A Trio Of Departures: Managerial Changes In One Day

Yesterday saw not one, not two, but three clubs change their manager – all for different reasons.

The most high profile was at Crystal Palace – in fact, just mere hours before their 1-1 draw with Everton, it was announced that Roy Hodgson would step down as manager of the club.

Last week had seen rumours of Hodgson potentially being sacked for recent results – after yesterday’s game they find themselves in 15th place, just 5 points above relegation – however that same day he was taken to the hospital after falling ill.

Thankfully now out of hospital, Hodgson still took the opportunity to step down as manager of Palace to fast-track plans to “appoint a new manager at the end of the season”. In his place comes Oliver Glasner – the former Frankfurt manager who took the club to the Europa League title in 2022 after beating Rangers in the final on penalties, and took the club to the knockout stages of the Champions League the following year.

Meanwhile down in the Championship, Sunderland have sacked Michael Beale after just 12 games in charge – making it the shortest stint for any manager in the club’s history (beating Paolo Di Canio’s 13 from 2013).

Sunderland lost half of the games under Beale’s short run, including a 3-0 loss to rivals Newcastle United in the FA Cup. The club now find themselves 10th in the table, 4 points off the playoff positions, and for the remainder of the season will be headed by assistant Mike Dodds who won two of the three games he was previously in charge for between Tony Mowbray and Michael Beale’s appointments.

Speaking of Mowbray, the now current Birmingham City manager has announced he’ll be stepping aside temporarily while he undergoes treatment for an unnamed illness which is due to keep him away from the game for around 6-8 weeks.

Since taking over Mowbray has helped City take 10 points from a possible 18, which has helped them climb up the table to 15th again following the disastrous Wayne Rooney manager stint previously (the club went from 6th down to 20th during the former England striker’s 2 and-a-half month run as coach).

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Ashley