Nobody likes seeing a manager getting the boot when sometimes it may not be their fault at all. High expectations, low transfer expenditure and sometimes plain bad luck have caused teams to lose their way.As if losing your job was not bad enough, these managers have had to endure a lot of pain and personal suffering because of the manner in which they were sacked. While clubs have every right to move on and find a new manager, sometimes they do not go about it the right way.Here are seven such managers who will want to forget such sackings.
#1 Leroy Rosenior - Sacked within 10 minutes
Leroy Rosenior was probably treated the worst of the lot. Back in May 2007, Torquay United chairman Mike Bateson decided to appoint the former England youth international who had managed clubs such as Gloucester City and Brentford. Rosenoir had also played for QPR, Fulham and West Ham as a striker and represented Sierra Leone.
But soon after he appointed Rosenior, a consortium offered to buy a 51% stake in Torquay and Bateson agreed. In the process, he surrendered the majority ownership and the right to make decisions.
While Rosenior had barely been allowed time to even let it sink in that he was the new manager, the consortium decided to appoint Paul Buckle as the manager instead of Rosenior.
“He didn't envisage selling the club in the near future,” Rosenior said, according to BBC. “So I did the press conference on Thursday, I did all the interviews, and within 10 minutes, Mike called me to let me know he had actually sold the club.
“So it was something that I knew was going to happen but I didn't think it was going to happen after 10 minutes. I've been told that a new consortium is coming in, they're bringing their own people and I won't have anything to do with it.”
#2 Nigel Adkins - Heard of sacking on TV
Remember Nigel Adkins? The Southampton manager who led the Saints to the top division after back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League? Well, he was sacked in one of the most impersonal ways possible.
Adkins was more than just a manager to the players at the club, he was a father figure. And the players themselves were reported to be shocked and gutted after Adkins was sacked following a poor run of form. Then Espanyol manager Mauricio Pochettino was set to take over with the club three points above the relegation zone.
But what left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth was the fact that Adkins only found out when he was watching TV and a news report about his sacking was being aired. A source told Mirror: “Nigel is philosophical about things and was told it’s nothing personal.
“He’s known it could have been coming at any time for a few weeks. But it’s still a horrible way to find out. It’s been hard to work like that but he’s done exceptionally well.”
Eventually, Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese did have a meeting with the English manager and delivered the bad news face-to-face.
#3 Trevor Francis - Sacked on his birthday
In April 2003, Crystal Palace sacked manager Trevor Francis six games before the end of the season. At the time, Palace were in the division below the Premier League in midtable positions. And club chairman Simon Jordan wanted the club to at least get into the playoffs. And Jordan wasn’t happy with Francis’s plans to get into the Premier League, especially with the players in the squad he thought were overpaid.
“I am totally committed to playing in the Premier League and I will ensure the new manager can achieve this aspiration,” he said. “I would like to thank Trevor for all his hard work and would like to wish him the very best for the future.”
Palace eventually finished the season in 14th place. Fair enough, but how was Francis sacked? Or is the question: when?
The answer? On his birthday!
Jordan even recalled the sacking in an interview. ”Trevor Francis didn’t take it very well. He just sat there quietly and said ‘But it’s my birthday’,” he said.
“I had no idea. What could I do? I said ‘Many happy returns, Trev,’ and gave him his P45.” The P45 is a certificate in the UK given to an employee at the end of their period of employment.
Worst birthday gift ever!
#4 Martin Jol - Heard of sacking at half-time
Martin Jol managed Tottenham Hotspur for three years after taking over in November 2004 when he was initially appointed as the assistant manager. But in 2007, with results not going their way (Spurs won one game in 10 matches – their worst start in 19 years), the north London club’s chairman Daniel Levy and sporting director Damien Comolli had decided it was time to bring in someone new.
With Juande Ramos set to take over from the Dutchman, everything seemed on track. Until the decision that was kept under wraps was leaked.
At the time, Spurs were playing a UEFA Cup game against Getafe. The big news of Levy’s final decision somehow leaked after kickoff at White Hart Lane that Thursday night and word soon got around the stadium and the fans.
Jol himself found out at the half-time interval when a friend sent him a text message stating he was going to be sacked.
The club soon went into damage control and were trying to find the culprit for the leak while at the same time claiming they were going to inform Jol only after the game. But many people saw it coming, especially because Tottenham vice-chairman Paul Kemsley and club secretary John Alexander were seen negotiating with Ramos in a Spanish hotel two months earlier.
#5 Vladica Petrovic - Sacked on Facebook
In the age of internet and social media, this one really takes the cake. Vladica Petrovic, who was the manager of Bosnian club FK Drina Zvornik, found out he was sacked on the club’s Facebook page!
Petrovic had been appointed over the summer but the season wasn’t going too well for the club. They had won only two of the 10 games he was in charge and were bottom of the Bosnian Premier League at the time of his sacking. And the club shared the news on their Facebook page on 30 September 2015.
The Bosnian Premier League has been pretty unforgiving on managers; Petrovic was the 10th manager to get sacked this season. But what makes this sacking memorable is that he had the cheek to thank them on the same Facebook post. The comment immediately got thousands of ‘likes’, giving many a good laugh.
“They really fired me via Facebook,” Petrovic said after he was sacked.
“When I got to the profile, I saw their notice. So I thanked them for it, as more of a laugh. I did not know that my comments would get so many likes.”
#6 Gus Poyet - Sacked while doing punditry
Imagine being on an expert panel analysing football matches when suddenly the topic switches to your sacking just minutes earlier. That’s exactly what happened to Gus Poyet.
The Uruguayan boss was in charge of Brighton & Hove Albion when he was called on to the BBC panel covering the Confederations Cup. That was when his club dropped a bomb and released an official statement.
“Gus Poyet has been informed today by Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club's internal disciplinary panel that his employment has been terminated with immediate effect.
“This followed his suspension, an investigation, and a subsequent formal disciplinary process. In line with the club's own procedures and UK employment law, Mr Poyet now has a right of appeal.”
Poyet had no idea. He later explained how he came to know about it only after the BBC production staff took a printout and handed it to him while they were covering the game.
“I still have no communication, no text, no e-mail. I didn’t even receive anything on my phone.”
#7 Carlo Ancelotti - Sacked in the tunnel
After winning a domestic double (Premier League and FA Cup) in his first season with Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti was ruthlessly sacked at the end of the next season when the club went trophyless. The double in the 2009/10 season was the Blues’ first ever double. So it was harsh on the Italian manager when they finished second behind eventual champions Manchester United.
What made the sacking worse was that his tenure was terminated within an hour of the final EPL fixture. Chelsea had travelled to Goodison Park on the final day in May 2011 and they lost 1-0 to a 10-man Toffees side with Jermaine Beckford scoring the solitary goal. Chelsea had effectively lost the title race when they failed to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Soon after Ancelotti finished his media duties, chief executive Ron Gourlay was waiting for him in the tunnel and informed the Italian boss of the club’s decision to relieve him of his duties. The fact that the club didn’t even wait till the team got back to London smacked of disrespect for a highly respected manager. At the time, he was their sixth manager to be sacked in eight years.
To his credit, Ancelotti did not make too much of a fuss and accepted the club’s decision, saying: “I have spent two fantastic years at Chelsea. I accept the decision and respect it. I am proud of the job I did but now I must think about my future.”
Ancelotti would go on to win more trophies than Chelsea in the following years.