Stoke want me sacked already.

[ArsenalFan7]

So here's the situation this is my first season and the bored want me sacked.
Here's the table so far

So as you can see I'm 12th 18 games in with a few teams playing 19 games. Now I thought stoke were expected to be in the relegation zone? With the resources i've had I don't think i'm doing such a bad job seeing as it is only the first season..

Why would the board want me sacked already?!

[Koki]

Did they actually sack you or was it just a rumour in the media? They shouldn't sack you in that position, unless you have upset them in some kind of way.

[ArsenalFan7]

This was according to the media.

[Robin_ellis_19]

You shouldn't get sacked then because your doing well and your 8 points clear. Don't worry I had this with Reading and I was 6th and I expected 'top half finish'

[ArsenalFan7]

I have a feeling i'm going to get sacked and I blame those ****ing dumbass players. I concede a penalty or two every 2 games and i'm losing 4-1 to villa at half time because i've conceded yet another penalty and some dumb knob scored an own goal. Abysmal.

[StevoRobbo]

unlucky!!!

[ArsenalFan7]

Screw Stoke they don't deserve me :P Maybe Wigan will be a bit more respectful to my services.
Anyway I blame those players, why blame the manager when the players are the ones who are putting me in the situation?

[StevoRobbo]

well if the players were putting you in that situation where would you have been if they had played well? you was doing well to be in 12th. dont understand why you got sacked. Did you give any ultimatums to the board or always asking for things?

[ArsenalFan7]

I didn't ask for anything at all but my players morale seemed to drop thus making losses costing my job.. A fine example was Huth who had been in extremely poor form throughout the season.. He conceded about 5 penalties

[Nobby_McDonald]

What starting reputation did you give yourself?

[ArsenalFan7]

Pro Footballer and I said i'd go for a continental finish by the end of the season.

[hasdgfas]

Pro Footballer and I said i'd go for a continental finish by the end of the season.

that's your problem. Go much lower than that with Stoke first season or you'll have this happen

[santy001]

You chose what was essentially the option of a top 4 finish from what you said. So indeed you set yourself up for a very big fall, the difference in budget surely would have only been 1/2 million so it was definitely a big risk attempting it. Stoke aren't expected to be in the relegation dog-fight this season although we could be, most pundits and whatnot in the media seem to think we have enough to be a mid-table side with comfort this year.

[Gandy]

Pro Footballer and I said i'd go for a continental finish by the end of the season.

Continental finish is 1st-6th, and you were 12th. Understandable I guess.

[Neil Brock]

Also did you under-perform in the League Cup as well - your general performance in competitions could also have a bearing on how successful the board feel you are doing. But yeah, sounds like a case of aiming too high.

[DP]

Hold on let's put this into perspective in terms of what would happen in real life.

If Bolton sack Megson and hire someone that says 'I'm aiming to get this club into Europe' and then he guides them to, say, 12th place. Do you REALLY think they are going to turn around and sack him??

If it's this that has cost this guy the job the coding needs looking at.

[meatloafster]

Hold on let's put this into perspective in terms of what would happen in real life.

If Bolton sack Megson and hire someone that says 'I'm aiming to get this club into Europe' and then he guides them to, say, 12th place. Do you REALLY think they are going to turn around and sack him??

If it's this that has cost this guy the job the coding needs looking at.

It's actually: "This team will qualify for continental competition by the end of the year." The board gives him extra funds, and he finishes only 12th?

Don't make promises you can't keep.

[R-dizzle]

How are stoke doing now without you? lol. Will be funny if they're actually fighting for european places.

[DP]

It's actually: "This team will qualify for continental competition by the end of the year." The board gives him extra funds, and he finishes only 12th?

Don't make promises you can't keep.

Give me an example of where this has happened in real life then.

[TheRiddler]

It's hard to do that as we have no idea what managers promise to the baords in real life.....

[TheRiddler]

But...how about someone like Curbishley at Charlton? Punching above their weight for years, couldn't take them to the next level, the board sack him.

And where are Charlton now......

[lutontown1991]

Managing West Brom and my job has been insecure most of the season despite being up in the top 6 all season. 2 points off second now

[Ezequiel_Lavezzi]

Give me an example of where this has happened in real life then.

Walter Zenga, Palermo. Said he had a squad that could win the title.

Was mid-table (where Palermo should be quite frankly) and he got sacked.

[stevereay]

Curbishley left himself. He wasnt sacked.

When a manager declares i'll qualify this team for europe. He gets a budget that the board feels they can afforda and will hopfully do the job. If as a manager you fail to achieve that target the board has the right to can rid of you

[meatloafster]

Give me an example of where this has happened in real life then.

None. Because no idiot in real life would promise their board that Stoke would qualify in Europe.

[Katarian]

Clear case of overconfidence. I always chose the lowest expectation available, the difference in the budgets is normally not worth the extra risk.

[The Miner]

Give me an example of where this has happened in real life then.

Sam Allardyce at Newcastle springs to mind. Actually a lot of Newcastle managers spring to mind ...

Always set expectations low - that way when you do ok, they think you are great. First season with Walsall, finished 16th after predicting mid table - second season (after picking up info off here and deciding on a formation), predicted top half and I'm second after 14 games having played the whole top half of the league already

TM

[lutontown1991]

Sam Allardyce at Newcastle springs to mind. Actually a lot of Newcastle managers spring to mind ...

Always set expectations low - that way when you do ok, they think you are great. First season with Walsall, finished 16th after predicting mid table - second season (after picking up info off here and deciding on a formation), predicted top half and I'm second after 14 games having played the whole top half of the league already

TM

Anything involving Mike Ashley doesnt count

[TheRiddler]

Curbishley left himself. He wasnt sacked.

