With the current shambolic state that football management finds itself in, I thought I'd have a look back through Swansea City's managerial past to find out who was the last manager we actually asked to leave.
Firstly, anyone who knows anything about Swansea City will know that the last few managers have all moved on for, they thought, bigger and better things. While it's possibly worked out well for the most recently departed manager, it's not always gone so smoothly, and I've produced a breakdown of the most recent Swansea bosses, with an aim to tracking backwards until we get to the manager who was actually asked to leave.
I compiled quite a lot of information in doing this, and it threw up some interesting bits of trivia. Did you know, for example, that Swansea City haven't actually sacked a manager since Walter Smith was in charge of Everton? Ok, we've changed managers multiple times however it hasn't been specifically at the behest of the board - even if Huw & co were jumping for joy when Paolo Sousa decided the grass was greener elsewhere (it wasn't, was it Paolo?).
Now, I haven't gone through the entire league system, but given that the only teams I've found in the Premier League who haven't sacked a manager since the Swans last did are Manchester United & Arsenal, it's likely there aren't any teams with a similar record below the PL. Man Utd & Arsenal are both freak situations and the longevity of their manager's respective careers is very unlikely to be replicated by any "modern" manager given the stresses and need for immediate success that exists within 21st century football. Below is a list of recent Swansea managers, dating back to the last time we sacked someone, followed by a breakdown of this season's Premiership clubs and exactly when it was they last sacked a manager (and who it was).
Michael Laudrup 17 June 2012 - Present
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| Laudrup: Consistently and continentally cool. |
Taking over from Rodgers was no walk in the park given the Swans impressive first season in the top-flight, however the legendary Dane has done so with aplomb - leading the team to their first major cup win (over Bradford in the League Cup final) as well as consolidating their position as a solid mid-table Premier League club. It remains to be seen what would happen if Laudrup received serious interest from a club such as Real Madrid or Chelsea, however given that he signed a new contract recently there's reason to be hopeful he'll be residing in South Wales for some time yet.
Brendan Rodgers 16 July 2010 - 1 June 2012 - Left for Liverpool
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| Brendan Rodgers: Smarter than you? He thinks so. |
Brendan came into a club which was, let's be honest, set up for how he wanted to play football. What's more, the squad had endured a year of Sousa-style football and were probably itching to actually try and score some goals, so Rodgers tika-taka approach will have been greeted with open arms. What Rodgers achieved is well known, revitalising the sqaud and using his contacts to bring in Scott Sinclair, who proved a catalyst in the Swans gaining promotion via the play-off final. A solid first season in the Premiership further enhanced Brendan's reputation, and he swiftly had his head turned by Liverpool, who were clearly going to win a trophy before the Swans did.
Paolo Sousa 22 June 2009 - 5 July 2010 - Left for Leicester City
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| Sousa: A better photographic subject than he is a football manager? |
Another aesthetically pleasing manager, Sousa carried the same sense of continental cool that Laudrup exudes: unfortunately their respective playing careers neatly illustrate the differences between the Dane and the Portugese. Laudrup was an exciting attacking threat, always capable of something unexpected - whereas Sousa was a defensive midfielder who, while extremely talented, derived a lot of his success from discipline and defensive positioning. This showed in the Swans football under Sousa, with Gorka Pintado regularly selected up front on his own; which led fans to ask whether Pintado was actually being selected due to his defensive work rate.
When you've only got one striker, he needs to be scoring goals, and a frustrating season of ultra-negative football (albeit one where our defence improved massively) ended with Sousa leaving by mutual consent to take the vacant managerial post at Leicester, owned by Milan Mandaric. Whether it had anything to do with the bucketfuls of money Leicester were rumoured to have ready to throw around we can't say, however Paolo was sacked only three months into the new season - with only one win on the board.
Roberto Martinez 24 February 2007 - 15 June 2009 - Left for Wigan Athletic
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| "Connor McManaman? Nah, it was never a red" |
Roberto Martinez has become synonymous with both the creation of "The Swansea Way", and also with good, passing football. While playing for Chester City in League Two he got a call from Swansea City (Martinez played for Swansea in their famous win over Hull which secured continued professional football) and was persuaded to hang up his boots to embark on a new chapter in his career: that of the manager. Much has been made of his father's experience in a similar role, but in truth Martinez is his own man having had to adapt to a very different style of football - he's developed his own methods which have, up until now at least, seen him perform minor miracles (at Wigan in particular).
Heralded as the starting point of Swansea's "tika taka" style, Martinez certainly put the emphasis on short, neat passing however the reality is you can trace the footballing philosophy back further than Martinez, even if he was preceded by...
Kenny Jackett 5 April 2004 - 15 February 2007 - Left by mutual consent
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| Kenny Jackett: Perpetually squinty. |
Kenny Jackett has sometimes had a bad rap from Swansea fans, and a look at some statistics indicates this may not necessarily be warranted. It all depends which way you look at it really - results wise Kenny brought a steadiness to the club and a record of played 163; won 75; lost 48; drawn 40 isn't something to be sniffed at. Where Jackett struggled, however, was player acquisition. He continually spent big on players who, ultimately, turned out to be a massive waste of money. Rory Fallon and Leon Knight cost almost half a million pounds combined, and when you look at players we've subsequently picked up for the same kind of (or even less) money it's clear those deals weren't the best for the club - even if Jackett managed to recoup the 300k spent on Fallon when he was sold to Plymouth Argyle.
