Former Watford striker Troy Deeney has been sacked as manager of League Two side Forest Green Rovers after just six games in charge following an astonishing rant in which he publicly criticised his players following their most recent defeat to Harrogate Town.
Deeney apologised for his public outburst in which he labelled full-back Fankaty Dabo’s performance as “awful” and claimed “he’s not been good enough for five, six, seven, eight, nine weeks”.
He won none of his six games in charge and was also slapped with a four-game ban and fine for using “improper language” and receiving a red card during Forest Green’s clash with Swindon on December 29.
It immediately goes down as one of the worst, and shortest, managerial reigns in recent history. Here are some of the other managers who failed to impress and were not given the time to turn it around…
Frank de Boer – Crystal Palace
Dutchman Frank de Boer took over at Crystal Palace in 2017 with the aim of changing the style of play at the club but his appointment approved to be disastrous.
De Boer was handed a three-year contract but was sacked after losing his first four league games of the season in which his side failed to score a single goal. His possession based style saw Palace make costly mistakes at the back and fail to threaten in attack either.
He was later dubbed “the worst manager in the history of the Premier League” by Jose Mourinho to make matters worse and Palace instead turned to club legend Roy Hodgson to sort their problems out.
Embed from Getty ImagesNathan Jones – Southampton
Embed from Getty ImagesSouthampton took a risk when appointing Nathan Jones last season and it was a decision which ultimately backfired.
The former Luton Town boss lasted just four months at the Saints, winning only one of his eight league games in charge and was sacked with the team sitting bottom of the top flight.
He also irked the fanbase with some questionable quotes, including boasting that there “weren’t many better than me in Europe for aggression, clean sheets, defending inside your box and xG” and claiming Southampton playing against ten-man Wolves in their 2-1 defeat actually hurt his side because “it made it a free hit for them and added more pressure.”
Gary Neville – Valencia
Embed from Getty ImagesThe football world was caught completely off guard when Gary Neville was appointed as the manager of Spanish side Valencia in 2015. Peter Lim, the owner of Valencia, also owns a stake in Neville’s club Salford City and so decided to make the risky decision of putting the former Manchester United defender in charge.
Neville was a disaster, winning just three of his 16 league games in charge and was sacked after four months with the club sitting just six points above the relegation zone and having failed to keep a single clean sheet.
The former Manchester United defender has had a successful post-playing career in punditry and in business but will be remembered for the wrong reasons when it comes to management.
Tony Adams – Granada
Embed from Getty ImagesTony Adams’s disastrous spell as Portsmouth manager did not deter him from being a manager, but his time at Spanish side Granada was arguably even worse.
The Arsenal legend was appointed in April 2017 but lost all seven games in charge of the club as they were relegated from La Liga, which saw Adams subsequently sacked.
He also went viral for his unorthodox training methods in which he looked like he was dancing while giving instructions. The practise would come in handy for Adams, however, who later appeared on Strictly Come Dancing.
Terry Connor – Wolves
Embed from Getty ImagesAssistant to Mick McCarthy, Terry Connor was given the top job at Wolves back in February 2012 after the club’s decision to sack McCarthy but things went from bad to even worse following his appointment.
Connor picked up just four points from 13 games as Wolves finished rock bottom of the Premier League and were relegated. He then went back to his former role but left the club altogether early into the following season.
Bob Bradley – Swansea
Embed from Getty ImagesThe former United States and Egypt boss was a surprise appointment at Premier League Swansea in 2016 but would last just 85 days and 11 games in charge at the Welsh club.
His side conceded a whopping 29 goals over that time with just two wins and eight points to his name from his short spell in England.
