On the back of Rafa Benitez's hostile reception we've compiled a list of the top 10 most unpopular managerial appointments.
A look back at the 10 most unpopular managerial appointments
On the back of Rafa Benitez's hostile reception from Chelsea fans last weekend, we have compiled a list of the top 10 most unpopular managerial appointments.
Cast your eye over our list and see if you agree with our nominations...
10. Howard Wilkinson/Steve Cotterill (Sunderland)
After finally choosing to wave goodbye to Peter Reid after seven-and-a-half rather enjoyable years that included two promotions and a couple of seventh-placed finishes in the top flight, Sunderland supporters were probably hoping for a successor to reinvigorate and re-inspire... what they got was the 'dream team' of Howard Wilkinson and Steve Cotterill. The fact Wilkinson's last Premier League job had been at Leeds some six years previous was always unlikely to enamour fans, while the up-and-coming Cotterill had jumped ship at Stoke to join him as assistant manager. The six months that followed were an unmitigated disaster as the duo combined to win just two of their 20 league games in charge, leaving Sunderland floundering at the foot of the Premier League table and on course for an inevitable relegation with a then record low total of just 19 points.
9. Claude Anelka (Raith Rovers)
Raith Rovers fans probably didn't know whether to laugh or cry when news broke in the summer of 2004 that the club's board of directors, in their wisdom, had decided to hand control of footballing affairs over to Claude Anelka - brother of nomadic striker Nicolas and a man who, at the time, had no experience of managing football teams but plenty of DJing in London nightclubs. A sweetener of £200,000 had convinced the Rovers' top-brass to accept Anelka's invitation which had been accompanied by a promise to make them the 'third force in Scottish football'. It would come as a surprise to precisely no-one, besides perhaps Anelka and the board, that this experiment ended in spectacular failure after the Frenchman's ploy of recruiting amateur players from Parisian seven-a-side leagues saw the club collect one point from a possible 24 under his stewardship. Anelka subsequently stepped aside to take up a position as director of football, but was soon gone from that as well leaving Rovers fans to contemplate one of the most lamentable chapters in their history.
8. Fred Kirkham (Tottenham Hotspur)
If the Anelka-Raith episode can be filed under farcical, then Fred Kirkham's appointment as Tottenham manager way back in April 1907 has to go down as just plain bizarre. While some managers may have rubbed supporters up the wrong way with their past allegiances, Kirkham could not fail to have alienated every single one of the Spurs faithful given his background... as a referee. Yes, just five days after taking charge of a Southern League match between the North Londoners and Watford, and with no managerial experience to speak of, Kirkham was given the gig at Tottenham - imagine Mike Dean suddenly rocking up as your manager. Of his time at the helm, the Spurs history books read: "He was not a success as a manager, unpopular with players and fans alike and it was no surprise when, after the settlement of his contract, he resigned in 1908." That said, old Fred's record wasn't the worst as he won 25 of his 52 games in charge.
7. Gary Megson (Bolton Wanderers)
Even after taking over following Sammy Lee's calamitous spell in the hot-seat, Gary Megson's face simply never fitted at Bolton. Far-from first choice, the groans of discontent from the Reebok Stadium faithful were audible as soon as the Ginger Mourinho's name entered the frame and it hardly helped that his former agent had been involved in the selection process. That Megson steered the club to safety after a start that saw them collect five points from 10 games under Lee and would go on to lead them to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup that season counted for little, Wanderers fans simply never took to him. When the parting of the ways came in December 2009, following a string of poor results, there were no tears shed... on either side. Megson would later say: "I liked Bolton as a football club, but the supporters didn't like me and I've not particularly liked them neither".
6. Steve McClaren (England)
After Sven Goran Eriksson decided in 2006 that enough tabloid intrusion was enough, and Luiz Felipe Scolari had rather embarrassingly given them the brush-off, the FA were left with a short-list for the next England manager that contained luminaries such as Sam Allardyce, Alan Curbishley and Steve McClaren. In the end it was 'second-choice Steve' who got the nod but, despite early efforts to stamp his authority by casting off Becks and appointing John Terry as captain, the former Middlesbrough man just never convinced. Things turned particularly ugly for him during a qualifier against Andorra played in a spiteful atmosphere in Barcelona, England's away support savaging him as the teams headed off goalless at half-time. However, the nadir of his reign came on a sodden Wednesday night at Wembley; England's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 went up in smoke following a hapless 3-2 defeat to Croatia and, after cutting a forlorn figure as the 'Wally with the Brolly', McLaren would be gone the following day.
