This week Mick McCarthy became the third premiership manager to get the axe this season. It's a low total of firings thus far, but that number will inevitably rise before May. The Irishman is well liked throughout the game but during Wolves bad run he found himself 'undermined' by his Chairman, Steve Morgan, after he entered the changing room post match after an embarrassing 3-0 defeat in which even Andy Carroll scored! The writing was on the wall for Big Mick after the battering they took at the hands, or should I say feet, or Woy Hodgsons average West Bromwich Albion side.
So McCarthy follows the dismissals of Steve Bruce at Sunderland and Neil Warnock at QPR. Sunderland have made the greatest strides since replacing Bruce with the energetic Martin O'Neill, not only have Sunderland won some games but they're are the in-form team in the Premiership. Mark Hughes hasn't enjoyed a honeymoon period in West London, but he has been able to blow some of Tony Fernandes' cash in the January window and strengthen the squad with much needed firepower. Wolves however have now missed the window and by not allowing a new manager to get involved earlier and bring in some fresh faces they will face the rest of season knowing it's the current squad, who's results ultimately got McCarthy sacked, to get themselves out of it and avoid the drop. The Wolves job is a tough one to take over, expectant fans of a club which has maybe stayed up in the Premiership a little longer than they perhaps are capable of (they of course escaped relegation on the final day of last season).
McCarthy may argue that with the backing that Roberto Martinez enjoys at Wigan he would have been able to turn it around. Maybe it's his broad Yorkshire accent that hurts him, perhaps if the 'Irishman' had a thick Scottish accent he'd still be in the job. Steve Kean, the most hated manager in recent Premiership history has weathered attack after attack from his own support but has managed to keep his job at Blackburn and therefore granted the chance to turn it around. Owen Coyle at Bolton has the same kind of support and even though his team isn't playing the 'attractive' football, he is for some unknown reason associated with, he finds himself employed and relatively safe. Alex McCleish appears to be anti-football in his style and setup and many Villa fans would rather have last seasons Caretaker manager and fellow Scot Gary McCallister back!
What then is it about these Scotsmen that make them so attractive in the English game? Is it the fact that they have accents that half of football fans don't understand and the other half enjoy listening too even if they're talking drivel? Or is it that they are living off of great Scottish managers past and present, Docherty, Shankly and Ferguson to name a few. Possibly they hope that their Scotch boys will be more like new coach Paul Lambert and take the Premiership by the scruff of the neck, or like King Kenny and hold onto his legions of supporters with undying love for his job and club.
Whatever it is there are 6 managers in the premiership who hail from north of the boarder and after seeing what's developed in the last 24 hours at Rangers it's no wonder they are fleeing their homeland looking for work in the biggest and best league in the world, maybe the surprise is so many of them find the jobs and are able to hold onto them so long, despite playing poorly and losing games...
The footballing world is a buzz with stories after an amazing turn of events after the conclusion of Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric's trial and the resignation of Fabio Capello.
Earlier today Redknapp and Mandaric were cleared of charges of tax evasion at Southwark Crown Court. The result was no real shock to anyone as the prosecutions case was flimsy at best, but the result of the trial could be huge in relation to who is hired as the next England manager. Redknapp will now be odds on favourite to replace Fabio Capello who sensationally quit his post as England Coach after a meeting today with the FA.
Capello had spoken out about John Terry being stripped of his captaincy after the Chelsea man was accused of racial abusing Anton Ferdinand in a Premiership game a couple of months ago. That criminal trial has been postponed till the after the summer European competition leaving Terry free to play. The race row in the game started with Liverpool's Luis Suarez being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra means that Terry now has a 'racist' tag looming over him and his career. Therefore the FA saw it in their best interests to strip him of the captains armband to Capello's displeasure.
All this sums up the state of the game in England. We don't win major tournaments and it's no real surprise as we can't even keep our own house in order. All this commotion started with the result of a 5 year court case accusing Redknapp of tax dodging. The deal in the prosecutions arguments dated back to 2002 when 'Arry flogged Peter Crouch from his then club Portsmouth to Aston Villa. There was some ropey looking offshore Monaco bank account named after Harry's dog, Rosie, and about 190,000 quid of 'gifted money' from then Pompy Chairman Mandaric to his Manager Redknapp.
Capello went into his meeting with the FA with a bee in his bonnet. Apparently the FA wanted to smooth over the public criticisms that Capello had made and come to some sort of agreement to move on and allow him to continue to coach the team to the Euro's this summer, and then after watch him bugger off. Capello had, of course, previously stripped Terry of his captaincy for shagging his teammate's, Wayne Bridge, misses! I think racism is generally considered worse in most circles than a sexual affair, but not for Mr. Capello.
The FA said they would employ an Englishman to take over from Capello after his final hurrah at the Euro's this summer. The door is now open for Redknapp who, after doing his best Terry Venables impression off the pitch, has been cleared of any legal wrong doing and has built an excellent side in Tottenham Hotspurs on the pitch. JT will get his chance to play at the Euro's if he's fit and in form regardless of who the new coach is, but if 'Arry does get the job - with the FA compensating Spurs for the remainder of his 2 year contract - maybe he'd be more interested in the partnership of Michael Dawson and Ledley King, a couple of non 'racist' center halves who played excellently together at Anfield on Monday night and seem to be as strong as any English center half pairing available.
So, after all this excitement these are the facts- England don't have a coach and England don't have a captain. The first game against France in Euro 2012 on Monday June 11 in Donestk can't come soon enough from them. We are a national team in disarray and we hope or think that a freshly acquitted Harry Redknapp, with Sven Goran Eriksson's backing, can save the day. Don't hold your breath.
