subject: Heads Will Roll For Unlucky Soccer Coaches [print this page] It is now that point in the season where if you are at a club who is not doing so well, you will find the fans are starting to get twitchy, board members are beginning to get anxious, and owners are feeling the pressure. So if you are unlucky enough to be a manager of one of these clubs, you'd better watch out!
I have decided to take it upon ourselves to scour the leading men of Europe's football clubs and deliver the verdict on whose heads are on the chopping block.
First up is the Premiership, where we have filtered through all the potential candidates for the sack and rooted out our two who we believe to be in grave danger.
The obvious choice is a man who has already felt the wrath of the fans' irreverent tongue, and that is Portsmouth's Paul Hart. Still, his side have only one win all season; question marks continue to linger over the future of the club in general, and not to mention the fact that bookies have him placed as the favourite to be the first Premier League manager to be dismissed this season. These are truly dark times for Pompey.
Many people will probably be surprised by our next prediction, but we feel that Liverpool's head coach, Mr Rafael Benitez, is on borrowed time. Even though much of the pressure he was under would have been alleviated by his sides hard earned victory over fierce rivals Manchester United, they still have lost five games already this season. When you think that in 2008/2009 they lost only twice all year it would be fair to say that the pressure is on. Can Liverpool afford another defeat this season? Probably not! Their poor league form is also being mirrored in the Champions League where they currently lie third in their group, and all this means that their chances of success are quickly evaporating before they have even begun.
Benitez also has the added problem that without the services of his two most influential players, Torres and Gerrard, they look a shadow of a team; nothing more than a poor, middle of the road outfit. The Spanish manager has never been able to come up with any sort of solution to this issue and unless he does, he could see his team fall even further behind the sides who are challenging.
You could say that had Benitez not fared so well in Europe's premier competition, Liverpool's continual failure domestically to mount a title challenge would've seen him fired long ago. But now, as their form is poor on both fronts, it could be time for Rafa and his Reds to part company.
In Spain, you can never look further than Real Madrid for a potential sacking; we all know how much the owners of this club love to ring the changes.
Chilean, Manuel Pellegrini is the man who currently pulls the strings at the Santiago Bernabeu and so far is doing a sterling job. On the home front they are almost shadowing the efforts of their great enemy, Barcelona, and on the European stages it looks as though progression through to the knock out stage of the Champions League is a sure fired certainty.
However, does anyone remember what happened to Fabio Capello when he won La Liga title? Even success does not make this club happy.
And what's more, the same old frailties are still as evident as ever. Defensively they have been found wanting time and time again this season, and will continue to do so unless they can change the error of their ways. AC Milan showed how to take full advantage of Madrid's lack of know how in defence, and they will not be the only team to leave Los Blancos red in the face. It will be both Pellegrini's and Real's undoing this season.
In Italy, Liverno's manager Vittorio Russo is walking on thin ice, especially since coach Gennaro Ruotolo was sacked from his post. From nine league games played so far, they have accumulated just six points which puts them third from bottom in Serie A.
Talk has already begun over who will be Russo's successor at the club, this despite the fact that the man himself remains in the job. Luigi Cagni, the former star of Parma and Empoli has made it clear that he would be interested in the post if approached.
The signs are not good for Russo, therefore if he wants to keep his job, he will need to make rapid changes.
Stuttgart are not finding life in the Bundesliga this season quite as easy as the last when they qualified for the Champions League. Currently they are in a slump which has seen them lose their last three matches as well as finding themselves in the midst of a not so pleasing six defeats just this season. Naturally, the manager Markus Babbel is the man who is being blamed for this speculative sequence of results, and what is worse for him is that he has received the dreaded vote of confidence from the club director of sport, Horst Heldt, who says "We are patient," despite going on to point out that "We now need wins."
Things are not looking much better for them in the Champions League where they sit a place behind the two automatic qualification spots. Babbel's job is certainly on the line and we cannot see how things are going to get better any time soon.
