The Sack Race

November is usually a time to fear for a football manager who has started out badly. With the dense Christmas period and January transfer window looming large, managers that have started badly can see an opportunity to reboot an underwhelming campaign. But by this stage supporters have usually tired of the old boy and want out. It is normally now that the owner agrees.

This week has seen the axe fall in two corners of West London - one which follows this script, and one that follows half of it.

QPR and Chelsea have already met under the managers perceived to be failures, when they drew 0-0 at Loftus Road in September. This was the first time Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea failed to win in this early season, while QPR continued a start of no wins.

Since then, QPR still haven't won any Premier League outings. Chelsea went back to winning until a defeat by Shakthar Donetsk in the Champions League heralded a miserable run of form for the European Champions which has seen them lose top spot in the Premier League and face the prospect of being the first defending Champions League holders to go out in the group stages.

The final blow for Di Matteo came in Turin earlier this week, when his Chelsea side were ruthlessly dispatched by Juventus. The Italian champions represented a tough test for Chelsea, and in the end it proved an easy win for the hosts.

Chelsea's loss in Ukraine a month ago is seen as the moment megalomaniac owner Roman Abrahmovic decided that Di Matteo was not the man for the job. On the showing of results since then, there has been little to convince the Russian to keep the incumbent that he had to be persuaded to keep as manager. The club's only victory in this spell was an extra time Capital One Cup victory over Manchester United that came three days after a league defeat to the same side on the same pitch.

At the same time though, every team will have a blip in form over a season. Di Matteo bought FA Cup and Champions League success to the club - a double many clubs would envy. This surely would've deserved him a longer shot in charge of the side, not least given Abrahmovic's dreams of bringing in ex-Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola were not going to happen this season.

It is certainly a very harsh sacking, both in light of what he achieved last season and the fact one of his sacking's reasons appears to be not playing Fernando Torres. The striker has represented possibly one of the worst value for money signings in history, with 19 goals in two and a half years at Stamford Bridge. When Abramovic said Di Matteo would have to stick with him rather than his dream signing of Radamel Falcao, who promptly scored four against Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup, it was seemingly inevitable that Torres' form, or lack of it, would end up being crucial.

Sure enough it is - both in the fact Di Matteo is now jobless, but also in the fact that Rafael Benitez is the new man in the dugout. Abramovic is banking on the fact Benitez bought Torres to England and got him firing for Liverpool will help him come good, but questions have to be asked if Torres is just no longer good enough.

Not that getting Torres firing is Benitez's only challenge - aside from rescuing their Champions League campaign and catching up with the two Manchester clubs, but winning over a Chelsea fanbase that is largely against his presence in their managers office is a massive one. The fans largely disagreed with the sacking of Di Matteo, and then further disagreed the decision not only to replace him with another interim manager, but in Benitez, who made various anti-Chelsea comments while Liverpool manager.

Naturally three points against Manchester City on Sunday, which would bring the Blues to within a point of Roberto Mancini's side and their unbeaten league record. But his challenge is a long road to counteract the fact that he is quite lucky to be in a position that Di Matteo, arguably, should still hold.

His challenge is certainly easier, and reaps bigger rewards, than the one facing QPR's new manager. Mark Hughes has spent the last few weeks resembling a lost cause at the foot of the division despite repeated assurances from owner Tony Fernandes his job was secure.

Defeat by Southampton last weekend, which left them marooned on just 4 points at the bottom of the league and still without Premier League victory, has obviously changed his mind. It is reported he was asked to resign on Monday by the QPR board, which Hughes flatly declined. Obviously resignation would have waived a five million pound pay-off for failure, which has now been paid after his sacking.

As well as commanding pay-off figures Fred Goodwin would have been proud of, Hughes has basically rebuilt the entire QPR team with a side that seems to be unable to do more than the sum of its extremely talented parts.

There is no denying they have talent. Goalkeeper Julio Cesar is a Champions League winner with Inter Milan, their midfield is loaded with talents such as Esteban Granero, Junior Hoilett, Ji-Sung Park and Adel Tarrabt and they have goal threats in players like Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora.

So where has it gone wrong? Well, aside from the fact changing an entire team in the space of a weeks is never a good thing to keep momentum going, there is also the feeling that they have a weaker defence and once the defeats begun - a 5-0 opening day mauling by Swansea was the perfect pre-season optimism killer - it was always going to be a struggle.

Long before the killer blow was dealt by Nigel Adkins' Saints, the fans have grown restless with Hughes. The manager has resemebled something of a David Brent style figure convinced his team were still going to finish midtable even as evidence became clear that Hughes would be lucky to finish December as QPR manager, let alone the season.

Fans are calling for ex-Spurs manager Harry Redknapp to take his place and certainly there is little to argue with the claim that he can't be any worse than Hughes. Fernandes seems keen to agree, with reports he will be installed in time for QPR's game against Sunderland next Tuesday.

But aside from the faintly ridiculous timing - he was sacked just a day before a game, let alone the fact this game was against Manchester United - it seems Hughes was onto a loser. He may have bought skillful players but with the players failing to gel and fans wanting him out, there was only going to be one outcome. His ridiculous form of just 6 wins from 30 was also always going to count against him, with the omens appearing that QPR would've been better off persisting with Neil Warnock rather than removing him as they did in January.

The jokes have been flying - one Tweet indicated that Hughes was so poor he failed to win the sack race - but there was never going to be any other outcome.

More of a surprise is the sacking of Hughes occured after the one four miles down the road at Stamford Bridge, but both basically have fallen victim to the fact that, as November turns into December, the owners feel they have not fulfilled their ambition and will be unable to do so. While it is harsh in one case, it is ultimate in the end that the owner's ambitions are unfulfilled and once owners see the end, there really is no going back.


Predictions:
Chelsea: Benitez will not be in the manager seat next season despite coming close to at least two trophies and most likely winning the Club World Championship.
QPR: Harry Redknapp to take over, win some games noone expected them to win and buy yet another new team, but to face a huge struggle to keep them in the top flight.