Frank Lampard now looks like a dead man walking. That’s what a run of seven games without a win will do…
We’ve ranked the top-flight managers by their chance of being shown – or showing themselves to – the door, starting with the favourite, according to the best odds currently available at oddschecker.com.
1) Frank Lampard
His job is surely hanging by a thread after a 4-1 home shellacking by Brighton that leaves the Toffees staring at a run of seven games without a win in all competitions. The time is nigh. Nobody should survive a sub-30% win rate.
2) David Moyes
A team that finished sixth then seventh in the Premier League in the previous two seasons, spent £150m in the summer on players like Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca, and lost no players of great significance, should not be in a relegation fight. Would a big name replacement for Moyes persuade Declan Rice to stay? Probably not.
3) Gary O’Neil
They have lost seven of their last eight Premier League games. Even six weeks into his tenure, he is in danger.
4) Brendan Rodgers
Three straight defeats is not a good look for Leicester or for Brendan Rodgers but the fact remains that the Foxes will have to be really, really bad for the board to sack Rodgers as they can’t really afford his £10m pay-out. A mid-table finish will do just fine and that is very achievable with the squad at his disposal.
5) Nathan Jones
It was a big, big call from Southampton to hire Jones, who has had success at Luton in two spells but had a stinking record in his brief time with Stoke. He’s a talented young coach with a group of talented young players, but a lack of experience among the playing and coaching staff may be an issue, as is their lack of identity.
6) Antonio Conte
It still feels as though Conte is more likely to leave than be sacked. The Italian has the power at Spurs, who will need to keep his coffers laden if they’re to persuade him to stick around. After the sh*t-show v Villa, they might just let him leave.
7) Graham Potter
Assurances from Todd Boehly and his lackeys that Graham Potter is the one and will remain so at Stamford Bridge mean diddly squat, quite frankly. Thomas Tuchel is still well loved by the Chelsea fanbase, pretty much all of whom need convincing that Potter isn’t as out of his depth as he’s appeared to be since taking over.
8) Jesse Marsch
He’s not Marcelo Bielsa. He probably knew that before he arrived at Leeds but if he didn’t he sure as sh*t knows it now. Marsch has next to no hope of usurping the man with 50 foot murals in a city that will never be able to accept he isn’t still theirs.
9) Patrick Vieira
The fans and players love him and rightly so. Having flirted with Premier League relegation for what feels like forever, it doesn’t seem likely Palace will again with him at the helm – or at least they’ll look good while flirting.
10) Steve Cooper
Signed a new contract at Nottingham Forest in October when they were truly terrible and there’s been a slow but steady upswing in performances and results since.
11) Marco Silva
They’re in seventh. Which is really quite ludicrous.
12) Jurgen Klopp
Are we in the Klopp/Liverpool endgame? One thing is clear: he will have to walk because he absolutely not be pushed by a rightly grateful fanbase.
13) Julen Lopetegui
Despite that huge win over Everton, if the new manager doesn’t buy a forward or two in January, Wolves are going to go down. Preferably one to create chances and one to score goals, as they don’t really do either.
14) Unai Emery
It would be quite difficult to do less than Steven Gerrard with what is a pretty well-stocked squad.
15) Roberto De Zerbi
Can Brighton do no wrong? They sold their two best players from last season and got better, then lost one of the best young managers around, and again, seem to have got better.
16) Thomas Frank
There’s probably more of a danger of Frank being poached than sacked after he signed a new deal. He’s built a proper Premier League squad that plays entertaining football on a shoestring budget.
17) Erik ten Hag
He’s done very well to be this safe after their start to the season and with Cristiano Ronaldo out of the picture the ethos Ten Hag’s started to create at Manchester United can only become stronger and more embedded.
18) Mikel Arteta
He has held on with his fingertips on more than one occasion in his Arsenal stint but trusting the process has paid off. Arteta and transfer chief Edu have proven to be quite the duo, building a squad to challenge the Manchester City behemoth.
19) Eddie Howe
Took Newcastle from 19th to a comfortable mid-table finish last season and now has them well in with a shout of qualifying for the Champions League, spending smart money on players who have immediately improved the first XI.
20) Pep Guardiola
He’s now synonymous with Manchester City, and the next manager will have both an excellent and impossible job on their hands. Guardiola will have been at the Etihad for three times as long as his previous jobs if he sees out his contract and you now get the sense that he’s as obsessed with winning the Champions League as the owners. Fans of rival clubs may well be hoping that gong comes sooner rather than later as he may not leave without it.
