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    Tony Adams (Portsmouth Football Club)

    Vote of Confidence: February 2, 2009

    Bald-Faced Lie: “There has been no board meeting to discuss the manager’s position and there is not one planned…It is important that we all pull together and get behind Tony and the team.” — Executive chairman Peter Storrie

    Firing Date: February 9, 2009

    Post-Mortem: Not even those classy Brits can avoid being two-faced from time to time. Opening the year 2-14—the worst start in Blue Army history—was bad, but the real backbreaker came when two heckling fans nearly reduced Adams to tears during a road game at Craven Cottage. (Apparently, that’s an actual soccer stadium and not something from a Harry Potter book.)