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Tony Pulis and Gus Poyet are early contenders for manager of the season, but those of their peers who do vote for them may do so through gritted teeth. That is if they are still in a job come the annual May poll.
With seven Premier League managers having parted company with their clubs already this season, six of them fired, this is already the most worrisome campaign for people in charge since 2008-09 when nine men lost their jobs, seven of them fired. It may yet be the worst in Premier League history. That unwanted record is currently 1994-95 when there were 10 departures, but two involved managers upgrading to better jobs and only five were sackings.
Pulis and Poyet's successes have in part led to the high turnover. When Sunderland sacked Paolo Di Canio in September they had one point from five games. When Ian Holloway quit Crystal Palace they had three from eight. Both clubs appeared doomed, leaving only one relegation place for other clubs' chairmen to fret over.
However, the revivals Pulis and Poyet have engineered and the tight nature of this season's Premier League, means there are 11 clubs in fear of relegation (except for Andre Villas-Boas all the axed managers were at clubs battling the drop). Not only has that made owners more nervous, some have looked at what Pulis and Poyet have achieved and thought, "maybe a new manager will have the same effect at my club."
Fulham's Shahid Khan has, of course, already tried this when he axed Martin Jol. So far it has not worked.
The other factor is, as ever in the modern game, money. In recent years it has become so expensive to fire managers – whose salaries and support staff have risen exponentially – clubs have increasingly held off.
That followed an agreement by the Premier League and League Managers Association, put in place after the grim 1994-95 campaign, which established a procedure to ensure sacked managers were paid up. "It is too expensive to sack them now," 'Deadly' Doug Ellis, the infamous hire-'em, fire-'em, former Aston Villa chairman once lamented to me.
However, the new television deal means every Premier League club is guaranteed at least £60m for the next three seasons (last season's champions Manchester United received £61m, bottom club Queen's Park Rangers £40m). Even with parachute payments increasing to around £60m over four seasons, such is the income disparity between the Premier League and the Championship, relegated clubs will suffer an estimated £40m drop in income, a huge proportion of turnover in many cases.
So Swansea, though faced with a reported £4.5m bill for firing Michael Laudrup, still figured it was worth it. The question nagging at many other managers' minds, especially Rene Meulensteen's, is which other clubs will come to the same conclusion.
Show all 38 1 /38The managerial sack race - 2013/14 The managerial sack race - 2013/14 May 12 - Pepe Mel (West Brom) Less than 24 hours after guiding West Brom to Premier League survival, Mel was sacked. Just three wins from 17 matches meant that his 123-day reign - the joint shortest in history - was brought to an end.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 May 12 - Oscar Garcia (Brighton) Garcia offered his resignation on Sunday 11 May following the Championship play-off defeat to Derby, and while the club told him to sleep on his decision, he executed his resignation the following day, despite guiding the Seagulls to a sixth place finish.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 April 22 - David Moyes (Manchester United) The Chosen One no more, Moyes was ruthlessly dismissed by United less than 10 months into his reign at Old Trafford. Languishing down in seventh and having been eliminated from all three cups, it quickly emerged that the decision to sack Moyes was made in February. Having spent 11 years with Everton, the Scot didn't even last 11 months with the reigning Premier League champions.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 April 9 - Ronnie Moore (Tranmere) Less than 24 hours after admitting to 'multiple breaches' of betting rules, Ronnie Moore was dismissed by Tranmere. The club stated he had breached his contract and were eager not to bring the integrity of the League One outfit into question. Moore, who previously managed Rotherham, had been in charge since 2012.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 April 7 - Chris Hughton (Norwich) With just five games of the season remaining Chris Hughton must have thought he had made it through the campaign and escaped the chop. Unfortunately for the only black manager at any of the 92 football league clubs, he hadn't. Defeat to relegation rivals West Brom led the Norwich board to feel they had to act in order to 'give the club the maximum chance of survival'. He lasted 20 months in charge and guided the Canaries to 11th in the Premier League last season. They were 17th at the time of his departure.