Meet five sacked managers this season who have quickly returned to the game – but will they be a success?
I WAS watching that hilarious episode of hit TV comedy Alan Partridge this week where he had written his autobiography Bouncing Back.
It charted a so-called comeback from his disastrous broadcasting career and break-up from his wife.
Tony Mowbray is hoping to help Birmingham recover from their failed Wayne Rooney experiment
That got me thinking about football managers who have been sacked but bounced back.
And this season there have been five bosses who have been shown the door – but have quickly returned into management.
Here I take a quick look at those managers who are bouncing back.
MICHAEL BEALE (Sunderland)
Michael Beale was axed by Rangers and is now under pressure at Sunderland
IF you’re managing Rangers, and Celtic are above you in the table, you’re always standing on quicksand and he was duly slung out of Ibrox.
But the Londoner – who walked out on QPR last season just weeks after pledging his devoted loyalty to them – took over at the Black Cats in December.
Like Alan Partridge, his story might be quickly pulped if he loses his job at the Stadium of Light.
Mackems fans were not impressed with the three straight defeats which was halted by Saturday’s vital 3-1 win against Stoke.
TONY MOWBRAY (Birmingham)
Talking of Sunderland, what the hell were they playing at in the first place by sacking Tony Mowbray?
This affable man was doing a superb job for the Black Cats, getting them into the play-offs last season against the odds and had them punching around those spots again this time around.
But he has landed himself into the self-inflicted chaos at St Andrew’s after they decided the Wayne Rooney project was not a good idea after all. No s**t Sherlock, John Eustace had them flying.
Mowbray has won one and drawn the other of his two league games so far with his priority simply to just keep Birmingham up. Groundhog Day for Blues fans.
DARREN MOORE (Huddersfield)
Darren Moore was axed on the eve of the season by Wednesday
MADCAP Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri decided to get rid of the manager who inspired his team to promotion on the eve of the season.
Darren Moore had even helped his side come back from 4-0 down against Peterborough in the play-offs semi-finals en route!
The ex-West Brom boss took over at Huddersfield but is hardly bouncing back and is on dodgy ground, managing three wins from 23 games so far.
MATT TAYLOR (Bristol Rovers)
HAVING done a decent job with Exeter, he got a big Championship break by being named Paul Warne’s replacement at Rotherham last season.
Despite keeping the Millers in the second tier, they struggled this time around and he was booted out of the New York Stadium in November with the club third bottom.
But he swiftly replaced gobby Joey Barton following his sacking and had an instant impact with four wins and a draw from his first six games. However, it’s been tough since and their 3-1 win over Oxford on Saturday halted a five-game losing streak.
GRAHAM ALEXANDER (Bradford)
THE Bantams boss has had some bad luck when it comes to losing his jobs at previous clubs.
Scunthorpe decided to get rid of him after he led them to the brink of the Championship, they’re now in the National League North.
Numbnut Gary Neville crazily dismissed the Burnley legend when they were unbeaten after five games and fifth in League Two … all this after taking Salford into the EFL and guiding them to an EFL Trophy final.
And this season MK Dons wielded the axe after just 16 games – showing little patience.
Yet he has arrived at Valley Parade and despite a decent start they have gone off the boil, failing to win in their last seven League Two games. They need to let him have a summer to sort it all out and go again next season.
Newport ‘builders’ work on a Sunday?
THERE must have been some timely structural repairs going on in Rodney Road, Newport, this week.
Some houses along the street which runs parallel to County’s Rodney Parade suddenly needed scaffolding erected.
It’s incredible that those ‘builders’ not only were prepared to do overtime by working on a Sunday – but also stayed on site until a good couple of hours after 4:30pm.
That’s what you call dedication. They must have great ratings on Checkatrade.
Alfie, 10, gives Walsall team talk
WALSALL boss Mat Sadler let 10-year-old fan Alfie Donnelly do his team-mate before their League Two game with Sutton.
Alfie has multiple, complex heart conditions that have left him needing four lots of open heart surgery.
The Saddlers invited the youngster to the training ground to meet and interview his favourite player Joe Riley as well as go to the Bescot Stadium to rile up the players before kick-off as well as read out the teams over the PA system.
Boss Sadler said: “We all love Alfie. He’s always smiling and is an inspiration to us all.”
Little Alfie Donnelly, 10, gives his Walsall heroes a team talk
Elokobi is just what the EFL needs
SURELY any EFL club looking for a new manager should be on the blower to Maidstone United’s George Elokobi.
I suggested, tongue in cheek, that maybe even Liverpool should look at him!
But, seriously, what he did before the FA Cup game against Ipswich at the gates of Portman Road on Saturday was incredible – giving the Maidstone fans a passionate from-the-heart motivational speech alongside the players.
This is exactly the sort of thing football needs. There are too many dullards working at bigger clubs who would stop this sort of raw passion being allowed to happen or seen.
We need less of them and more of George Elokobi.
