Football’s nine harshest manager sackings ever – multiple Chelsea victims and Man United scapegoat among those hastily dismissed

Manuel Pellegrini – Real Madrid (2009-2010)

Despite achieving a new, club-record 96 points in La Liga in his first season at the Bernabeu, Manuel Pellegrini was shown the exit door sharpish after finishing second fiddle to Barcelona.

Of course, there was no attempt to understand that Real were competing with a Barcelona team that was perhaps the greatest club side ever seen in world football, no. Florentino Perez doesn’t do common sense.

Fair play to Pellegrini, however, who has gone on to do good work at Malaga and Manchester City but could be given his P45 again this summer after choosing to work under temperamental bosses once against at the Etihad.