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 March 27 - Richie Barker (Portsmouth) Barker lasted less than four months in charge at Fratton Park. The former Bury and Crawley boss was given his marching orders with the 2008 FA Cup winners in danger of slipping out of the Football League. A 3-0 defeat at Rochdale was the 38-year-old's last game in charge.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 March 24 - Billy Davies (Nottingham Forest) Davies found himself sacked by Nottingham Forest for a second time following a 5-0 defeat to Championship and local rivals Derby. In his second spell at the club, Davies had been in charge for 13 months. The Scot only signed a four-year contract extension in October and looked set to take Forest back into the top flight as they homed in on the automatic promotion places after a 13-match unbeaten run. However, they then lost to League One Sheffield United in the FA Cup and then managed to take just three points from 21 to slip out of the play-off places by the time Davies was sacked.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 March 11 - Chris Powell (Charlton) Chris Powell was sacked after he and the club failed to 'reach an agreement over the club's football strategy going forward'. It followed an FA Cup quarter-final defeat to League One Sheffield United which compounded a poor season in the Championship that saw the club rooted to the bottom of the table at the time of his departure. The popular 44-year-old former Addicks left-back had been in the job for three years and won the League One title in 2012
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 February 14 - Rene Meulensteen (Fulham) Just a couple of months after being given the reins following the sacking of Martin Jol, Rene Meulensteen found himself usurped by Felix Magath. In the announcement from Fulham, the club did not even mention what was happening to the former Manchester United coach, but there was no doubt he was no longer the top dog at the Cottage. During his time in charge, he managed to win just four games and take the club to the bottom of the Premier League.
The managerial sack race - 2013/14 February 4 - Michael Laudrup (Swansea City) Less than 12 months after leading Swansea to victory in the League Cup - the club's first ever major trophy - Laudrup was sacked. 'It is a decision we have taken reluctantly,' said the club's chairman and came with the side struggling in the Premier League, losing six of their last eight games and hovering two points above the relegation zone. Laudrup succeeded Brendan Rodgers in June 2012. Amongst his highlights in charge was a 3-0 win over Spanish side Valencia in the Europa League.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 January 26 - Chris Wilder (Oxford) Wilder chose to quit Oxford so that he could take the job at Northampton Town. Some saw it as a strange decision, with Wilder leaving a club placed sixth in League Two to take on a team bottom of the Football League.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 January 21 - Graham Turner (Shrewsbury Town) The Shrews manager stood down from his second spell in charge of the League One side following a disappointing run. Having got them promoted to League One after returning in 2010, he kept them up last season. But with the club languishing 20th in the league, he chose to step down, saying 'my managerial days are over'
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 January 21 - Paul Ince (Blackpool) A run of nine defeats in 10 games proved enough for the Blackpool board to dismiss Ince. Nine red cards during the season before his exit also pointed to unrest at the club. The former Liverpool and Manchester United midfielder had taken over in February 2013 and left the club 14th in the Championship table.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 January 2 - Alan Knill (Torquay United) Five wins all season and with the club in relegation trouble at the foot of League Two saw Knill sacked. The former Wales international had been installed on a permanent basis in May 2013 after narrowly keeping them in the football league on a three month temporary basis prior to this.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 27 - Malky Mackay (Cardiff City) After weeks of speculation over his position, Mackay was given the boot by colourful owner Vincent Tan. Having guided the club to promotion last season and a 2012 League Cup final defeat to Liverpool during his tenure, mid-table mediocrity in the Premier League just wasn't enough apparently.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 26 - Steve Lomas (Millwall) Six months was all Lomas could last at the New Den before being sacked. A 4-0 defeat to Watford was the final straw as the club slipped to 20th in the Championship.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 21 - Aidy Boothroyd (Northampton Town) A 4-1 defeat to Wycombe was Boothroyd's last game in charge of the League Two side who he had been at the helm of since November 2011. With the club at the bottom of the league, 'the board of directors just felt the time was right for a change,' read a statement from the club.