First there was Jimmy Bone, who resigned because we sacked his assistant/coach Kenny McDowell. Not exactly normal.
Then there was Tony Fitzpatrick, who was sacked/resgiend/left by mutual consent/something else, something that no one outside the Saints board room is sure of to this day.
Last season Tom Hendrie went in bizarre style, when he was given leave of his duties, then resigned. Except he didn't, and ended up getting compensation.
John Coughlin's seems to take the biscuit however. Do the board of directors think of weird and wonderful ways to get rid of our managers? Well, if what Coughlin says is to be believed it certainly looks that way.
When I left Uni (and therefore, the Internet) yesterday afternoon, the situation was this: According to Black and White Army (a fine unofficial supporters site), Coughlin was no more, though whether he was sacked or he resigned was unknown. Assistant manager Gus MacPherson was in charge of the first team. Chairman Stewart Gilmour was/is on holiday in the Carribean, whilst acting chairman George Campbell is in hospital with chest pains. Mirren Mad wishes him a speedy recovery. The site also carried news that an official announcement would be made later in the afternoon. With me so far? Good.
So, with the news that Coughlin could be a goner I tuned into the sports sections of both Scotland Today and Reporting Scotland. Reporting Scotland predictably had nothing, but Scotland Today surprisngly mentioned it. They said Coughlin had admitted he would soon be out of a job but was still the manager. They then revealed that after Saturday's abysmal result against Caley Thistle, a board member (note use of a) asked Coughlin to stand down. However, he then discovered that the rest of the board knew absolutely nothing about this! Genius! That beats Bone, Fitzpatrick and Hendrie. Put them together and this is still even better.
Let me say that again. One board member asked the manager to stand down, whilst the rest were unaware.
Coughlin will probably be gone by the end of the week, which is great news for all. He didn't attend the annual dinner on Sunday night which probably speaks volumes for itself. However, once again, Saints have failed to sack a manager properly.