Inside Track: Ange not the only manager to have a short stay

Having packed off the bits and pieces cobbled together for last week’s issue earlier than usual, I had the opportunity to take in a film on the Sunday night.

What could have been more appropriate than The 39 Steps, given that this figure had figured prominently in the day’s sports pages?

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It was the Hitchcock version starring Kenneth More. I had seen it many years ago and enjoyed it. This time? Only so-so. Much too far-fetched, I thought, something I wouldn’t have noticed in my less critical days.

An example. Richard Hannay, played by More, is on the run, and gets cornered in a room about three storeys high. So he breaks the window and jumps out.

And where does he land? On the back of a passing lorry carrying bales of straw. Doesn’t get a scratch. (I’m surprised Hitchcock hadn’t come up with something better.)

There was more of the same throughout, but I stuck with it, because I knew there was a half-decent finale. There were some nice views of the Scottish Highlands, and though it was meant to be a serious film – well, kind of – Sid James turned up driving a lorry.

Ange Postecoglou was most unlikely to have been looking in. Just the day before, the Aussie was given the heave-ho by Nottingham Forest, only 39 days after being appointed manager, or head coach, if you like.

If he had looked towards the directors’ box as Forest struggled in their home game with Chelsea, Ange would have seen club owner, Evangelos Marinakos, taking his leave – not to supplement his half-time cuppa with another, but to get his pencil out to word a thank-you-very-much-but-no-thanks note.

Fair play to the eagle-eyed hack who noted that Marinakos’s missive carried the same number of words as Ange’s days in charge.

It’s a ruthless game that English League soccer. Postecoglou joined Forest after his spell with Spurs had ended, and while he failed to win a game in his new surroundings, back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, he led his charges to victory in the Europa League, beating Manchester United in the final. It was the first major to make its way to the North London club in 17 years.

And speaking of Man U – and there was a lot of people at that around me on the same weekend – their manager, Ruben Amorim, was himself under pressure a few weeks ago, with speculation rife over his stay at Old Trafford.

He has turned it around, the Reds’ win over Liverpool, last Sunday week, a real rip-snorter. Now, the pressure’s on ‘Pool boss Arne Slot, who has seen his side fall from the Premier top spot without a win in four games, prior to last Wednesday night.

Postecoglou’s sacking has earned him an unwanted record. His tenure in charge at Nottingham is the shortest in the Premier, beating by one day the length of Les Reed’s at Charlton.

And it beats two of the best remembered short-stays. Back before the Premier League came down the runway, two of the great names in football, Jock Stein and Brian Clough, had hardly time to hang up their coats after switching clubs.

Stein, whose name will always be revered among Celtic supporters, was just 44 days at Leeds’ Elland Road, the same as Clough. But whereas Stein left with a handshake – to take over the Scotland team – Clough’s departure was shrouded in acrimony.

Clough had left Brighton to join Leeds, succeeding Don Revie, who, like Stein, was taking the step up to International level. It soon became apparent he wasn’t a good fit. He was dealing with players who had egos bigger than his, and it just didn’t work out.

At one of his first training sessions, Clough is said to have called out Norman Hunter, telling him he was a dirty player. Hunter’s reply? Something like: “I don’t give a (fill in as you think appropriate) what you think.”

Clough was on the road again, this time to the already-mentioned Nottingham Forest, and soon proved that Leeds’ loss was Forest’s dream-maker.

He guided his new club to two European Cup wins in the early 1980s, and remained with the club until his retirement in 1993.

It probably won’t be of any consolation to Ange Postecoglou to know his reign is not the shortest in English League history.

Twelve others’ were under 39 days, among them Tommy Docherty’s, 28 days at QPR for 28, and Steve Coppell’s, just over a month with Manchester City.

The gong, however, goes to Bill Lambton. He was with Scunthorpe United for just three days, in 1959. Seemingly, the club bosses got fed up with Bill turning up late for work.