If you thought the Apprentice was bad then think again. Getting fired by Sir Alan Sugar is nothing compared to what Gus Poyet went through as a football pundit on live BBC TV last night. As the Spain Nigeria match kicked off at 8pm UK time he was still manager of Brighton And Hove Albion. By half team he was fired.
You may ask did the Brighton board ring him up and relieve him of his duties with immediate effect. Did he have an argument with the Chairman over the phone and lose his position. Could he have said something on social media that meant he could no longer continue in his role. The answer is no to all of these. Gus Poyet was instead handed the Brighton club statement from their website, half way through the first half by BBC production staff.
On air Poyet said that he ‘Still had no communication from the club’ only receiving an email officially from the club at 21:03, compared to the statement put on the club website at 19:14 the same evening. He added that he was going to appeal the decision. ‘From what I read from the statement I am now unemployed, and my idea now is to appeal and to get back the job I’d been doing until 7:30’.
He had been on suspension since May after falling out with the board reportedly over the alleged transfer budget for the 2013/14 season, what would have been his third as a Championship manager. Undoubtedly a messy way to get rid of a manager, more so when you consider that he led Brighton to the Play offs last season, only to be beaten by eventual winners Crystal Palace following a tight second leg at the Amex Stadium.
Poyet himself is hot property in football at the moment, gaining plaudits for his attacking style of play, shrewdness in the transfer market as well as his charismatic handling of the media. A young manager that very nearly gained a second promotion in four year years with the same club is someone that will be attracting interest, with bookies at one point making him favourite for both the Everton and Fulham jobs at the same time. Bookies odds are never certain, but one thing certain in this case, is that the only way in Poyet’s career from this moment on is up.
At the end of the BBC 3 broadcast, Mark Chapman summed up the night perfectly. This rings true now more than ever, and surely must make some managers think of their futures. Chapman quipped ‘Up next on BBC 3 is Nev and the Call Centre. Who’d be a manager eh?’