The Relegation.com manager of the season award will be announced next week. Here are the nominees.
1. Kevin Keegan (Newcastle United)
There's a well known saying in football, "When the going gets tough, Keegan buggers off". Once more "King" Kev showed what he's made of when he left Newcastle in the lurch, just four games into the season. Keegan's departure sparked off a run of seven games without a win which left the club in a relegation battle.
2. Chris Hughton (Newcastle United)
Hughton was twice given the cartaker manager's role during the course of the season, and on each occasion he showed he just wasn't up to the job.
Maybe he'll make a career of it, like Tony Parkes did at Blackburn. Except Parkes knew what he was doing and had the respect of the players.
3. Joe Kinnear (Newcastle United)
It was a major shock when former Wimbledon manager Kinnear was given the job. Kinnear had been out of football for years, and had never had such a high profile job. Initially he was given the club on a caretaker basis, but after several controversial incidents he was doing such a good job taking attention away from Newcastle owner Mike Ashley that he was given the job until the end of the season. Soon after that he was admitted to hospital with heart problems and Hughton took over again.
4. Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)
Football fans thoughout the country rejoiced when Shearer was given the Newcastle job. It meant we wouldn't have to put up with his "expert" analysis on Match of the Day for the rest of the season. When a new manager takes over at a club, you expect him to have an immediate impact. Morale and confidence improve, the crowd gets behind the team and they go on to win their next few games. That didn't happen for Shearer. In his first five games in charge Newcastle won just two points, scoring one goal in the process. They're now in the relegation places with one game to play.
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