Football Phrase of the Week: Sacked after a defeat

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Football Phrase of the Week: Sacked after a defeat

In this football phrase of the week we take a look at the phrase, ‘to be sacked after a defeat‘ which has been in the news after two Premier League managers lost their jobs at the weekend. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

Sacked after a defeat

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DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. And welcome to our latest football phrase of the week.

How did your team do at the weekend? My team Tottenham finally won a game after a poor run of form when they defeated bottom-of-the-table Southampton 5-0. A heavy defeat like this is known as a thumping or a thrashing so we can say that Spurs thrashed Southampton 5-0. This result led Southampton to sack their manager; and another word for sack, of course, is ‘fire’; to be fired so they fired Russell Martin after this heavy defeat. We can say that he was sacked after the defeat or he was sacked after the Tottenham defeat. In other words, he was sacked because his team were badly beaten, and another phrase we sometimes use instead of ‘after’ is ‘in the wake of’, so Russell Martin was sacked in the wake of [after] the thrashing by Spurs.

The word ‘after’ is linking two parts (or clauses) of the sentence: 1. The team lost badly and 2. The manager was sacked – he was sacked after the defeat. We could also use the word ‘after’ at the start of the sentence: ‘After the thrashing, the Southampton manager was sacked‘.

Wolves were the other Premier League club to sack their manager after a bad defeat at the weekend. Wolves were beaten by fellow strugglers Ipswich in the final minute of their match  and this led to the club sacking Gary O’Neil. So, in the BBC report we can read the headline: ‘Wolves sack manager O’Neil after Ipswich defeat‘ which means he lost his job after Wolves were beaten by Ipswich: Wolves lost the game and then afterwards the manager was sacked.

Of course, this phrase is not always followed by ‘defeat‘ as there are many other reasons that someone might lose their job in football. For example:

1. She was sacked after a poor run of form
2. He was fired after losing the dressing room
3. The manager was sacked after criticising the club owner

Sometimes the word that follows ‘after’ is not related to a reason for the sacking but instead describes other things such as the amount of time involved. So, for example, League One side Bristol Rovers ‘sacked Taylor after a year in charge‘ which means that he was the manager for only a year. But then the report then goes on to state: Bristol Rovers have sacked boss Matt Taylor after their defeat by Birmingham. 

Can you think of any other examples like this? And how would you say this expression in another language that you know? Let us know by dropping a line at admin@languagecaster.com.

Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (in French)

Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message was in French. And we’ll be back with some more football language in our podcast later on in the week. I wonder will there be any more managerial casualties, dismissals or sackings before then? Enjoy all the football. Bye bye.

More Examples

• Example: Southampton sack manager Martin after Spurs thrashing [BBC.co.uk December 16 2024]
• Example: Wolves have sacked manager Gary O’Neil in the wake of [after] Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Ipswich Town [BBC.co.uk December 15 2024]
• Example: Bristol Rovers sack Taylor after a year in charge [BBC.co.uk December 16 2024]

Related Terms

Glossary

Football Language Glossary