5. Joe Kinnear (Newcastle United)
Coming at just about the peak of Mike Ashley's unpopularity on Tyneside, his appointment of Joe Kinnear as interim manager in September 2008 initially looked like an hilarious attempt to antagonise the Geordie faithful who had made clear their contempt for him. Kinnear had been out of work for four years since being sacked by Nottingham Forest and was, it would be fair to say, anything but the kind of man the Toon army would have chosen to replace twice departed 'messiah' Kevin Keegan. Kinnear's attempts to placate the situation included an expletive-riddled opening press conference in which he labelled local journalists with just about every four-letter insult under the sun. Despite the hostility the Irishman did steady the ship to such an extent his initial one-month stay was extended into 2009, although health issues forced him from the post and Newcastle would go on to be relegated with a late SOS answered by Alan Shearer proving to be in vain.
4. Harry Redknapp (Southampton)
Having left Portsmouth under something of a cloud following an argument over the arrival of director of football Velimir Zajec, Redknapp looked to have wreaked the ultimate revenge on Pompey as he took over at arch rivals Southampton just two weeks later. However, it wasn't one but two sets of fans left seething as Saints supporters struggled to comprehend the idea of the former Fratton Park chief suddenly slipping into their hot-seat. His Pompey ties ensured he would always be a controversial figure at St Mary's and his inability to save the club from relegation that season ensured his popularity plummeted further. Sir Clive Woodward's arrival eventually prompted Redknapp to make his excuses and leave a few months later, but Southampton fans were left asking themselves whether the whole sorry episode had been some dastardly scheme from the enemy down the road when Redknapp strolled back into the job at Fratton Park shortly afterwards.
3. Brian Clough (Leeds United)
He may well be remembered as one of the greatest and most charismatic managers of them all, but it's fair to say that Brian Howard Clough and his idiosyncratic ways did not go down too well at Elland Road. Recruited to replace nemesis Don Revie at a club he had spent years publically denouncing, his appointment always looked something of a leap of faith by the Leeds board. Hardly a respecter of reputations at the best of times, 'Old Big Head' was determined to do things his way and, as has now gone down in folklore, told Leeds' squad of champions in one of his first training sessions: "You can all throw your medals in the bin because they were not won fairly". Alienating fans and players alike in double-quick time, Clough lasted just 44 days in West Yorkshire, winning only one of his six games at the helm. But as history shows, he would go on to make a slightly better fist of things in his next job at Nottingham Forest.
2. George Graham (Tottenham Hotspur)
What would be the best way to get Tottenham fans back onside following the rather ill-judged appointment of unknown tube ticket brandisher Christian Gross? Very few observers thought the answer to that conundrum would be installing Arsenal legend, and 1-0 aficionado, George Graham, but that was wisdom of then Spurs supremo Alan Sugar. Given that Graham had been the mastermind behind a side that had revelled in their 'boring, boring' tag, it always seemed fanciful to think it would prove a happy union given the yearnings for football of flamboyance and flair at White Hart Lane. The Scot did manage to deliver the club's first trophy for eight years - fittingly enough a 1-0 victory in the League Cup final - but he was never truly forgiven given his Gunners roots and was eventually shown the door after a couple of seasons in charge.
1. Alex McLeish (Aston Villa)
If ever a man was going to struggle to win over a set of supporters it was Alex McLeish at Villa Park. Having just guided city rivals Birmingham to a second relegation in four seasons playing a brand of football apparently designed as a fillip for those planning to gouge their eyes out, the Villa faithful were left dumbstruck when the Scot emerged as the leading contender to succeed Gerard Houllier. The news saw hundreds of fans gather at Villa Park to make their feelings known, offering the kind of footage Sky Sports News simply laps up as they scaled gates, daubed graffiti and wailed their opposition. It was all to no effect as McLeish was duly given the job by Randy Lerner, kick-starting possibly one of the most predictably dull and divided seasons in the club's history. Eleven months later and after 38 league games that had yielded just seven wins and a paltry 37 goals, Lerner saw the error of his ways and sent McLeish on his way, much to the relief of Villains everywhere.
