We’re at the start of October and three managers have already left their clubs; it’s almost a year since I wrote this and it’s still worth reading even though the circumstances have changed somewhat.
There are similar reasons behind the decisions at Bristol City, Doncaster Rovers and Nottingham Forest. The performance of all three clubs has regressed from last season, although Forest’s decline has been most spectacular and the least expected. The circumstances under which McClaren and Millen departed Forest and Bristol City were also remarkably similar: poor starts to the season culminating in losing after a leading a home game and heavy defeats away from home.
Whoever takes over the Forest job may have the tougher job due to unrealistic fan expectations. Despite not having won anything since the equivalent of the Championship in 1997/98 and having not played in the Premier League since the last century, the reality of the current situation is that although the Tricky Trees have made the play offs in two of the three seasons since they were promoted from League 1, they’re probably no better than a mid table Championship side.
Presumably Steve McClaren was seen as the man to get them over the final hurdle and back into the land of milk and honey, but it soon became apparent that McClaren’s ambitions for Forest would be hampered by the chairman Nigel Doughty’s control over club finances – what bought matters to a head before the defeat by Birmingham City was that McClaren wanted to bring in two Premier League players but Doughty felt their wages would be too high. According to BBC Radio 5 expert Pat Murphy, McClaren was going to walk out after the Birmingham game regardless of the result and in the aftermath of his departure, Doughty announced he would be stepping down from the chairman’s role at the end of this season.
Despite having been promoted from League 1 the season before Nottingham Forest were, it’s fair to say that both the fan expectations and the national profile for Bristol City are somewhat lower. There’s been a steady and – until recently – a relatively gentle decline in the club’s fortunes since a narrow defeat to Hull City in the playoff final in May 2008 and although last season was something of a write off following the appointment and almost immediate resignation of Steve Coppell, the lack of any progress in the past year has been noticeable. The Robins fit the profile of a team that are facing a season long relegation battle and it’s the prospect of returning to League 1 rather than any aspirations to the Premier League that lead to Millen’s dismissal.
It’ll be interesting to see who’ll get the jobs at both clubs. Dave Jones (ex-Cardiff City boss) and Mark Robins (ex-Barnsley manager who played for Bristol City on loan whilst in League 1) are the early favourites for the job at Ashton Gate although there’s a degree of uncertainty about who McClaren’s successor will be, with MK Dons’ current manager Karl Robinson amongst the realistic front runners for the position at Forest.
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