Football's shortest managerial reigns

Billy McKinlay has been replaced at Watford after 8 days at the realm. Here are some other high profile short-stays.

Summarised from Teamtalk

Colin Todd, Derby, 98 days, 2001
David Hockaday, Leeds, 70 days, 2014
Henning Berg, Blackburn, 57 days, 2012
Paul Gascoigne, Kettering Town, 49 days, 2005
Brian Clough (probably the most infamous of short stays) Leeds, 44 days, 1974
Jock Stein, Leeds, 44 days, 1978
Les Reid, Charlton, 41 days, 2006
Alex McCleish, Nottingham Forest, 40 days, 2012
Steve Coppell, Manchester City, 33 days, 1996
Paul Hart, QPR, 28 days, 2009
Jose Camacho, Real Madrid, 23 days, 1998
Luigi Delneria, Porto, 15 days, 2004
Micky Adams, Swansea, 13 days, 1997
Martin Ling, Cambridge Utd, 9 days, 2009
Billy McKinlay, Watford, 8 days, now
Dave Basset, Crystal Palace, 4 days, 1984 (1984? can't be)
Leroy Rosenoir, Torquay, 10 minutes , 2007

10 minutes? Did they announce the wrong name?

Jock Stein
Brian Clough

Just shows you

Jock Stein, what a name, at least his parents had a good sense of humor.

Adieu to female football coach Helena Costa – on her first day

The first female manager of a professional French men's football club quits at Clermont

Helena Costa, the first woman to be coach of a professional football team in France, has left her role suddenly before the first training session. Photograph: Thierry Zoccolan/AFP/Getty Images
Just hours after arriving to take up her post as the first female manager of a professional French men's football club, Helena Costa had resigned.

One minute she was there at Clermont Foot 63 making sporting history. The next she was gone.

France's best-selling sports newspaper, L'Équipe, described it as a "theatrical coup".

The statement from the club, based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne region in the centre of France, was brief and to the point: Costa had decided "not to honour her engagement" to the club, it read.


It had been hoped that Portuguese-born Costa would change the position of women in professional football.

She had previously worked with the youth setup at Benfica, and coached the women's national teams of Qatar and Iran, as well as scouting for the Scottish club Celtic. Her appointment as manager to the French club brought international publicity.

Costa had been due to oversee her first training session at the second division club on Tuesday morning.

It was reported that she had not seen any of the players and had not taken part in any of the players' physical testing sessions before she left.

Instead Costa's apparent walkout left everyone wondering what had gone wrong. Claude Michy, the club's owner, said the decision was "sudden and surprising" and he "deeply regretted" it.

Even before Costa's arrival in Clermont-Ferrand, critics had accused Michy of orchestrating a publicity stunt.

Costa is expected to explain at a press conference on Tuesday morning why she decided to leave the club before she had even started work there.

Dave Scott wrote: Jock Stein
Brian Clough

Just shows you

Leeds Utd have a bit of a reputation in this regard.

notice one thing most of the managers on the list have been dumped in the modern era

Darko Milanic can be added to the list below as he barely lasted a month at, yip yet again, Leeds.

Mac wrote: Billy McKinlay has been replaced at Watford after 8 days at the realm. Here are some other high profile short-stays.

Summarised from Teamtalk

Colin Todd, Derby, 98 days, 2001
David Hockaday, Leeds, 70 days, 2014
Henning Berg, Blackburn, 57 days, 2012
Paul Gascoigne, Kettering Town, 49 days, 2005
Brian Clough (probably the most infamous of short stays) Leeds, 44 days, 1974
Jock Stein, Leeds, 44 days, 1978
Les Reid, Charlton, 41 days, 2006
Alex McCleish, Nottingham Forest, 40 days, 2012
Steve Coppell, Manchester City, 33 days, 1996
Paul Hart, QPR, 28 days, 2009
Jose Camacho, Real Madrid, 23 days, 1998
Luigi Delneria, Porto, 15 days, 2004
Micky Adams, Swansea, 13 days, 1997
Martin Ling, Cambridge Utd, 9 days, 2009
Billy McKinlay, Watford, 8 days, now
Dave Basset, Crystal Palace, 4 days, 1984 (1984? can't be)
Leroy Rosenoir, Torquay, 10 minutes , 2007