Knee-jerk enthusiasts have been wondering what the precedent is for binning off a boss mid-tournament...
England manager Gareth Southgate(Image credit: Getty Images)
It’s the ultimate knee-jerk reaction - sacking a manager mid-tournament.
To the rationale thinker, making such a move in the middle of a competition would smack of desperation, but in the social media era, it’s fair to say more than a few of the more discontented England fans have asked the question of whether or not a mid-tournament dismissal at Euro 2024 is allowed.
Given the fact that England have won their group, have avoided a big-hitter in the last 16 and are on the much-favourable half of the draw, we’d wager that the FA aren’t about to swing the axe. But as the question has been asked, here’s a look at the feasibility of the question and whether or not there have been any precedents.
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Can you sack a manager mid-tournament?
Yes, there’s no reason why an FA wouldn’t be allowed to sack a manager mid-tournament. Any dismissal would obviously have to adhere to the terms of a manager’s individual contract in terms of pay-offs and the like, but it would be the FA’s right to pull the trigger.
Realistically, it would cause a massive headache in terms of what happens next. Would the manager’s whole staff depart with him? Who could they call up for the rest of the tournament?
Given the short turnaround between matches, an immediate resolution to all these issues would be needed and throwing out literally years of preparation at the 11th hour would unlikely be conducive to a positive outcome on the pitch. That said, some teams have done it before…
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Which teams have sacked managers mid-tournament?
Ivory Coast won last year's Africa Cup of Nations after sacking their boss mid-tournament
You only have to look back to one of the last international tournaments for an example of a mid-competition sacking - and it proved to have quite the impact. The Ivory Coast reacted to a 4-0 thrashing by Equatorial Guinea in their final group stage match by relieving Jean-Louis Gasset of his duties. The team were able to sneak through as best third-placed finisher and Gasset’s assistant Emerse Fae took charge for the rest of the tournament, leading them to a 2-1 win over Nigeria in the final.
The 1998 World Cup was something of a managerial bloodbath as no less than three managers got the boot mid-tournament. South Korea reacted to defeats to Mexico and the Netherlands by giving Cha Bum-kun the boot ahead of their final group game, while it was a similar situation for Tunisia, who sacked Henryk Kasperczak are group stage defeats to England and Colombia eliminated them ahead of their final game.
Saudi Arabia also called time on Carlos Alberto’s time two games into the tournament in France, but in all three examples here, this was a case of the three FAs getting a head start on bringing in a new man after their squads were eliminated.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
