A head coach who was previously tipped to replicate Sir Alex Ferguson has been without a managerial role for 11 years despite enjoying success.
Very few managers are compared to Ferguson, and that’s understandable given the fact that the Scot won 38 trophies with Manchester United – including 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League crowns and five FA Cups.
Even the greats of the game, such as Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola, maintain that Sir Alex is “the best” of all time.
So, why has one coach remained without a role in 11 years despite once being compared to the Scot?
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Well, the answer to that question is complex and one that former Nottingham Forest head coach Billy Davies is also asking.
Davies, 61, who, like Ferguson, is from Govan in Glasgow, was once considered one of the Championship’s most astute managers after he took Preston North End to back-to-back Championship play-off campaigns between 2004 and 2006.
After losing in the play-off semi-finals to Leeds in 2006, having lost to West Ham United in the final in 2005, Davies departed the Lancashire club before joining Derby County ahead of the 2006-07 campaign.
The Scot guided the Rams to success in the play-offs, meaning they were promoted to the Premier League.
But things did not go as planned for Davies in English football’s top flight as he parted company with the club in November of 2007 after Derby failed to score in eight successive games.
And in typical fashion, he told BBC Radio Derby: "What's quite ironic on the morning of my parting of the ways with Derby County is that I'm going to the East Midlands Sports Awards tonight to pick up the coach of the year award.”
Just over a year later, Davies joined Derby’s East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest and then led them to third place in the Championship in his first full season – their highest finish since being relegated to the Premier League in 1999.
Unfortunately for Davies, Forest lost against Blackpool in the play-off semi-finals before again falling short at the same stage the following season against Swansea City.
In the summer of 2011, Davies was dismissed as Forest boss.
However, in March of 2013, then-Forest owner Fawaz Al Hasawi insisted that Davies could be their equivalent to Sir Alex Ferguson during an interview with BBC Midlands Late Kick Off, after Davies was re-appointed.
"Billy will be with us like Ferguson is with Manchester United,” Fawaz said. “I mean that.”
But a year later, Davies was sacked after overseeing an eight-game winless run.
And given his track record in the Championship, the 61-year-old likely expected his phone to be ringing off the hook with clubs trying to sign him, but 11 years on, he has yet to manage another club.
Back in 2017, when speaking to The Guardian, Davies blamed “lies and smears” as well as alleging that there had been a deliberate campaign to tarnish his reputation. He also claimed that 17 different clubs in England and Scotland had been warned to steer clear of him.
At the time, Davies claimed that a PR company led a witch-hunt against him.
“What they decided to do in their smearing is identify the bottom six EPL clubs, and some English Championship clubs that they know I would go to,” Davies alleged.
“They’ve sat down and identified these clubs. Plus, throw in the only club in Scotland – Glasgow Rangers – they identified them as well. Just look at the comments on these forums from certain people, during the process when Rangers were starting to pick a new manager. You can see it clearly.”
He added: “A smear campaign has driven me away. For whatever reason, they have decided to take away from me something that I love. They have put my career on pause. But I’ll be back soon. I don’t think there is any doubt that one day I will be back at the top of football.”
But over eight years on from these claims, he is yet to return to the dugout.
However, he did recently undertake a new role in football as technical head coach of second-tier Scottish side Greenock Morton.
Topics: Football, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Sir Alex Ferguson
Luke Davies