Apparently Hodgson is now the sixth Watford manager since they last kept a Premier League clean sheet.
That's one of those stats that is a "wow" 'til you scratch beneath the surface. It's actually 31 PL games since they beat Liverpool 3-0 in Feb 2020 - that is, admittedly, a very poor defensive run but so far as the longevity of that run is concerned they were in the Championship for a year and one of those Managers was Hayden Mullins who was caretaker for a month. Using the same measure, it could be argued that we had 10 Managers in the 33 month period between March 2014 and November 2016. Other clubs would have been saying the same about us as we do about Watford. And they would have been correct in doing so of course.
Even more remarkable, in my opinion, than that the 3-0 defeat of Liverpool being Watford's last clean sheet for 31 PL games is the fact that it was Liverpool's first defeat for 44 PL matches - in a season in which Liverpool won the PL by a massive 18 points and Watford were relegated.
A tale of two clubs less than 20 miles apart geographically - both in dire trouble early season - one that sacked their Manager and one that didn't:
Nottingham Forest - sacked Chris Hughton following a disastrous start that left them bottom with one point from their first seven games. Since then Forest have taken, under Steve Cooper, 42 points from 21 games and are just one point off the Play Offs
Mansfield Town - after 14 games they were joint bottom with just 11 points and were on a winless run of 12 games too. Mansfield stuck with Nigel Clough and have been on an incredible run that has seen them win 10 of their last 11 matches - they are now in the Play Offs and just three points off automatic promotion with two games in hand
I backed both of these pre season on the handicap markets on the basis of that I thought both Hughton and Clough were good Managers. Despite their runs, I am unlikely to win with either and have to admit I got Hughton wrong - he was just too negative. But Clough, yet again, has proved that the acorn didn't fall far from the tree. I wanted him to be our Manager at one point but it seems he is unwilling to move far from home given that he has managed at Sheffield, Burton (twice), Derby and now Mansfield for a total of 1,135 matches in 22 years - and unlike his Dad most of them out of the limelight too
The moral of the story - some Managers know what they are doing and are the right fit for a club. If you stick with them they will come through eventually. As did Lennie and Curbs for us.
A tale of two clubs less than 20 miles apart geographically - both in dire trouble early season - one that sacked their Manager and one that didn't:
Nottingham Forest - sacked Chris Hughton following a disastrous start that left them bottom with one point from their first seven games. Since then Forest have taken, under Steve Cooper, 42 points from 21 games and are just one point off the Play Offs
Mansfield Town - after 14 games they were joint bottom with just 11 points and were on a winless run of 12 games too. Mansfield stuck with Nigel Clough and have been on an incredible run that has seen them win 10 of their last 11 matches - they are now in the Play Offs and just three points off automatic promotion with two games in hand
I backed both of these pre season on the handicap markets on the basis of that I thought both Hughton and Clough were good Managers. Despite their runs, I am unlikely to win with either and have to admit I got Hughton wrong - he was just too negative. But Clough, yet again, has proved that the acorn didn't fall far from the tree. I wanted him to be our Manager at one point but it seems he is unwilling to move far from home given that he has managed at Sheffield, Burton (twice), Derby and now Mansfield for a total of 1,135 matches in 22 years - and unlike his Dad most of them out of the limelight too
The moral of the story - some Managers know what they are doing and are the right fit for a club. If you stick with them they will come through eventually. As did Lennie and Curbs for us.
Great post AA. I've thought about Clough too over the years. There can't be many in the current era (where managers are sacked so readily never to be seen again) that have had such a long run of being in management for consecutive seasons. I was also impressed when he rather selflessly resigned from Burton at the end of the first pandemic affected season to assist the club's finances.
A tale of two clubs less than 20 miles apart geographically - both in dire trouble early season - one that sacked their Manager and one that didn't:
Nottingham Forest - sacked Chris Hughton following a disastrous start that left them bottom with one point from their first seven games. Since then Forest have taken, under Steve Cooper, 42 points from 21 games and are just one point off the Play Offs
Mansfield Town - after 14 games they were joint bottom with just 11 points and were on a winless run of 12 games too. Mansfield stuck with Nigel Clough and have been on an incredible run that has seen them win 10 of their last 11 matches - they are now in the Play Offs and just three points off automatic promotion with two games in hand
I backed both of these pre season on the handicap markets on the basis of that I thought both Hughton and Clough were good Managers. Despite their runs, I am unlikely to win with either and have to admit I got Hughton wrong - he was just too negative. But Clough, yet again, has proved that the acorn didn't fall far from the tree. I wanted him to be our Manager at one point but it seems he is unwilling to move far from home given that he has managed at Sheffield, Burton (twice), Derby and now Mansfield for a total of 1,135 matches in 22 years - and unlike his Dad most of them out of the limelight too
The moral of the story - some Managers know what they are doing and are the right fit for a club. If you stick with them they will come through eventually. As did Lennie and Curbs for us.
The big mystery was why Mansfield started the season so badly, as Clough turned things around there last season when he joined them, and is a top manager, certainly in lower league football.
