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Five managers with dodgy tickers

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Rob Parker
 @ February 13th, 2009

Wishing Joe Kinnear all the best for his op today, a timely reminder that football management is hard work

1. Joe Kinnear
Hate to say I told you so, but this was my primary concern for Kinnear when he took the Newcastle job in September. Kinnear suffered a heart attack during his time at Wimbledon and later stood down on health grounds. Our thoughts are with him as he undergoes a triple heart bypass today.

2. Gerard Houllier
The then Liverpool manager had an emergency 11-hour heart bypass in 2001. The Frenchman took five months off to recover, but later revealed he had come back too soon and was left feeling exhausted upon his return.

3. Sir Alex Ferguson

You need only examine the colour of his face to chart the rollercoaster of emotion and stress that Fergie experiences during games. He was treated for a heart condition in 2004 and later fitted with a pacemaker.

4. Barry Fry
“Your arms go a bit numb at first. Then it’s like there’s a knife being stuck in your chest, and twisted. Then it feels like someone’s poured a bucket of tepid water on your head because there’s so much sweat. It’s horrible, a total panic.” That is how Fry described his two heart attacks the first of which happened in 1992 while pushing a broke down Barnet team bus.

5. Graeme Souness

Souness was still only 39 when he underwent a major heart operation in 1992. The then Liverpool boss made sure he was on his feet to lead his side out for the FA Cup final at Wembley just days after the surgery though.

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