The Premier League manager sack race: Jurgen Klopp seat hot to the touch; Pep Guardiola shock; Moyes still sweating
Football has proven to be a strictly results-based business and that often leaves Premier League managers fearing for their jobs.
Scott Parker, Thomas Tuchel, Bruno Lage, Steven Gerrard, Ralph Hasenhuttl, Frank Lampard and Jesse Marsch have already been sacked this season, while Graham Potter left his role at Brighton to join Chelsea.
There will undoubtedly be more managerial changes before the end of the season as clubs look to secure European football or avoid relegation.
We’ve looked at the 19 managers currently in charge of Premier League clubs to see who might get sacked or walk out of the door in the next few weeks.
Safe
Mikel Arteta
Club: Arsenal
League position: 1st
The days of #ArtetaOut trending on Twitter now seem like a lifetime ago.
Arteta has turned Arsenal into title challengers once again and the Gunners currently sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League ahead of Manchester City.
He’s completely won over the doubters at the Emirates, including huge critics like Piers Morgan.
Erik ten Hag
Club: Manchester United
League position: 3rd
United have shown a marked improvement under Ten Hag, who is becoming an increasingly popular figure in the red side of Manchester.
They are currently third in the Premier League table and have also reached the Carabao Cup final as they look to win their first trophy since 2017.
The Daily Mail report that Ten Hag has already managed to impress Sir Alex Ferguson, who has been left ‘enthused’ by the Dutchman.
Eddie Howe
Club: Newcastle United
Position: 4th
There may have been a few eyebrows raised when Howe was appointed Newcastle manager in 2022, but he has overseen a dramatic improvement in their fortunes.
The Magpies were at bottom of the table when he took over but they are now chasing a top-four finish in the Premier League and Howe has also led them to their first cup final in 24 years.
“It’ll be interesting to see if you had a panel of Newcastle people, or a 100 people, and you asked them, would Eddie Howe be your number one choice? At the time, I’d say it would probably be 50/50,” Shay Given told Sky Sports.
“But if you asked them today and now, they wouldn’t swap Eddie Howe for any manager in the world, and that’s how good of a job he’s done.”
Marco Silva
Club: Fulham
Position: 8th
Fulham won the Championship title last season but the bookies still felt that they were the joint-second favourites to go down at the start of the season.
Silva has exceeded all expectations this season and his side are currently above both Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League table.
They’ve already bettered their points tally from the entirety of the 2020/21 campaign, when they were relegated after amassing just 28 points under Scott Parker.
Thomas Frank
Club: Brentford
Position: 7th
Frank has worked miracles at Brentford, establishing them as a strong Premier League side while operating on a shoestring budget.
He has beaten some of the best managers in the world this season after recording a 4-0 win over Manchester United, a 2-1 win against Manchester City and a 3-1 victory over Liverpool.
The 49-year-old recently signed a new long-term contract and extended his stay in west London until 2027.
Newly-appointed & safe
Sean Dyche
Club: Everton
Position: 18th
Dyche spent almost 10 months out of work after being sacked by Burnley but has now replaced Frank Lampard in the Everton dugout.
The 51-year-old made an immediate impact in his first game in charge, overseeing a 1-0 win over Arsenal at Goodison Park.
Sean Dyche – Tactical mastermind.
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) February 5, 2023
Roberto De Zerbi
Club: Brighton
Position: 6th
Having previously worked in Italy and Ukraine, De Zerbi was a relatively unknown figure in England when he was appointed as Graham Potter’s successor at Brighton.
The Italian has silenced his doubters, winning nine and drawing four of his opening 18 games while also playing entertaining football.
Unai Emery
Club: Aston Villa
Position: 11th
Villa were hovering above the relegation zone when they decided to sack Steven Gerrard in October but Emery has got them back on track.
He oversaw a 3-1 win over Manchester United in his first game in charge and has also led Villa to a 2-0 win away at Tottenham Hotspur.
