Foreign owners of teams have something of a penchant for sacking managers, even if they are being apparently successful. Sam Allardyce was shown the door at Blackburn Rovers when they were mid-table in the Premiership and look where they are now. The Kuwati owners of Nottingham Forest fired Steve Cotterill within days and then Sean O’Driscoll within months.
Foreign owners of teams have something of a penchant for sacking managers, even if they are being apparently successful. Sam Allardyce was shown the door at Blackburn Rovers when they were mid-table in the Premiership and look where they are now. The Kuwati owners of Nottingham Forest fired Steve Cotterill within days and then Sean O’Driscoll within months.
The latest victim is the well-regarded Nigel Adkins at Southampton. Saints boss Nicola Cortese has been looking for an excuse to sack him for some time, and when results failed to give him one, the manager got the boot anyway, apparently learning about his fate on television. The replacement was already in place, along with his translator.
Saints fans that I know were shocked by the move, but in a sense it was not a surprise. Cortese has not endeared himself to fans by his treatment of supporters groups or former players like Matt Le Tissier who called the club a ‘laughing stock’ yesterday. The Southampton Daily Echo has been banned from club events for two years, never a good sign.
However, there are those who are prepared to back Cortese, pointing out that his ruthless treatment of Alan Pardew paid off. Cortese said yesterday that ‘The challenge is to win all the games that are ahead of us.’ Some might think that consolidation in the Premiership in a respectable position like the current one of 15th was a realistic target that would be acceptable to most fans.
Is this a case of vaulting ambition over reaching itself? We shall have to wait and see.