This from the Guardian
Hereford’s haste a bleak sign of the times for Pellegrini
Peter Beadle might not be a familiar name to everyone but there is a reasonable argument, based on pure win percentages, that he could be the most successful manager in English football.
Beadle took charge of Hereford FC – the club formed in the aftermath of Hereford United being wound up – in 2015 and led them to league titles in each of his three full seasons. In his first year, they won two cup competitions and reached the final of the FA Vase. The following year, promotion was confirmed with six games to spare and last season they won 36 out of 46 league matches. Beadle’s record from 138 games is 107 wins, 18 draws and 13 defeats, with 365 goals scored and 105 conceded. It is a win ratio of 78.9%.
All of which us brings us to the newsflash on Hereford’s website that Beadle is now their former employee, eight games into their first season in National League North. “This is not a decision the board has taken lightly and it is made with a heavy heart,” the chairman, Ken Kinnersley, said of the manager’s sacking. “However, the directors are in unanimous agreement that now is the right time to make a change.”
Kinnersley says the club’s ambition is to reach the Football League and, plainly, Hereford’s opening run of three wins, two draws and three defeats, leaving them in 12th position, was not good enough now we have moved into age where even the smaller clubs appear to operate on knee‑jerk reflexes.
It’s even worse higher up and in the case of Manuel Pellegrini, four games into his role as West Ham manager, you have to wonder where it will lead if his team lose again at Everton on Sunday. West Ham have started the season with four defeats and the last time that happened, in 2010-11, they were relegated in bottom place. A fifth defeat would represent the worst start to a season in the club’s 123-year history and it won’t get any easier. The next two league fixtures will be against Chelsea and Manchester United.
On the one hand, it feels ridiculous to be talking about Pellegrini’s job being under threat in mid-September. On the other hand, that is the narrative of modern-day football and I doubt Peter Beadle imagined, five weeks into the season, he would be turfed out either.