When a manager declares i'll qualify this team for europe. He gets a budget that the board feels they can afforda and will hopfully do the job. If as a manager you fail to achieve that target the board has the right to can rid of you

I stand corrected :-)

How about Martin Jol at Spurs?

Anyway I stand by my original comment that it's hard to find a real life example as we don't know what happens in the board room.

[ArsenalFan7]

Sorry, I figured continental finish was 7th.. That was half way in the season so I figured i'd be able to get from 12th to 7th area by thhe end of the season..

[TheRiddler]

One thing I've notcied, in the 'sacked message' it mentions you've lost the confidence of the players. Now, I'm not sure if this is a standard message, but is it possible a lot of your players were unhappy with you?

[ArsenalFan7]

Well they certainly were playing ****** for more so i guess they could not of liked me very much.. Plus they were giving away regular fouls and penalties and just generally being complacent and underachieving

[Coen]

Well they certainly were playing ****** for more so i guess they could not of liked me very much.. Plus they were giving away regular fouls and penalties and just generally being complacent and underachieving

Were they actually underachieving given the quality of the team though?

If they were performing quite well but you were still giving them a hard time, might explain why they were unhappy.

The players didn't put you a dodgy situation with the Board, it was the promises you made that you'd qualify for Europe that did that.

[sten_super]

Problem is definitely with the expectations. While you can see yourself moving from 12th to 7th, with almost exactly half of the games played (i.e. roughly speaking you've played each team once) 12th appears to be close to your 'natural' position. You promised the board that you're natural position, with the additional transfer money, was 7th, so they sacked you. Seems fair enough to me.

[Katarian]

Having started up a game to see the difference in resources it's a total waste of time increasing the expectations just as I thought. £3m more in the transfer budget and £50k p/w on the wage budget isn't a lot to improve you from Avoid Relegation to European Qualifiers. You certainly can't attract most players of European quality for that money with your poor reputation.

[Brian Shanahan]

Also how were the finances, if the chairman is a bit squemish over losses a manager can be sacked simply by running what in his opinion is too big of a loss from month to month (even when it will be reversed at season end).

[DaveRH]

You wouldn't have developed a habit of lambasting your players would you? If the dressing room isn't behind you and you're underachieving then it's almost guarenteed that you'd be out. (Although, what were you thinking saying that you'd finish in a European LEAGUE place (so 5th or higher).)

[Teezy.]

Due to reports the players have lost faith in Connor Speake...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I just assumed that this simply meant you were disliked by the players, and therefore the board felt another manager would be better suited to taking the team forward?

[HunkOfJunk]

I stand corrected :-)

How about Martin Jol at Spurs?

Anyway I stand by my original comment that it's hard to find a real life example as we don't know what happens in the board room.

As a Spurs fan I feel the sacking of Martin Jol was no more than a kneejerk reaction. Jol's downfall was probably his own "success". He was so very unlucky not to have finished 4th. The boards eyes lit up with £££'s and thought that bringing in a manager with a good reputaion would do they trick, and how very wrong they was. I dont believe that Jol promised anything more than he had previously.
But obviously I dont know what was agreed between Jol and the board. On some level I am sure most Spurs fans and the board have probably wondered on many ocasions what would have been. Having said that in Harry we trust and I hope he continues to build on what can only be described as an excellent job so far.

Well thats my opinion.

As for the OP the old saying goes, Don't bite off more than you can chew.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Shouldn't have holidayed the Man United game!

[ArsenalFan7]

Well I couldn't be bothered anymore.. I couldn't take that pressure of being sacked anymore. I knew i'd be sacked any time around that game no matter what so I thought whats the point of playing that game..

But yes I did only say I'd go for a continental finish for the extra money.. Rather idiotic and selfish of me to be honest. But I still don't like the players..

[TheInvisibleMan]

I don't think you have anything to complain about then. Set targets too high and holidayed a crucial game.

[lurkingwithintent]

How did you make that table that you showed in the first post?

[Campbells]

How about mark hughes in real life? He promised top 4, they werent achieveing... Goodbye son

[dontask]

i think u will just have to learn from this. you are better off setting low targets. if you then do more than what you set, you end up being loved by everyone

[jackripper]

football is ruthless

[lurkingwithintent]

I always go one target lower than I think I will achieve, inless the budget is significantly higher. Not worth risking your job for an extra 2 million IMO.

[ArsenalFan7]

How did you make that table that you showed in the first post?

On that FM button in game go to Print Screen... Then put it as a web page and save it somewhere. You then load it up and it appears like that, i'll be honest though. I can't remember how I got it onto the forums..

[johnhughthom]

How about mark hughes in real life? He promised top 4

When did he promise that?

[Boydy9]

Don't make promises you can't keep. - simple

[johnhughthom]

I always go one target lower than I think I will achieve.

I do this as well, then if you achieve what you expect the board see it as a succesful season, if you overachieve they are usually delighted.

[santy001]

You made the single mistake of not having a naked brawl with a striker infront of the players - things like that grant you a job for life in the potteries

[AndyBaba]

Pro Footballer and I said i'd go for a continental finish by the end of the season.

lol. you said you'l get into Europe and you're bottom half. no idea why they sacked you

harsh though, you'd be regarded a hero if you woulda chose the lowest aim

[jayahr]

You basically said to them, 'give me more money and I promise you a top 6 finish' when adjusting your budget to a higher level.

After doing that you have to live up by the standards you set for yourself, no matter how unrealistic they are for your side.