The numbers, 11, 2 and 13 will not mean much to many people, but they certainly did if you were a Manchester United fan in the late 1980’s, because those were the three positions where United finished in Alex Ferguson’s first four seasons at the club (they finished 11th twice).
The Red Devils had not won the league title since 1967, but were still very much considered one of the ‘big boys’ along with the likes of Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal. Much was expected when Fergie first walked through the doors of their old training ground, the Cliff, especially having guided Aberdeen to three league titles, four Scottish cups, one Scottish League Cup and a Cup Winners’ Cup win, which included victories over European giants Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. There was no doubt that he was a proven manager, but even someone of Ferguson’s calibre needed time to get to grips with an entirely new set-up.
Each season there are sackings that bring football purists to their knees in despair and probably none more so than the current campaign. The one that seemed to upset fans the most was that of Chris Hughton by his employers at Newcastle United. Here was a man respected by players and fans, personally and professionally, having overseen the very tricky task of leading the Magpies out of the Championship at the first attempt, but still he found himself surplus to requirements for, apparently, being ‘inexperienced’. Why they did not fire him in the summer for this indiscretion, only Mike Ashley knows. Surely, he had more experience at the time he was sacked than what he had comprised by the summer.
Now, let’s get this straight; Newcastle are not a big club, well certainly not as big as they think they are and nowhere near the stature of Manchester United or Liverpool, so Hughton’s sacking reeked of the absurd, as much as that of Sam Allardyce, another managerial casualty that bemused the world of football. Newcastle and Liverpool are riding a crest of a wave flowing with mediocrity at the current time. This has been a common theme for the Geordies over the years, which begs the question, ‘what does Mike Ashley expect from them?’ But it is certainly not true of Liverpool, for although they’ve had their moments of mundanity, just like the men from the North-East have had their fleeting glimpses of glory, most notably in the mid-90’s and early ‘00’s, they are still the most successful club in history, and it has been another change of personnel involving the Reds that has undoubtedly gained more news coverage than that of Hughton’s.