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 16 - Gianfranco Zola (Watford) The Italian's offer of resignation was accepted by the Hornets' hierarchy, with the early season promotion candidates suffering a woeful run of form that has seen them fail to win their last nine games. Zola had a tremendous relationship with the fans of the club, but having fallen at the final hurdle last season with the play-off final defeat to Crystal Palace, Zola has paid the price as he is on the lookout for a new job.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 16 - Andre Villas-Boas (Tottenham) AVB had been under pressure to get his expensively assembled side firing on all cylinders, but it was the 5-0 home thrashing at the hands of Liverpool (coming within three weeks of the 6-0 defeat at Manchester City) that saw the axe weald for Villas-Boas. Some of their summer signings may not have been his decision, but he has paid the price an inconsistent start to the season.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 14 - Steve Clarke (West Brom) Clarke was relieved of his dutis following the 1-0 loss to Cardiff, although the news shocked many in the footballing world having been labelled a "knee-jerk reaction". A run of four straight defeats spelled the end of Clarke's reign at the Hawthorns, having been in charge since June 2012.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 2 - Owen Coyle (Wigan) Coyle survived less than six months in his role with the FA Cup holders, with a poor run of two wins in seven matches seeing them slip down to 14th in the Championship. Despite Europa League last 32 qualification still possible, the 3-1 defeat to Derby was a step too far, and Coyle left the club by 'mutual agreement'.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 01 - Martin Jol (Fulham) Jol had been under growing pressure for some time, and the 3-0 defeat to West Ham proved to be the final nail in the Dutchman's coffin after he was sacked a day later. Jol took the reins at Craven Cottage in June 2011, but after surviving initial speculation that Shahid Khan's take over would see him replace, a string of five defeats was enough to cost him his job. Head coach Rene Muelensteen has already been announced as Jol's successor.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 December 1 - Dave Jones (Sheffield Wednesday) With just one win all season, Wednesday sacked Jones following the 2-0 defeat at Blackpool - a third straight loss for the Owls. Jones took over at the beginning of March, replacing Gary Megson and leading the Owls to an 18th-place finish. But the poor form shown this season has seen them drop to 23rd and level on points with basement-side Barnsley, which led to Jones' departure.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 November 30 - David Flitcroft (Barnsley) Flitcroft was dismissed shortley after his side's 3-0 home defeat to Birmingham City which left them bottom of the Championship and six points from safety. Just one win in their last 10 games made the dismissal seemingly inevitable, with his first venture into management lasting a month shy of one year after he took over at the end of December last year.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 November 28 - Sean O'Driscoll (Bristol City) O'Driscoll lasted just 10 months in charge of Bristol City - however it was a sorry spell for the west country club. After overseeing their relegation from League One, things didn't improve in League Two with the 56-year-old leaving the club in 22nd place in the table with just two wins in 18 matches. A draw with Leyton Orient was the last straw for the board, who commented: 'The league table doesn't lie'.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 November 27 - Richie Barker (Crawley) Among the younger managers working in the Football League, a run of seven games without victory saw the 38-year-old dismissed. Barker guided Crawley to 10th place in League One last term having taken over in August 2012, but they struggled this season, particularly in terms of finding the back of the net. In those seven games, Crawley scored just one goal.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 November 25 - Guy Whittingham (Portsmouth) With Portsmouth 18th in League Two, Whittingham saw his contract terminated. Appointed a year ago after first taking charge on a temporary basis, the 49-year-old was unable to save the club from relegation following their 10-point deduction. A 2-1 defeat to Scunthorpe was their fourth successive loss and enough for the board to take action.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 November 20 - Brian Laws (Scunthorpe) Laws was in his third spell as manager of Scunthorpe when he was given the boot. It came after they lost 2-1 to local rivals Grimsby in the FA Cup. His latest spell at the club began in October 2012 and saw him and the side relegated into League Two. He left with the club 12th in the table.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 October 27 - Chris Kiwomya (Notts County) Defeat to Preston left Notts Country rooted to the bottom of the League One table and was the 10th defeat in the opening 13 games of the season. The board felt they had to act, despite only handing Kiwomya the reins back in March.