The pressure to succeed in English soccer is almost unbearable. It is not enough for a manager like Billy Davies to drag unfashionable Derby County out of the Championship and into the Premiership. The directors show their gratitude for what he has done by sacking him within a couple of months of the start of the current (2007-08) season. They ignore the fact that he has transformed an ailing club on a comparatively small budget. Simply because the club is struggling at the bottom of the top flight, they decide to bundle him off.

Sackings are common place throughout all levels of the game. High profile casualties this season include national English team boss Steve MacLaren and Newcastle United's Sam Allardyce. MacLaren failed to take England to the European Nations Cup this summer. There was criticism of the style and lack of leadership from all quarters. Allardyce was head hunted less than a year ago after enjoying success at moderate Bolton Wanderers. Newcastle are currently floundering just below mid table and a few places above the relegation zone.

What I find so incredible about the sackings is that both men were trumpeted as the saviors of their teams not so long ago. They have not changed, surely. Circumstances have conspired against them with injuries and lack of availability of key players. But if they have suddenly become poor managers, what about the people who appointed them? Then, equally, it must follow that they have displayed poor judgment - yet nobody calls for them to go.

The way Billy Davies was treated was simply unacceptable. Derby County had a few years of success under Brian Clough and Peter Taylor in the 1970s. But they have struggled in recent years. Getting them out of the Championship and into the Premiership was a near miraculous achievement. They were everybody's favorites to go straight back down at the start of the season. They are not endowed with many outstanding players. Very little money has been invested in the squad because it simply was not made available to Davies. Their poor showing this season was entirely predictable. The club will reap millions of extra pounds in TV appearance money thanks to Davies gaining them promotion last season. What sort of gratitude have the directors shown him?

The sacking of Billy Davies was reprehensible. But it was totally predictable. The patience of directors in the money-fueled game that is soccer is getting shorter and shorter by the season. Davies and Allardyce will not be the last casualties this season.

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