A regional daily’s tongue-in-cheek reference to a sacked football manager who previously clashed with journalists has won plaudits from the industry.

Billy Davies was sacked as manager of Nottingham Forest on Monday, 48 hours after a 5-0 thrashing by East Midlands rivals Derby County.

The Nottingham Post responded by inserting Davies’s picture into a front blurb advertising its weekly jobs supplement.

It featured a picture of the jobless manager on the phone alongside the words: “Looking for a job? Hundreds of vacancies up for grabs: see our jobs fair special inside.”

The Post clashed with Davies earlier this year when the then Forest manager confronted a press photographer following a match against Millwall.

Dan Westwell, who supplies match day pictures to the Post, was accused of “unprofessional conduct” by the club – an allegation which both he and Post editor Mike Sassi said was “completely unsubstantiated.”

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron commented on his blog: “The Evening Post could have taken the high ground and risen above the provocation – but I’m really pleased it didn’t.”

Peter said the front page blurb “not only delivers a spot of revenge but it is a creative way of promoting the job ads and selling more papers.”

Former Northern Echo editor turned editorial consultant Peter Sands described the blurb as a “work of topical genius” in a tweet, and suspected the hand of Mike Sassi.

However Mike later revealed in a tweet that it was in fact the brainchild of Post features editor Claire Catlow. Mike declined an invitation to comment further.

Photographer Dan Westwell is confronted by the then Forest boss Billy Davies earlier this year