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 October 23 - Ian Holloway (Crystal Palace) The second Premier League manager of the season to part ways with his club was Ian Holloway. The Eagles struggled on their return to the Premier League, collecting just three points from their opening eight games. The man who took Palace up via the play-offs the previous season decided he didn't have the energy for a relegation dog fight and left by mutual consent.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 October 21 - Tony Mowbray (Middlesbrough) A slow start to the campaign which wielded just two wins from 12 matches was not good enough for the Boro board, leading to Mowbray becoming the second Championship casualty of the season. The former West Brom manager had been at the Riverside for three years, making him the longest serving manager in the division at the time of his departure.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 October 14 - Kevin Blackwell (Bury) Having been out of management for two years when taking over at Gigg Lane, Blackwell was back out of it just over a year later. Against the backdrop of severe financial issues, the former Leeds and Sheffield United manager was unable to keep Bury in League One. A poor start in League Two, despite making 23 signings over the summer, led the board to act with the club lying fourth from bottom.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 October 13 - Martin Allen (Gillingham) Allen will rightfully feel aggrieved with his sacking. Having guided Gillingham to promotion as champions last season, he was given just 11 games of the League One season to prove he could cut it in the higher division. It was a 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury that led the board to act, although perplexingly, that loss came off the back of two straight wins. Allen lasted 16 months in charge and left the club 17th in the table.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 October 11 - David Weir (Sheffield United) It was unlucky 13 for former Everton defender Weir - as that was the number of matches he lasted at Bramall Lane. The League One side had won just one of their 10 games when the United board decided to act. It brought a swift end to the Scotsman's first managerial job.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 September 28 - Nigel Clough (Derby) Having taken charge at Pride Park in early 2009, Clough was the fourth-longest serving manager in England. But that doesn't count for much when you lose three games in a row, particularly when the last one is against your fiercest rivals, in this case Nottingham Forest. The son of Brian left the Rams 14th in the Championship table.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 September 22 - Paolo Di Canio (Sunderland) Among the favourites for the chop before a ball had even been kicked, it came as little surprise when Di Canio became the first Premier League manager of the season to be given his marching orders. Amid stories of player unrest (in part due to the banning of tomato ketchup in the canteen) and some dreadful results, the Black Cats acted. Brought in following the departure of Martin O'Neill, Di Canio recorded a memorable victory over Newcastle during his time in charge - but will be remembered better for failing to win a game in the first five of the current season and acting like a madman on the touchline.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 September 9 - Greg Abbott (Carlisle) Abbott was the first off in the sack race once the season started, finding his stay with the League One club at an end after a limp start to the season. In the opening six games of the campaign, Carlisle managed just two draws - with a 1-0 defeat to Port Vale ending his spell in charge. The hierarchy at Carlisle can't be accused of being overly trigger happy though, with Abbot the third-longest serving manager in England at the time of his departure.
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The managerial sack race - 2013/14 July 13 - Kevin MacDonald (Swindon) Swindon didn't bother waiting for the season to kick-off, instead choosing to let MacDonald go during pre-season preparations. The former Republic of Ireland assistant had taken over following the departure of Paolo Di Canio and kept Swindon in the League One play-off places, before losing to Brentford in the semi-finals. That was to prove his last competitive match in charge.
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League Cup curse
Five of the last six managers to win the League Cup were sacked before the next final, with Sir Alex Ferguson the only man to escape the chop.
2013 winners: Swansea Michael Laudrup (sacked)
2012 winners: Liverpool Kenny Dalglish (sacked)
2011 winners: Birmingham Alex McLeish (sacked)
2010 winners: Man United Sir Alex Ferguson
2009 winners: Man United Sir Alex Ferguson
2008 winners: Tottenham Juande Ramos (sacked)
2007 winners: Chelsea Jose Mourinho (sacked)
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