Strachan is number ten

Brian Laws is now the 13th longest serving manager in the Championship

Incredibly five of those clubs are in the Championship. We first saw Steve Coppell walk at Bristol City and he was quickly followed by Kevin Blackwell who was shown the Bramall Lane door. Nigel Adkins was next, opting to leave Scunthorpe for Southampton and since we've had the sacking of Paulo Sousa at Leicester.

Strachan's departure yesterday was a shock even if it wasn't a surprise. It was a shock because if any club gives managers time it is Middlesbrough. Let's face it Steve Gibson stuck with Bryan Robson for years when most other chairmen would have been looking for a change.

However, things haven't gone as well as expected at Middlesbrough. They were the summer's biggest spenders and were pre-season favourites to lift the title. Saturday's home defeat to Leeds, when they were apparently very poor, has proved to be the final straw.

It was the oft used 'mutual consent' and Gibson praised Strachan for tearing up his contract and walking away with no compensation. He might regret that because, somehow, I think this might just have signalled the end of Gordon Strachan's managerial career.

Such is the longevity of a football manager's life at a club now that Brian Laws is already the 13^th longest serving in the Championship and has reached 59^th in the list of Premier and Football League managers.