Everton – a side who he is doing extremely well with at the moment; he may have been able to leave the Premier League a lot later than he did if Chelsea were a little more patient with their decisions.

A sacking culture appears rather prevalent at Stamford Bridge but sacking the Italian did not appear to make too much sense at the time. Ancelotti, who in fact has already been sacked at Goodison Park, was told by Chelsea within an hour after his second season in west London ended that he was no longer needed because he did not win a trophy.

Despite finishing runners-up in the Premier League in 2010/11 after winning the double the year before, the fact that still was not enough to save him his job seems incredible.

#2 Javi Gracia – Watford

Almost shockingly, Watford decided to sack Javi Gracia just a couple of weeks into the 2019/20 Premier League campaign and replaced him with Quique Sanchez Flores. This didn’t work, though, as he himself had been sacked three years prior and would go on to be fired once again just a few months down the line.

Gracia’s dismissal was a weird one when you consider that the Hornets had just featured in an FA Cup final a few months before. 

Apparently, it was his reluctance to use his new signings and the ability to fix the defence that caused him to leave prematurely, but a couple of weeks into a new season after an impressive one seemed a little too drastic.

#3 – Nigel Pearson – Watford

Watford have a habit of pulling the trigger on their managers way too early in the view of many as Flores and Gracia perhaps surmise above. However, the Pozzo family have no problems doing the nasty work that the job entails, despite it seeming ludicrous at the time.

Nigel Pearson looked set to rescue the Hornets from being relegated in the Premier League last season and with two games to go, many would have fancied his chances of being able to complete a ‘Great Escape’.

However, the Pozzo’s fired him with those matches left and put themselves in a coffin as they inexplicably sent themselves down to the Championship. If Pearson had stayed, perhaps they would still be in the Premier League. Either way, Watford could have waited just a little longer to make the decision, surely?