Troy Deeney’s sacking after less than a month as Forest Green manager leaves the club searching for their fifth permanent boss in less than a year.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the turnover in the Rovers dugout.
Revolving doorRovers enjoyed stability in their early years in the EFL, with Mark Cooper in charge for five years as he took them up from the National League and Rob Edwards seamlessly continuing their progress.
Edwards was in charge for just less than a year but took the club up as League Two champions before being head-hunted by Championship side Watford. His 45 per cent win ratio, 24 out of 53 games, is the best of any Rovers manager in their EFL era.
His replacement Ian Burchnall lasted just under eight months in charge, losing more than half of his 37 games – but if his sacking on January 25 last year was intended by owner Dale Vince to stop the rot, it has had the opposite effect.
Duncan Ferguson took over but lasted only the remainder of the season, with 14 defeats in 18 games as Rovers were relegated back to League Two.
Hannah Dingley took interim charge for a pre-season friendly against Melksham, becoming the first female head coach of a professional men’s team in England, before David Horseman was named as Ferguson’s permanent replacement.
He was sacked in December after 28 games, winning just seven, with the club turning to Deeney, already registered as a player.
His winless six-game run – three draws and three losses – ended with a spectacular post-match rant after last week’s defeat to Harrogate, in which he bemoaned the “nonsense” and “babies” at the club and singled out Reece Brown and Fankaty Dabo for criticism.
Deeney was handed a four-match touchline ban on Thursday – equivalent to two-thirds of his managerial experience thus far – for his red card at Swindon and subsequent protests, before being sacked later in the day.
In 89 games since Edwards’ departure, Rovers have won 19 – just 21 per cent – drawn 18 and lost 52 (58 per cent). They had the worst points-per-game ratio of any EFL club in 2023 at just 0.51.
The Watford bugEdwards, now impressing in the Premier League after taking Luton up through the play-offs, lasted just 11 games at Watford before being sacked and leading their rivals to success.
He was the 16th of 19 permanent managers appointed by the Pozzo family since taking charge at Vicarage Road in 2011 – current manager Valerien Ismael’s 29 games in charge is already the eighth-longest spell among those managers and seven games away from cracking the top five.
Deeney himself referenced that turbulent situation as he recently told his Football Firsts podcast on BBC Sounds: “I was at Watford for 12 years – I had 18 managers.”
Somewhere between Edwards’ departure and Deeney’s appointment, Rovers appear to have caught the same bug and their next boss faces the task of restoring stability.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
