Tony Adams to Granada: five strange managerial appointments
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Ex-Gunners captain named boss at El Grana
La Liga side Granada raised a few eyebrows on Monday when filling their vacant manager position with ex-Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams. The Romford born centre-back moves to Los Carmenes with Granada currently second-bottom of La Liga, only Osasuna worse off. There’s much work to be done, with Gijon two points better in 18th, but 17th place Leganes seven higher.
First on Adams’ to-do list will be sorting a defence that has leaked 65 goals already this season. Will he be a success? Only time will tell, until then we use this opportunity to look at another five managerial appointments that caught us off-guard…..
John Barnes – Celtic
Strange, and it worked out to be woeful for The Bhoys. Barnes, a legendary player, would obviously make a great manager, wouldn’t he, surely in Scottish football? Kenny Dalglish was supposed to be there to hold his hand in the early days, but it’s believed the king spent much of his time on the golf course. On the football pitch there hasn’t been many Celtic team’s quite as bad as the one who played under John Barnes. It was his first managerial job, and pretty much his last too. For more on how it all ended, read Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious.
Paul Gascoigne – Kettering
What were the Kettering board thinking? This could only have been a publicity stunt for the minnows of English football, and one planned out on the back of a bus ticket. Gazza was in no place mentally or physically to be managing a football team, and despite telling the press he was in it for the long haul, he lasted just 39 days, and it all ended ugly. Owner Imraan Ladak blamed Paul’s alcohol problems, Gazza pointed at the owner, saying he wanted to be a football manager, and constantly interfered, without knowing anything about the game.
Egil Olsen – Wimbledon
A bit of a comedy figure in English football, the Norwegian star had a wealth of knowledge before coming to Wimbledon, but he proved well out of his depth. Appointed in the summer of 1999, he was the first Norwegian to manage in the Premier League, but didn’t do too well, lasting less than a year. He oversaw much of the campaign which ended in relegation for The Wombles, with Robbie Earle saying he didn’t know how to get the best out of the players – the nice way of saying no one respected him, I guess.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – Cardiff
A legend as a player for Manchester United – yes. A legend as a manager for Cardiff – don’t even joke about it. The Norwegian shocked fans when returning to English football as pilot of Welsh club Cardiff. A bold appointment, that must be credited, but it didn’t work for anyone. Solskjaer had limited experience as a boss when coming to The Bluebirds, and has limited experience since leaving them shortly after. Appointed in January 2014, Cardiff finished bottom of the Premier League and Ole was off in September.
Paul Ince – Blackburn
Not every great manager was a great player, and not every great player makes a great manager. Paul Ince would walk into most sides during his playing career, but there was real surprise when he was appointed manager of Blackburn Rovers, with his CV showing Macclesfield and MK Dons. It was too big a jump, critics said, and they were right. Appointed in June, he was sacked six months later, having won just three of 17 games. It was a tough gig at Ewood Park at the time, so we won’t be too harsh on Ince.
