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[Football] Managers Who Make The Wrong Move.



Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
I'll stert with a couple of our own . . .

Nathan Jones, seemingly on to a good thing when head coach at Saturday's opponents Luton, a role that seemed to suit him well, before leaving them in the lurch twice, once for Stoke City, and then for Southampton. Forgiven the 1st time he left, but cerainly not the second, and totall found wanting in the Premier League.

Graham Potter, left us well and truly in the pooh pooh when abandoning us for the bright city lights of Chelsea, taking half of his coaching staff with him. Yes probably tripling his bank balance but no job satisfaction at all, and receiving death threats into the bargain.

Both examples still seeking new posts.

Doubtless loads of other examples of managers shooting themselves in the foot when deciding to move on to join so called bigger clubs, then finding out the hard way that the grass isn't always greener. Over to you to name a few more.
Nathan was on a hiding to nothing at Southampton. Every manager that was there last season was found wanting.
 






Commander

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Apr 28, 2004
12,947
London
You're correct. He's also doing just fine earning a pretty penny in Saudi.

I'd add Frank Lampard's 2nd stint as Chelsea last season. The ex-legend shine has well and truly worn off after Everton and the Chelsea debacle. Similarly, I doubt Allardyce will get another top flight firefighting role after the insipid way Leeds went down. He's gone the way of the now-extinct-Curbishley/Pulis.

Curveball, Sami Hyypia. He likely regrets taking the Brighton job. Garcia barely held the team together the season before and the club gave him a useless DoF, awful loanees (except Teixeira), has-been freebies and Chris O'Grady to will the Ulloa shaped hole. Plus, he was rubbish.

He was pretty well regarded before us, but all he's done since is a stint at FC Zurich (relegated) and a blink-and-you'll-miss it assistant job.
I forgot about David Burke as DOF. What an awful appointment that was. I remember lots of whisperings at the time about how unpopular he was. I also met him on the train back from Forest once with Bloom. He was pretty dour (unlike Tony who was necking cans of cider all the way back). I just looked him up to see what he is doing now- he is still a Director of Football. At a school.
 












Jolly Red Giant

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2015
2,615
When Brian Clough left Brighton for Leeds. Sacked after 44 days.
The Leeds board made a massive f*ck-up with that appointment. Clough had been hurling abuse at the Leeds players for two seasons. When he got there he told the players to throw all their medals in a bin because they didn't deserve them.

Johnny Giles should have been made manager after Revie - he had been groomed for the job for three years. The players were hopping that Giles didn't get the job because they knew he was capable of keeping them a top team (he was already player-manager of the Irish team) - but the board wanted to make a big splash. When Leeds sacked Clough the board went back to Giles and offered him the job - he told them to get stuffed.

At the end of the season Leeds sold him at a knockdown price to WBA, who made Giles their player manager. Giles got WBA promoted in his first season and then they finished 7th in his second season. He clashed with the WBA board because they excluded him from any discussions on the financial matters of the club. Meanwhile Jimmy Armfield struggled to do anything any Leeds (despite having a really good squad a players).
 






GT49er

Well-known member
Feb 1, 2009
46,757
Gloucester
Smug Eddie, the first time he left Bournmouth. Burnley wasn't it? Still, he seems to have got away with it...........................

Frank O'Farrell.
 


Icy Gull

Back on the rollercoaster
Jul 5, 2003
72,015
Smug Eddie, the first time he left Bournmouth. Burnley wasn't it? Still, he seems to have got away with it...........................

Frank O'Farrell.
And they still beat us at the Amex didn’t they? :angry:
 




Cheshire Cat

The most curious thing..
Every Man Ure manager after the unpleasant Scotsman

And virtually every Man Ure manager after Busby and before the unpleasant Sccotsman.
 


Sid and the Sharknados

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 4, 2022
4,086
Darlington
When Brian Clough left Brighton for Leeds. Sacked after 44 days.
Obviously not a good move in the short term, but with hindsight it's fair to say things turned out quite well for him in the end.
Goes to show a career path doesn't have to be one smooth upward curve towards success.
Not leaving Forest a few years earlier than he did was probably an error, both from Forest's perspective and his own for health reasons.
 










Whitechapel

Famous Last Words
Jul 19, 2014
4,075
Not in Whitechapel
Chris Wilder was a terrible fit for Middlesbrough and seems to have destroyed most of the goodwill he’d built up in his career.
 






Jolly Red Giant

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2015
2,615
Smug Eddie, the first time he left Bournmouth. Burnley wasn't it? Still, he seems to have got away with it...........................

Frank O'Farrell.
Frank O'Farrell had the potential to be a top manager - and was sold a pig in a poke by Man Utd. Busby wouldn't vacate the manager's office and whenever there was a problem the players promptly went to Busby who invariably over-ruled O'Farrell. Bobby Charlton was Busby's stooge in the dressing-room. DEspite all that O'Farrell had Utd top of the League at Christmas. Then George Best began acting up and O'Farrell set out to deal with the problem, but Busby again stuck his tuppence worth in and it resulted in Best going completely off the rails.

O'Farrell signed a five-year contract with Utd - but when they sacked him they refused to honour the contract and he had to sue them for unpaid wages. O'Farrell had to sign on at the dole office because he had no income.

This is a really good documentary about Frank O'Farrell

 


Jolly Red Giant

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2015
2,615
Obviously not a good move in the short term, but with hindsight it's fair to say things turned out quite well for him in the end.
Goes to show a career path doesn't have to be one smooth upward curve towards success.
Not leaving Forest a few years earlier than he did was probably an error, both from Forest's perspective and his own for health reasons.
The key to Brian Clough's success at Forest was down to getting Peter Taylor to be his assistant again.

Great story about Clough's man-management in dealing with Roy Keane. When Clough signed Keane he paid Cobh Ramblers £15,000. The Cobh Chairman told Clough he would have taken £10,000 - Clough replied that he would have paid half a million. When Keane joined Forest he was repeatedly homesick and Clough used to allow him go back to Cork for a few days break - eventually Keane settled. Keane then played in an U-21 tournament in Holland. Forest were playing Liverpool at Anfield for the first game of the season. Clough called Keane into his office and told him he was taking him to Anfield to help out with the kit - he told him to bring his boots so that he could do the warm-up with the team. Keane was thrilled and ran off to pack his boots. 15 mins before the game Clough handed Keane a jersey and told him he was playing. Keane said that he was so shocked he didn't have time to get nervous. He walked out on the pitch and stood beside Stuart Pearce who turned to Keane and said 'who the f*ck are you' - 'I'm Roy Keane'.
 


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