Unpopular managers
After a vociferous Wenger Out campaign from a section of Arsenal supporters, the Gunners gaffer has announced his intention to step down at the end of the season.
The Frenchman isn’t the first boss who’s been turned on by his own fans, however. In this slideshow, we pick out six (other) ‘manager out’ campaigns that were ultimately successful.
Alan Mullery (Crystal Palace)
In December 1976, Mullery took the brave decision to march onto the pitch and flick some V's at the Crystal Palace fans following his Brighton side’s 1-0 defeat by the south Londoners in the FA Cup. To cap his virtuoso display, Mullery was drenched in scolding coffee as he attempted to walk down the tunnel. As a result, he emptied his pocket of change on the pitch and shouted: "That’s all you’re worth, Crystal Palace."
Unfortunate, then, that just under six years later Mullery found himself installed as manager at Selhurst Park. Not only was he the Eagles' sixth boss in a tumultuous 20-month period, he was also one of the most unpopular in the club's history. Some supporters immediately launched a boycott, refusing to set foot inside the ground while the bespectacled V-flicker was in charge.
Ian Branfoot (Southampton)
“WE HOPE YOU DIE SOON” was the headline emblazoned above Branfoot’s head on the front page of the Red Stripe fanzine back in 1993; most Saints fans rightly recoiled in horror at the undisguised hatred directed at their manager, but the vast majority still wanted him to do the decent thing and resign.
The style of football wasn’t to Dell regulars' tastes, and they never forgave the Geordie for getting rid of Jimmy Case, then doing the unthinkable and telling Matt Le Tissier that he best served the club on the bench rather than on the pitch.
Branfoot left in January 1994, leaving local hack Graham Hiley with one enduring memory: “He got Southampton to the Zenith Data Systems Cup final in 1992, but the fans didn’t care – he got a hammering that day too.”
Jim Jefferies (Bradford)
Anyone who's seen the footage of a worse-for-wear Stuart McCall slipping off the top of a car following Bradford's 1999 promotion will be aware of the high esteem in which he’s held at Valley Parade. Dropping him from the team in 2001 was therefore akin to asking Alan Shearer to do a spot of bench-warming for Newcastle – and we all know what happened when Ruud Gullit did just that.
At Bradford, though, Jefferies lasted significantly longer – much to the frustration of City supporters, who would rather have had anyone else in the dugout.
Bradford were relegated from the Premier League under Jefferies in 2001, but he was given the chance to take them back up again. That endeavour ended in disappointment, and he was eventually removed from his post over a year later than most Bradford followers would have wanted.
Alex McLeish (Aston Villa)
He may have taken cross-city rivals Birmingham to League Cup glory and Scotland to the brink of the World Cup, but for Villa fans McLeish was persona non grata from the moment he was announced as manager back in June 2011.
As soon as rumour circulated of his appointment, graffiti appeared on the gates of Villa's training ground proclaiming ‘Bluenose Scum Not Welcome’. As many as 600 fans gathered on the steps outside the Holte End to shout obscenities at the Scot on his arrival, and their contempt for McLeish grew as results went south.
A banner hoisted high at Villa Park shortly before his departure said it all: ‘We’re not fickle – we just hate you’.
Rafa Benitez (Chelsea)
To describe Benitez’s appointment in November 2012 as controversial is downplaying the fury that erupted among the Chelsea fan base. It wasn’t just that the ex-Liverpool manager had previously said he would never manage the club, or that he once implied there was a lack of passion at Stamford Bridge.
No, it was more to do with the fact that Chelsea and Liverpool was THE rivalry in English football during his time at Anfield, and that Benitez would always be associated with some of the most tempestuous fixtures English football has witnessed in modern times.
All of which makes Benitez's record as Chelsea boss even more remarkable: 23 wins from 42 matches, and a Europa League Final victory over Benfica which allowed him to walk away with his head held high.
Alan Pardew (Newcastle)
On paper, the former West Ham and Southampton boss didn’t do a bad job at St James’ Park, but Newcastle fans never really took to the Londoner and let their printers and social media feeds do the talking.
This was a very modern fan coup, with a website set up to oust the man who'd been appointed by the equally vilified Mike Ashley in December 2010. The domain www.sackpardew.com featured 'Myths', 'Quotes' and 'Dark Days' sections - the latter detailed the club's apparent demise under Pardew's tutelage - while more than 20,000 flyers calling for his dismissal were distributed before a match against Hull.