New ownership so not surprised. Harsh on Mccann however. Have had some really good results recently.
Everyone knows why he was sacked, which was nothing to do with how well he had done. I'm sure he'll get another job soon
Other than the new owners wanting to bring in their own man, was there some other reason why?
No, I was just referring to the fact that all along they've always wanted their own man, so results on the pitch were largely irrelevant in McCann's sacking
Indeed it wouldn't surprise me if the results got worse unless they can drastically improve the squad in the last few days of the window, as I imagine there would have been great "them against us" bond between McCann and the players
They've fallen away the last few months and may just scrape a play off spot, early on it looked like them, Fulham and Bournemouth would be contenders for automatic promotion.
No mercy from owners nowadays, a few bad results wherever the team is placed in the table, the manager is going fast or gone .. the cliché 'lost the dressing room' is i m o much more prevalent now .. if players are dissatisfied they are not shy in expressing their opinions, not necessarily in public, but around the club .. at the end of the day, owners know that it's the players and their performances that decide games and not the managers yelling from the technical areas
Second strata specialist lol .. thing is though he's ex Villa AND Brum City and that might not go down too well with the Baggies fans .. if he lives long enough Steve might do the full 92, as a manager
West Brom should never have sacked Bilic when they did. They might still have gone down but, even if they had, he would have made a better fist of getting them back up again
EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland will interview ROY KEANE to return as manager, 13 years after he quit and 11 years since his last job as a boss, with outspoken pundit backed to reignite their promotion bid
EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland will interview ROY KEANE to return as manager, 13 years after he quit and 11 years since his last job as a boss, with outspoken pundit backed to reignite their promotion bid
Never falls out with anyone. Never expects his players to be able to do all that he could on the pitch. Never likely to lose it - on or off the pitch. Unlikely to break your leg when he joins in a training game. Always likely to listen to a player's point of view. Enjoys a fantastic relationship with the media and never likely to to have a stand up row with a journalist asking a perfectly valid question.
EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland will interview ROY KEANE to return as manager, 13 years after he quit and 11 years since his last job as a boss, with outspoken pundit backed to reignite their promotion bid
Never falls out with anyone. Never expects his players to be able to do all that he could on the pitch. Never likely to lose it - on or off the pitch. Unlikely to break your leg when he joins in a training game. Always likely to listen to a player's point of view. Enjoys a fantastic relationship with the media and never likely to to have a stand up row with a journalist asking a perfectly valid question.
If only that were Roy Keane!
I feel like he's mellowed a bit, some of the videos he did with Neville and Micah Richards showed a different side to him. But yes i fully appreciate he wouldn't be the easiest manager to work for. He did win promotion with them before as manager though.
I like this bit i saw about him "Keane tackled his players' non-professional approach with a firm hand. When three players were late for the team coach to a trip to Barnsley in March 2007, he simply left them behind"
Comments
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/24/roy-hodgson-warns-disgraceful-harry-the-hornet-over-diving-antics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60135020
Even more remarkable, in my opinion, than that the 3-0 defeat of Liverpool being Watford's last clean sheet for 31 PL games is the fact that it was Liverpool's first defeat for 44 PL matches - in a season in which Liverpool won the PL by a massive 18 points and Watford were relegated.
Nottingham Forest - sacked Chris Hughton following a disastrous start that left them bottom with one point from their first seven games. Since then Forest have taken, under Steve Cooper, 42 points from 21 games and are just one point off the Play Offs
Mansfield Town - after 14 games they were joint bottom with just 11 points and were on a winless run of 12 games too. Mansfield stuck with Nigel Clough and have been on an incredible run that has seen them win 10 of their last 11 matches - they are now in the Play Offs and just three points off automatic promotion with two games in hand
I backed both of these pre season on the handicap markets on the basis of that I thought both Hughton and Clough were good Managers. Despite their runs, I am unlikely to win with either and have to admit I got Hughton wrong - he was just too negative. But Clough, yet again, has proved that the acorn didn't fall far from the tree. I wanted him to be our Manager at one point but it seems he is unwilling to move far from home given that he has managed at Sheffield, Burton (twice), Derby and now Mansfield for a total of 1,135 matches in 22 years - and unlike his Dad most of them out of the limelight too
The moral of the story - some Managers know what they are doing and are the right fit for a club. If you stick with them they will come through eventually. As did Lennie and Curbs for us.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60139354
Hopefully your bets come off too.
Indeed it wouldn't surprise me if the results got worse unless they can drastically improve the squad in the last few days of the window, as I imagine there would have been great "them against us" bond between McCann and the players
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60149753
Just this century it's included the likes of Megson, Pearson (caretaker), Mowbray, Appleton, Hodgson, Clarke, Pulis, Pardew, Bilic, and Allardyce
With Bruce, all they need is Moyes to complete the set
If only that were Roy Keane!
I like this bit i saw about him "Keane tackled his players' non-professional approach with a firm hand. When three players were late for the team coach to a trip to Barnsley in March 2007, he simply left them behind"
"World class player, economy class person"