Julen Lopetegui
Club: Wolves
Position: 15th
Wolves went into the World Cup break stuck to the bottom of the Premier League table and then hired Lopetegui as Bruno Lage’s replacement.
The Spaniard has drawn one and won three of his first six Premier League games, including a 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Molineux.
Comfortable
Patrick Vieira
Club: Crystal Palace
League position: 12th
Vieira enjoyed a promising debut season at Palace in 2021/22, overhauling the playing style and guiding them to a 12th-place finish.
They currently find themselves 12th in the league once again, although frustration is bubbling up at Selhurst Park as they have lost five of their last eight league games.
Steve Cooper
Club: Nottingham Forest
League position: 13th
Despite enduring a difficult start to the 2022/23 season, Forest kept faith in Cooper and gave him a contract extension in October.
That proved to be a wise decision as they’ve since had an upturn in results and performances, putting them six points clear of the relegation zone.
Antonio Conte
Club: Tottenham
League position: 5th
Conte led Tottenham to a fourth-placed finish in 2021/22 and they have a good chance of securing Champions League qualification again this campaign.
While the Italian won’t be going anywhere in the immediate future, he is out of contract at the end of the season and this is putting his long-term future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in serious doubt.
Under pressure
David Moyes
Club: West Ham
League position: 16th
Moyes has plenty of credit in the bank after guiding West Ham to sixth and seventh-placed finishes in the last two seasons but he’s still come under pressure this season.
Despite spending around £150m in the summer, they’ve gone backwards in 2022/23 and now find themselves embroiled in a relegation battle.
Brendan Rodgers
Club: Leicester City
League position: 14th
After Leicester picked up just one point from their first seven matches, the writing looked to be on the wall for Rodgers at the King Power Stadium.
They’ve since escaped the relegation zone but have picked up just four points since club football returned in December and face one of the Premier League’s ‘big six’ in each of their next three games.
Jurgen Klopp
Club: Liverpool
League position: 10th
Klopp leaving Liverpool seemed unimaginable just a few months ago but they’ve endured a disastrous start to the 2022/23 season.
The Reds have won just eight of their opening 20 Premier League games and have also surrendered their hold on both the FA Cup and Carabao Cups.
While Klopp is a Liverpool legend, he’ll come under increasing pressure if they don’t turn things around.
Jürgen Klopp refuses to speak to James Pearce. pic.twitter.com/a2nibSBAoI
— The Anfield Talk (@TheAnfieldTalk) February 4, 2023
Graham Potter
Club: Chelsea
League position: 9th
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly backed Potter during the January transfer window, allowing him to spend over £300m on eight new players.
But he’s won nine and lost seven of his first 22 games in charge of the Blues and Boehly will be expecting a marked improvement in the coming weeks.
Favourites to go
Pep Guardiola
Club: Manchester City
League position: 2nd
Guardiola signed a contract extension at Manchester City in November but his future at the club has been thrown into doubt after they were charged with over 100 Financial Fair Play breaches by the Premier League.
The Spaniard obviously won’t be sacked but he has previously made it clear that he would quit if the allegations were proven.
Gary O’Neill
Club: Bournemouth
League position: 19th
O’Neill was named as Bournemouth’s interim manager at the end of August following the sacking of Scott Parker and was then given the job on a permanent basis in November.
But their form has nosedived in recent weeks and they’ve since picked up just one point from a possible 18 in the Premier League.
Nathan Jones
Club: Southampton
League position: 20th
He has only just taken over, but Jones may not last long at Southampton.
The 49-year-old replaced Ralph Hasenhuttl in November but is yet to turn things around at St Mary’s and has lost six of his seven Premier League games.
While the club continue to back the manager publicly, fans have turned on him and senior players at the club were reportedly unhappy with his post-match comments after their 3-0 defeat to Brentford.
READ MORE: Ranking the Premier League clubs by their transfer net spend in 2023: Chelsea top, Man Utd 17th…
