When Steve McClaren was told he had been sacked by Queens Park Rangers on April 1, he could have been forgiven for thinking it was some kind of bad taste April Fools' joke. Unfortunately for him, it was not fake news.
The former England boss has become the 40th English League manager to be sacked this season and he won't be the last, even though the season is nearing its end.
A terrible run of just one win in 15 Championship games had 57-year-old McClaren on the ropes and the final straw came last weekend at Loftus Road when QPR lost 2-1 to lowly and deeply troubled Bolton Wanderers.
It prompted the customary crocodile tears and pat on the back from the club owners with: "Making a decision such as this is never easy, particularly when you are talking about someone as professional and dedicated as Steve."
McClaren is the ninth Championship manager to get the boot this season, while there have been six casualties in the Premier League. The biggest damage has occurred in the lower leagues with 12 getting the axe in League One and 13 in League Two. One disturbing aspect of these sackings is that 22 of the managers didn't last a year.
Since joining QPR at the start of the season McClaren has experienced a roller-coaster ride. He suffered a dreadful start, losing his first four games, including a 7-1 thrashing by West Bromwich Albion and his position quickly became under scrutiny. McClaren steadied the ship enough to relieve the pressure and after three wins on the bounce in December his position seemed secure. However, since the turn of the year it has been downhill with the team plummeting to 17th in the table, although they should be safe from relegation.
McClaren received little sympathy from Ian Holloway, the man he replaced at Loftus Road. "He took my job," claimed an embittered Holloway. "What goes around comes around".
What will concern McClaren is that in his last three positions, at Newcastle, Derby and now QPR, he lasted less than 50 matches.
In fact McClaren's most successful time as a manager was his first appointment at Middlesbrough where he enjoyed five promising seasons after taking over from Bryan Robson. McClaren arrived at Boro after a spell as assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, and he utilised that experience to the full.
Helped by an infusion of money and experienced players, McClaren was at the helm when Boro won the 2004 League Cup, beating Bolton 2-1 in the final. Amazingly this was Middlesbrough's first-ever major trophy. After several mid-table finishes in the League, the 2004-05 season they managed a creditable seventh place, their best in 30 years.
McClaren was regarded as the most successful English club manager at that time, although he was criticised for a cautious style of play.
After his success at Boro, it was not surprising that McClaren was in the frame for the England job and he was named as Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor in May 2006, although the Swede remained in charge for the World Cup.
The England job did not turn out to be a great choice for McClaren. The team suffered poor form in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and like his predecessors, it wasn't long before the media got after him. McClaren walked out of one press conference, annoyed by what he perceived to be negative questions. However, he was determined to see it out saying if they wanted him sacked "they would have to drag me kicking and screaming."
However, the writing was on the wall after a 2-3 home defeat to Croatia meant England had failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
The tabloid photographs the next morning of McClaren sheltering from the rain on the touchline under an umbrella prompted the infamous "Wally With a Brolly" headlines. He was then axed by England on what he called "the saddest day of my career."
McClaren's successor as England boss, Fabio Capello was understandably bemused when the first question he was asked by the press was if he ever took an umbrella to matches. When he said no, the papers the next morning joyfully announced "Jolly Without the Brolly".
The two seasons at Derby County, who he was briefly to manage again a couple of years later, began promisingly but were ultimately frustrating. In 2014, after finishing third in the Championship. Derby lost to QPR 1-0 in the final. The following year, after looking good for most of the season they faded and just missed out on the qualifiers. McClaren was sacked, many thought unfairly, and he confessed he felt "let down".
McClaren's time at Newcastle, where he lasted just 31 matches, also didn't finish very well. In March 2016, as the Magpies struggled in a "must win" game against Bournemouth, which they contrived to lose, he had to suffer chants from his own Newcastle supporters: "Steve McClaren you're taking us down."
There was no comfort in the newspapers. He woke up to headlines like "Dead Man Walking" and "Mac on the Brink". Add to this, local hero Alan Shearer in his capacity as a television pundit, announcing the club was "a mess from top to bottom" and "McClaren is in massive trouble", it is not surprising he was not a vision of joy. And once again the axe fell.
When he joined QPR, McClaren spoke of "winning in style". Alas, there were not enough wins and very little style. He has experienced a very mixed career, but he will probably soon be back as other managers fall by the wayside.
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