Hot Seat Watch for World Football Players, Coaches After Weekend of April 4-6
The latest return of our hot-seat column sees us switch our focus back to domestic matters after the recent international break, with a number of high-profile bosses and individuals coming under scrutiny after the latest bout of games.
Here we take a look at those who suffered bad results, have had a poor run or put in otherwise unconvincing performances, whether on the pitch or the sidelines, as well as one or two far less savoury incidents away from the players and coaches themselves.
We're not calling for sackings or players to be dropped, remember, merely giving a heads-up on those who need to improve, fast.
Manuel Pellegrini
1 of 8
Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini won the Premier League last season, but this campaign has been a total contrast.
This week he took his side to Crystal Palace on Monday night knowing he needed to win to move back up to second. He suffered a deserved and disappointing 2-1 defeat, with his side not looking likely to get into the game until the latter stages, despite dominating possession early on.
City are out of both domestic cups—early on—made no impact on the Champions League again and are now down in fourth place in the league table ahead of a derby against city rivals Manchester United. It's not looking good for the boss.
Brendan Rodgers
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Also in the Premier League, Liverpool came runners-up last year—but now look as though even a top-four finish is beyond them for the current term.
Back-to-back defeats to Champions League-place rivals Manchester United and, emphatically and most recently, Arsenal, mean the Reds are fifth and seven points off the pace for the top-four race.
Brendan Rodgers' side were well below their best against Arsenal, were catastrophically beaten 4-1 and never looked capable of creating enough chances to beat the Gunners. An FA Cup run is Rodgers' best hope of salvaging the season now.
Roberto Mancini
3 of 8
Over in Serie A, Inter Milan have continued to falter badly under the management of Roberto Mancini, despite the Italian spending fairly big in January and bringing in several players.
At the weekend was his lowest point yet: a 1-1 draw at home to lowly Parma, bottom of the table and bankrupt and heading out of the top flight.
It leaves Inter in 10th place, without a win in seven, and with Mancini floundering to justify either his signings or even his appointment as they fall further away from the European spots with each passing game.
Rafa Benitez
4 of 8
Our second boss from Italy in the firing line is the probably soon-to-be-departed Rafa Benitez, the Spaniard who is out of contract with Napoli in the summer.
Benitez has enjoyed a couple of years keeping Napoli in the top three, but this appears to be one year too far for the Naples side to continue competing and they have dropped to sixth in the table after a 1-0 defeat at AS Roma this weekend.
It marked a seventh consecutive league game where the team have struggled, amassing just a single victory in that spell and falling out of the race for the Champions League.
Oier Olazabal and His Defence
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Over in Spain, the big result of the weekend saw Real Madrid absolutely tonk Granada by a monstrous 9-1 scoreline. The attacking forces in the Real side are of course some of the best in world football, but there is no doubt they were helped along by some awful defensive work from Granada.
Goalkeeper Oier Olazabal will not remember the match fondly, particularly as he was at fault for at least two of the nine, but not many of those in front of him can emerge with much credit either.
The lack of effort, concentration and determination to stem the flow of goals conceded at any point was a disastrous indication of the poor level of Granada this term—and a good reason why they are facing relegation.
John Carver
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Back to the Premier League and John Carver, in charge of Newcastle United lost out on his big chance to make an impact in their biggest game of the season, the derby against Sunderland.
Newcastle lost 1-0, a fourth straight loss for the Magpies who have since dropped to 13th in the table.
Carver stated, per BBC Sport, that he feared the loss would "define my spell in charge" and there can be little doubt it will hamper his chances of landing the job on a permanent basis, especially considering the current run of form.
Marcelo Bielsa
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Over in France's Ligue 1, Marseille have added a new dynamic to the title challenge this season, but their bid for silverware has faltered of late with just two victories in their last nine games.
At the weekend they had the chance to reignite that challenge for the title and dent that of a rival at the same time—but lost out in a back-and-forth fixture against Paris Saint-Germain, 3-2, having twice led in the match.
It leaves Marseille five points off first-place PSG, with the team in danger of looking burnt out just at the critical stage of the campaign.
Fans of Torpedo Moscow and 'Terrorist Attack' on Turkish Sports
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Finally we turn our attentions to two sets of fans, or at least groups, off the field.
Over in Russia, Torpedo Moscow supporters have been criticised and the club sanctioned, per BBC Sport, for displaying a Nazi symbol during a recent fixture. Incredibly, it is the fourth case of racism-based punishments for the club this term and they are set to see out the season without any fans in their remaining home games.
Men are also already banned from their away games.
Elsewhere, the Fenerbahce team bus was shot at on Saturday in Turkey, with BBC Sport since reporting that two people have been arrested for the incident.
The Turkish Football Federation stated, "we believe the incident was a terrorist attack, targeting not only Fenerbahce but Turkish sports," and suspended the Super Lig for one week.
One can only hope this brings an end to such incidents.
