Sturrock sacked after loss to U's

By Carl Marston

LAYER Road is fast becoming a graveyard for opposition managers!

Sheffield Wednesday boss Paul Sturrock became the latest to lose his job, following a heavy defeat at the hands of Colchester United on Wednesday night.

Less than 24 hours after that 4-0 thrashing, the Yorkshire club announced that they had parted company with Sturrock.

Only last month, Gary Waddock lost his job as manager of QPR after the west Londoners had been beaten 2-1 at Layer Road. Waddock stayed on as a coach before leaving Loftus Road this week.

And earlier in the year, Derby County boss Phil Brown was sacked, with the last straw being an FA Cup fourth round defeat (3-1) at Colchester's home ground on January 28.

Sturrock, the latest to be struck down by the Layer Road curse, criticised his players and apologised to the travelling supporters on Wednesday night.

He said at the time: “Some of the players have come to the end of their tether at this football club. It's time for players who have had their sell-by date to be moved on very quickly.

“I apologise to all our fans, and the players should be apologetic too. I would like them to look in the mirror and be honest with themselves.”

However, it is Sturrock and not any of his players who have suffered the ultimate price of losing his job.

Owls chairman Dave Allen said last night: “Our league position says it all. However, the chairman and the directors would like to place on record our thanks to Paul (Sturrock) for his efforts.”

Sturrock therefore becomes the 12th manager to have lost his job since the start of the season.

The others are: Dave Penney (Doncaster), Mark McGhee (Brighton), Sean O'Driscoll (Bournemouth), Bryan Robson (West Brom), Waddock (QPR), Kevin Blackwell (Leeds), Nigel Spackman (Millwall), Brian Horton (Macclesfield), Nigel Worthington (Norwich) and David Hodgson (Darlington). Chairman Niall Quinn also stood down as the Wearsiders manager at the end of August.