Premier League: Does Replacing A Promoted Manager Ever Work?

McCarthy, Brown and Coppell are a far cry from the only examples of the trend, either. It is difficult to look back at Derby County's decision to agree to Billy Davies' departure by mutual consent as a shrewd move, as he became a victim of his own success when the Rams' inadequacies became apparent at the top level. His replacement, Paul Jewell, failed to register a league win that season. Then there's the curious case of Roberto Di Matteo, who lost his job in 2011 despite leading West Bromwich Albion to an instant return to the Premier League the season before. At least in this instance, Albion did not suffer, but Di Matteo had still lost his job despite his success as manager. Looking at these cases plus those of Neil Warnock and Aidy Boothroyd, it seems like the best way for a manager in the Championship to keep his job is to not get his team promoted! Examples like Ian Holloway at Blackpool are depressingly few and far between, and giving a manager a full season is becoming a thing of the past. What makes this trend worse is that it is difficult to find examples of a decision of this kind working. Gary Megson's departure as West Bromwich Albion in 2004 is possibly the most notable recent instance, as replacement Bryan Robson led the Baggies to safety on the final day of the season despite being bottom at Christmas. How much of this was down to Robson, however, is unclear. So, it is difficult to find any precedent of a happy ending following any sacking like Brian McDermott's, but in defence of Chairmen and club owners alike, there are cases of a similar late season managerial change leading to success at clubs where the outgoing manager had not achieved promotion the season before. One such case was that of Fulham in the 2006-07 season. In April, following several unremarkable seasons in the Premier League, the Cottagers were staring relegation in the face. Cue the decision of Mohamed Al-Fayed to replace boss Chris Coleman with Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez. Sanchez would go on to steer the club to an unlikely survival. Although Sanchez left the following season, and although his reputation in the game was arguably decreased in his time there, Fulham have been a solid top flight side ever since. The decision to replace the manager had clearly worked. Undoubtedly more famously, however, was last season's appointment of Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea. Andres Villas-Boas had never been a fit at the club under Roman Abramovich, and so in March 2012 he left, to be replaced by a Chelsea legend. Despite his lack of experience at a top club and sacking by West Brom the season before, Di Matteo's standing at Stamford Bridge and effect on the dressing room resulted in the club winning a coveted first Champions League title. Again, the right decision had been made. It is also worth considering the undoubted pressure that a relegation battle puts on a Premier League club's owners, directors and upper hierarchy. If the side does go down, some quarters will always ask why the manager wasn't replaced, reeling off a list of top unemployed managers that might have, hypothetically, steered the club to safety. This makes it a lose-lose situation: sack the manager and go down and it's a bad move, keep the manager and go down and it's a bad move. The only way to win, seemingly, is to be successful. As with all previous instances, we will never know whether McDermott or indeed even Adkins would have been 'winners' in this scenario. So, the moral of this tale of managerial change and upheaval? Undoubtedly that it's better to stick with your man than replace him, be it late in the day or early in the campaign. History tells us that change rarely works, and that whatever happens, a club owner is never going to be praised for his decision. So, what do you think? Are we right to conclude that it's rarely, or even never, a good move to replace a manager that achieved promotion from the Championship? Are there any other examples that you can think of? And will Brian McDermott's sacking give Reading a better chance of survival this campaign? Leave a comment with your views.