Jackett continued to take more and more flack from the media regarding results which were below those expected for a team who'd laid out the kind of money the Swans had, and also a perceived "negative and direct" playing style. Whether this was the case is up for debate, however Fallon in particular served to typify the frustrations felt by Swansea fans and eventually Jacket felt enough was enough, leaving with immediate effect.
Brian Flynn 19 September 2002 - 18 March 2004 Left by mutual consent
Brian Flynn is a man who deserves enormous credit for Swansea's eventual rise to fame. In charge for THAT game against Hull, Flynn also signed Leon Britton (originally on loan), Alan Tate, Andy Robinson, and a certain Lee Trundle. The impact those players would go on to have for the Swans was impossible to predict, however Flynn clearly had, and still has, an eye for an emerging talent.
Flynn can justifiably feel harshly treated by the Swans, as after an impressive couple of seasons, where he steadied the boat before the Swans started to push up the table. Unfortunately for Flynn, poor results coincided with a rumoured dispute over where the manager actually lived: with rumours stating he was ultimately let go due to his refusal to move his family home from Cheshire to Swansea. Either way, fans must surely appreciate the hard work put in by Flynn, and how much the players he signed went on to do for the club.
Colin Addison 13 September 2001 - 7 Mar 2002 - Sacked by Swansea City
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| Colin Addison: Looks like a geography teacher. |
Colin Addison came into the fold at Swansea City with a reputation something akin to that of a lower league Roy Hodgson. He'd been a respected player, and as a manager he'd been around the blocks - with it generally being accepted that he knew what he was talking about. He'd been manager of Scarborough & Derby, but his strongest ties are to Hereford - where after two spells as manager he's now regarded as somewhat of a legend - even having an area of the ground named after him! (Addison Court). Addison replaced the outgoing John Hollins (this has been a right trip down memory lane!) and brought his assistant Peter Nicholas with him. Nicholas was something of a Welsh football celebrity, having guided Barry Town through a period where they enjoyed yearly European sojurns - even if they were often on the end of a spanking.
In truth Addison joined at a very turbulent time for Swansea City. Shortly after he took control from caretaker boss Nick Cusack, the club fell into the hands of Tony Petty - who proceeded to fly in and sack seven first team players. Not the ideal situation to find yourself in. Remarkably, Addison managed to guide the Swans to league safety by March, but, along with Nicholas, was summarily let go - and wasn't too pleased about it:
"Peter and I both knew the financial situation at Swansea. We knew the club had money problems and we would have listened to the committee about reduced contracts.
"Swansea should have given us something. Look at John Cornforth at Exeter; That club has money problems like Swansea but they've just offered him a new two-year contract, but the Swansea committee didn't offer us anything. They just expected us to walk away. They wouldn't even let us take charge for the Carlisle game which was only 24 hours away.
"They didn't even pay us the money they owe us - and don't forget, we were getting half of what they were paying our predecessors, John Hollins and Alan Curtis. They never gave us a cheque and said, 'Here you are, you've done a smashing job'. We've just joined the list with all the other creditors."
"Four days before we were sacked I had achat with Huw Jenkins (committee member) and he said the club wanted us to stay, I told Peter and we both told our families the news. Huw said the decision was a unanimous one and that made the news even better. Then they just expected us to walk away. It's the biggest U-turn ever."
It seems that Addison & Nicholas were harshly treated, but unfortunately life is unfair sometimes. Given what has unfolded since I haven't got it in me to find fault with Huw & the board's decision, as ultimately it's been vindicated (and then some!).
Getting back to the present day, it is a nice feeling knowing that the board of your football club are, realistically, one of the most sensible in the land - and long may that continue. Each managerial appointment, as detailed, has been well thought out and has brought whatever qualities they felt were needed to the fold. As Swansea fans, we know exactly what it's like to lose managers at the drop of a hat (maybe we were actually trend-setting a bit there) so this continued environment of sensible appointments is an ocean of calm in a sea of short-sighted knee-jerk reactions. What's more, it works. Continuity is key.
| Name | Date manager last sacked | Manager surname | ||
| Arsenal | 21/02/95 | Graham | ||
| Aston Villa | 16/05/12 | McLeish | ||
| Chelsea | 12/11/12 | Di Matteo | ||
| Everton | 11/03/02 | Smith | ||
| Fulham | 21/12/07 | Sanchez | ||
| Liverpool | 16/05/12 | Dalglish | ||
| Manchester City | 19/12/09 | Hughes | ||
| Manchester United | 06/11/86 | Ron Atkinson | ||
| Newcastle United | 06/12/10 | Hughton | ||
| Norwich City | 14/08/09 | Gunn | ||
| Queens Park Rangers | 10/11/12 | Hughes | ||
| Reading | 01/03/13 | McDermott | ||
| Southampton | 01/01/13 | Adkins | ||
| Stoke City | 28/06/05 | Pulis! | ||
| Sunderland | 30/11/11 | Bruce | ||
| Swansea City | 08/03/02 | Addison | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 13/06/12 | Redknapp | ||
| West Brom | 01/02/11 | Di Matteo | ||
| West Ham | 15/05/11 | Grant | ||
| Wigan Athletic | 05/11/07 | Hutchings | ||
NB: If anyone is wondering about where Cusack & Freestone fit into this, I didn't include them as they were always temporary fixes. Cusack WAS removed as manager more recently than Addison, however he was offered another role within the club which he refused - so I'm not sure that counts as "sacking"...