8 Worst Premier League Manager Sackings From The Past 10 Years

2. George Burley - Hearts

To those of you reading this in England, this name may come as quite a surprise. This is the only entry into this list from Scotland, but it is as every bit deserving of 2nd place on the list as much as Leonardo DiCaprio deserves an Oscar. Burley was the first manager to be appointed by the controversial owner of Hearts, Vladimir Romanov, in 2005, and he got off to an absolutely incredible start. They won their first 8 matches in the league, including a 4-0 victory over Hibernian and a 1-0 win over Rangers. Burley was beginning to set the tone for what Romanov wanted to achieve at Hearts (which was basically world domination), but it all turned sour extremely quickly and unexpectedly. Hours before a home tie against Dunfermline, it was announced that George Burley had been sacked by Romanov due to irreconcilable differences (it was technically by mutual consent, but we all know that that means anyway). The friction between the two Hearts men was sparked by several actions from Romanov and the way he operates - a similarly dictating fashion that Vincent Tan has demonstrated recently with Cardiff. It's believed that Burley became angry that Romanov began signing players behind Burley's back. When Burley demonstrated his frustration, he was let go. In the aftermath, several members of the board resigned in protest to the way the club was being run, and Romanov replaced the club chairman with his son, Roman Romanov (what a name). The dictatorship notions of Romanov's tenure crept in ever-after. Now, the reason this is so high on the list given the length of time Burley had is because it was widely speculated that Hearts would have won the league in 2006 if it weren't for Burley's sacking, breaking the endless two horse race between Celtic and Rangers (now reduced to one horse, of course). The way his team were playing was frightening compared to the majority of the league, looking unstoppable against every team they came up against, including the teams from Glasgow. With a top spot finish, Hearts would have gained automatic entry to the group stage of the Champions League, bringing in huge money that they could have used for long-term stability. It could even be suggested that they may have avoided administration this season if they would have made those millions last. It was then shown at the end of the season what a chance they had to challenge for the title with Burley in charge, as despite his sacking early on, they came second in the league due to a poor season's performance by Rangers, who came third. I realise that this entry relies on a lot of 'what ifs', but the notion of Hearts being title challengers was so utterly important to Scottish football's future. Who knows what shape Scottish football would be in now if Hearts had managed to do the unthinkable, and then build upon their success to create a 3-horse race! TV broadcast money would have multiplied, meaning more money for the smaller SPL teams to spark their own challenges, and could perhaps have saved Rangers from their crippling journey through administration and liquidation in 2011/12. It really was that significant.