Coach crash as yet another No 2 proves he's not up to the job

In fairness to the Bolton chairman, he admitted he had no idea what he was doing during an interview with the BBC on the day he unveiled Lee as Sam Allardyce's successor.

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'I don't understand football,' he said — (no really, he did).

But he remained sure that Little Sam could be every bit as good as Big Sam; that size didn't matter and it was the dawn of a bright 'new era'.

'I didn't need any thinking time,' he added. 'And when I retire 10 years from now, I hope Sammy is still the manager.'

Like Gartside, the Premier League chairmen and chief executives who have sacked their managers this season — namely Wigan's Dave Whelan, Tottenham's Daniel Levy and Chelsea's Peter Kenyon — felt sure their chosen ones would succeed when they first identified them.

Whelan decided to dismiss Chris Hutchings after watching Wigan lose to Chelsea on Saturday but did not make the announcement until his manager had been given the opportunity to say goodbye to his players yesterday morning.

He had wanted continuity when Paul Jewell suddenly revealed a desire to take a break back in May. No matter that Hutchings lasted less than five months after succeeding Jewell at Bradford City, where one win in 12 Premier League matches proved his undoing.

Whelan saw qualities in Hutchings that he liked. Not only that, he felt compelled to appoint him out of a sense of loyalty and he did so after Jewell urged him to promote his deputy.

'He's one of the best and most knowledgeable coaches in the Premiership,' Whelan said of Hutchings at the time. 'He and Paul worked very closely together and I know how highly Paul regarded him, both as a motivator and as a coach.

'I also feel it is very important to have someone who understands this club, so we can have continuity and start planning straight away for next season. He is a very, very capable manager. It didn't work out for him at Bradford but he has my full support and the support of the board and I will supply him with the funds.'

Whelan is the one Premier League chairman qualified to make such an appointment. He is a former player, a hugely-successful businessman and someone who has been involved in football most of his life.

He is the only man to have played in all top four divisions of the English game and been a chairman in them as well.

To begin with, it looked as though he was going to be proved spectacularly right. On August 18, after winning two of their first three games, Hutchings' side were briefly top of the Premier League. But those who questioned the appointment did not have to wait long to have their own suspicions confirmed. Wigan have not won in nine matches since.

'It is crucial for the development of Wigan Athletic that we maintain our Premier League status this season,' said Whelan in a statement yesterday before flying to Barbados for what is sure to be a badly0interrupted holiday.

Jewell will be sounded out about a return, with Stuart Pearce next on the list, while Graeme Souness has made it known he fancies the job.

As Gartside demonstrated again last week, predicting who will fill any managerial vacancy can be difficult. Gary Megson? Bolton supporters are still struggling to work that one out.

Lee went after securing five points from nine games amid chaos in the dressing room. A fine No 2 but never a Premier League manager, he had dropped club captain Kevin Nolan and fell out with his player-coach, Gary Speed.

'The main thing is to keep the dressing room stable,' said Lee on the day he was appointed, but the dressing room proved too harsh an environment for one of football's nice guys. It was the same at Blackburn Rovers when they made Brian Kidd their manager. The same, some might argue, when Steve McClaren was unveiled as England's head coach.

Chairmen who seem to think anyone can do it, probably because the good managers they work with sometimes make it look easy, overpromote a perfectly good coach with disastrous consequences. The coaches in question don't mind.

Even if the pay-off comes rather sooner than they anticipated, they've still made enough money to retire. But the club and the supporters are left to deal with the fallout. And in McClaren's case, should England fail to qualify for next summer's European Championship finals, the entire country is left to deal with the consequences.

Some managers leave for more complicated reasons. Results at Chelsea and Tottenham were not as good as they should have been, but Jose Mourinho and Martin Jol were not sacked because of that. They were ousted because of a breakdown in relations between themselves and their employers — Roman Abramovich and Levy.

In Juande Ramos, Tottenham do at least appear to have a decent replacement at a time when decency is a rare commodity among members of the White Hart Lane hierarchy.

At Chelsea, however, nobody is convinced that Avram Grant will emerge as Mourinho's long-term successor. Results have improved but that says more about a team of great character than the slightly bizarre, if rather endearing, character now in charge.

In 2004, Kenyon said Mourinho was 'perfect' for Chelsea, while Frank Arnesen — then sporting director of Tottenham but now of Chelsea — described Jol as 'very capable'. And they were right. Mourinho was perfect for Chelsea and Jol is very capable.

If only the same could always be said of the men who employ them.

Who will follow Hutchings out the door?

STEVE BRUCE 7-2fav

Birmingham have made an encouraging start on their return to the top flight but Bruce's position is far from stable as new owners prepare to take charge of the club. Six years of service will mean nothing to the Chinese consortium moving into power at St Andrew's.

BILLY DAVIES 4-1

Rock bottom of the Premier League and a goal difference of -21 after just 12 games point to the torrid start Derby have endured back in the big time. Davies finds himself in the firing line, but with the resources at his disposal, do the board really think a new man could do any better?

GARETH SOUTHGATE 4-1

Despite Steve Gibson's faith in his manager, Boro have struggled. The fickle Riverside crowd are turning on the players and Boro find themselves just one point above the drop zone. Question marks over signings such as Tuncay, Mido and Jeremie Aliadiere to replace Yakubu and Mark Viduka.

SAM ALLARDYCE 6-1

Big Sam, like all Newcastle bosses, has been under pressure since day one. The fact that he wasn't owner Mike Ashley's appointment adds further fuel to the fire. Five wins in his first 11 League games is a decent return but Saturday's horror show against Portsmouth will not be forgotten quickly.

IN THE FIRING LINE

Four Premier League bosses — Jose Mourinho, Martin Jol, Sammy Lee and now Hutchings — have been axed this season and it's only November.

Although the trigger-happy chairmen cannot compete with the firing of the 2004-05 season, when five were out of work by Bonfire night, who would fancy being the new boss at the JJB? He's already 20-1 to be the next man out!