Nottm Forest: O’Driscoll Sacking Unfair, McLeish A Mistake

McLeish What came as the biggest surprise in football to many this Boxing Day was not the Adam Johnson goal, which saw Sunderland overhaul Manchester City, but rather the inexplicable sacking of Nottingham Forest manager Sean O€™Driscoll. O€™Driscoll is the latest man to fall victim of the unpredictable managerial lottery and was relieved of his duties just hours after watching his side overcome Leeds United 4-2 €“ a team that they were actually trailing in the table prior to the match. Following two years of disappointment under managers Billy Davies, Steve McClaren and Steve Cotterill respectively, Sean O€™Driscoll had appeared to be moving the team in the right direction. Forest have made a reasonably strong start to the season, and currently lie only one point of the play-off places in the nPower Championship. They also possess arguably one of the strongest squads in the league, much of which was compiled by O€™Driscoll himself €“ including highly-rated Henri Lansbury, and Premier league loanees Jermaine Jenas and Billy Sharp. Despite this, and a previous promise of a 3-5 year plan, O€™Driscoll was unfairly replaced by a new manager yesterday afternoon. Of all the names flying around, including Roy Keane, Glenn Hoddle and fellow hard-done-by manager Roberto Di Matteo, Alex McLeish was appointed in what seems to be a very backwards step for the club. O€™Driscoll had seemed a much stronger candidate to bring the team back to the prominence of the 1970€™s, and also played an attractive brand of football - McLeish arrives at the City Ground on the back of relegating Birmingham City and almost doing the same to Aston Villa. No doubt that if Alex Mcleish does not instantly bring glory back to Nottingham Forest then he shall be the next managerial casualty of the Forest owners. The Al-Hasawi family are yet another example of unloyal owners with too much money who probably don€™t know much about football. We€™ve become used to seeing this is in the Premier League but not quite in the leagues below - eat your heart out Roman Abramovich. What do you think of the decision to sack O'Driscoll? Share your thoughts below.
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