Hot Seat Watch for World Football Players, Coaches After Weekend of Feb. 14-15
The return of our hot seat watch sees some regular faces joined by some new ones, as we cast our eyes over the world of football and those who have attracted unwanted headlines or results of late.
We're not calling for dismissals here—though last week's column did feature Paul Lambert, sacked soon after—but the managers mentioned need results to pick up fast, while the players involved feature for a range of reasons, from poor form to unsavoury incidents of late.
Here are our latest picks, feel free to discuss your own additions below.
Pippo Inzaghi, Milan
1 of 8
Pippo Inzaghi remains on our watchlist as the AC Milan manager again failed to lead his team to victory at the weekend.
Playing at home to struggling Empoli, Milan took the lead but surrendered it after the break, ending up drawing 1-1 and finishing with 10 men after Diego Lopez was sent off.
It is now just one win in six in all competitions for Milan, and just one in eight in Serie A alone. They are down to 11th place and are 12 points off the Champions League spots.
Laurent Blanc, PSG
2 of 8
Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc has led his team to just one win in the last four games in all competitions, with big opportunities passing his team by in both league and cup action this week.
A 2-0 home lead against lowly Caen was thrown away in the final two minutes of the Ligue 1 game at the weekend, with PSG only drawing 2-2 and missing the chance to go top as Marseille and Lyon also both drew. In the Champions League on Tuesday, they dominated much of the game at home to Chelsea, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw from the first leg.
PSG remain in third in Ligue 1 and now have a tough task to go through in Europe.
Bafetimbi Gomis, Swansea
3 of 8
Swansea's sale of Wilfried Bony to Manchester City in January generated plenty of funds, but that wasn't reinvested in a new forward as the Welsh side looked to French striker Bafe Gomis to lead the line over the rest of the season.
With just four goals scored in their last six games, tallying one win in that time, it isn't really working out for them so far—and Gomis has scored in just one game since November, a brace in the 6-2 win over Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup.
Gomis needs to fire and Swansea need far better all round, to not let their season fall away entirely.
Sam Allardyce, West Ham United
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The Sam Allardyce revival at West Ham United appears to be nearing an end, after the Daily Telegraph reported the Hammers to be looking at alternative options for the manager's seat, including David Moyes and Slaven Bilic.
Allardyce's "improved" attacking football has been in short supply in recent weeks, with West Ham tumbling to eighth after one win in five—and they were beaten 4-0 by West Brom at the weekend in the FA Cup.
They face Spurs in a tough league game next time out.
Roger Schmidt, Bayer Leverkusen
5 of 8
In Germany, the race for the Champions League places is fierce, so dropped points are always a concern.
For Bayer Leverkusen that has happened too often of late, winning just once in their last five games under Roger Schmidt. The boss won't be under any immediate pressure, but back-to-back defeats leave Bayer in sixth place, four points off third now.
A crazy weekend game saw them come from three goals down to level the game at 4-4 at home to Wolfsburg, before they suffered a last-minute defeat when down to 10 men.
Miroslav Djukic, Cordoba
6 of 8
Over in Spain, things are starting to open up at the bottom, with the relegation spaces now cut adrift from safety by a margin of four points.
At the bottom of that pile is Cordoba, led by Miroslav Djukic since his arrival partway through the first half of the season, but he has not been able to sustain any kind of positive form. It is no surprise to see Cordoba struggle, of course, seeing as they only finished seventh in the second tier last term, but they have now lost four on the bounce and sit in dead last place with the fewest wins.
They face fourth-place Valencia next weekend.
All 3 Forwards, Manchester United
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Not a good week for Manchester United forwards in terms of headlines and talk, though in reality they won't care in the slightest—they won 3-1 last week in the league and replicated the scoreline in the FA Cup on Monday night.
However, Wayne Rooney attracted criticism for a dive to win a penalty which he has since apologised for, while Radamel Falcao continues to not impress enough inside the penalty area. Chris Bevan's report on BBC Sport suggests time is running out for the Colombian to seal a permanent move to Old Trafford.
Robin van Persie, meanwhile, has managed just two goals in his last eight games—both goals against the league's two bottom clubs, and one of which was a penalty.
Lukas Podolski, Inter Milan
8 of 8
Finally, Lukas Podolski is on loan from Arsenal to Inter Milan, but it seems the German is not impressing anywhere near enough to make that move permanent in summer.
The Express, amongst others, are reporting that Podolski will return to the Gunners in summer as he has not convinced manager Roberto Mancini he can offer enough, though Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is also unlikely to want to keep him.
Sport Witness on Twitter reports Podolski having received a 5/10 rating in Gazzetta for his performance at the weekend, looking "out of shape and never dangerous."
