The sack race was lost by Steve Bruce last season when he was removed from his post at The Stadium of Light. Will it be bosses of West Brom, West Ham, Chelsea, Norwich City or Swansea City who emulate him this campaign?
The pressure on a Premier League manager increases season after season, whether they’re in charge of a club at the top, middle or bottom of the table. Here are five managers who could well face being the first to lose their jobs.
Steve Clarke. Shortest odds available: 6/1 at Ladbrokes
Clarke faces a tough test in his first senior management role. West Bromich Albion were looking to build on last season’s top-ten finish this year but then England came along and pinched manager Roy Hodgson. Under Hodgson, the players felt motivated and wanted to perform for their manager – Clarke will not have anywhere near the same effect on his squad and will have no experiences to draw from when the going gets tough. West Brom won’t think twice about replacing him, look how quick they got rid of Roberto Di Matteo when things started to go wrong for him after he had been doing so well. Some will say Clarke deserves credit for what he did whilst number two at Chelsea, in that case he deserves flack for his time in the same position at West Ham United and Liverpool.
Sam Allardyce. Shortest odds available: 6/1 at Stan James
At West Ham, there is a certain belief that the club belongs in the Premier League. This belief however, is false – the Hammers were not in the Premier League in its inaugural season and have been relegated from it twice. This doesn’t help the level of expectancy on their managers though as fans expect a certain style of football and will soon turn on Allardyce when things get difficult this season for the Play-off winners. This happened last season when all the team could seem to do, was draw and expect owners Davids Sullivan and Gold to listen to the supporters this time around and if they shout loud enough, they wmay just get their way – Paolo Di Canio waits in the wings but don’t rule out Harry Redknapp returning to the club he left in 2001.
Michael Laudrup. Shortest odds available: 6/1 at William Hill
Laudrup has had over ten years of managerial experience, but what can prepare you for the Premier League? There’s only one answer to that – the Premier League. The Danish legend has some pretty big boots to fill, those of Brendan Rodgers and although Swansea City fans will be excited by the name, it’s extremely unlikely that Laudrup will be able to get the Swans playing the kind of football that pleased so many last season. He has already lost Joe Allen to Liverpool and faces losing Scott Sinclair to Manchester City before the new season starts- he has it all to do in what will be an extremely difficult second season in the Premier League for Swansea.
Chris Hughton. Shortest odds available: 8/1 at Ladbrokes
Paul Lambert was able to take Norwich City club from the third tier of English football up to the dizzy heights of the Premier League in just two seasons. Lambert built a team who were so comfortable with one another, they did not struggle to survive in their first season back in the top flight. There was such a confidence around Carrow Road amongst the fans and more importantly, the players. Both however, were left deflated when Lambert handed in his resignation in order to join Aston Villa. Hughton will find it a tough act to follow and may struggle to motivate his players in the same way his predecessor did before him.
Roberto Di Matteo. Shortest odds available: 9/1 at Blue Square
How can Di Matteo better what he did at Chelsea last season? Easy, he can’t. Although Di Matteo was Andre Villas Boas’ number two, when the Italian took charge of the team he used to play for back in March, it felt like a much needed breath of fresh air around Stamford Bridge and allowed the players to play with a certain freedom. Ten months is a lot longer than three months though and Roberto Di Matteo will be found out in that time – the new players must settle and the club must get used to life without Didier Drogba and quick. If Roman Abramovich can see fit to sack Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti then nobody is safe in the Chelsea hot-seat.
image: © aromano
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