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EPL SACK RACE – 3 MANAGERS MOST IN DANGER & WHY?
EPL Sack Race – 3 Managers Most In Danger & Why?
As we approach week 8 of the Premier League season, the executioners blade is surely about to fall on one or two unlucky managers.
The start of the 2015/16 campaign has certainly thrown up a few surprises already, Slaven Bilic’s West Ham laying down the gauntlet to just about everyone with stunning wins at Anfield, The Emirates and The Etihad.
The Croatian should count his lucky stars that his team have performed above and beyond away from the confines of Upton Park because the Hammers’ home form has been from the completely opposite end of the spectrum. The sort of performances that could get a manager sacked.
Speaking of which, let’s take a look at three who could begin this year’s merry-go-round…
Dick Advocaat – Sunderland
Before the start of the campaign began, I wrote a column for this blog which went against the grain for many. It was entitled “Why Dick Advocaat is the wrong choice for Sunderland.”
With just two points from their opening games and playing some of the worst football that the division has seen for many a year, there is nothing to suggest that Sunderland are headed anywhere other than the Championship.
West Ham at the Stadium of Light are next for the Dutchman and his side, a team with the best away record in the division.
Advocaat had already let it be known that he needed money to spend over the summer and Ellis Short’s short-sightedness in not providing the same looks to have left the Black Cats in their annual predicament.
Jose Mourinho – Chelsea
A surprise inclusion in this list. Or perhaps not.
The “Special One” is no more. Anyone who has watched Chelsea stumble through their matches this season can see that they are anything but special. Ordinary would be a far better verb.
We may well have seen the last of John Terry if Mourinho’s recent selection policy is anything to go by. The Portuguese had little choice after Terry’s lack of pace was cruelly exposed in the early matches of the season.
If Baba Rahman can get himself up to speed then Branislav Ivanovic’s Blues career could also be over, Cesar Azpilicueta taking up his natural right sided berth with Rahman on the left.
Clearly Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, two of the players who came up big in the title-winning campaign, are well off of the pace and with Pedro struggling too, things aren’t looking too rosy in west London.
Already eight points behind leaders Manchester United, will Roman Abramovich let this slide for too much longer? I don’t think so.
Mark Hughes – Stoke City
Stoke-alona.
So called because of the amount of ex-Barcelona players that Hughes, a former Blaugrana himself, is trying to sign or because the Welshman is trying to introduce a more continental way of playing in the Potteries?
Either way it isn’t working.
A team that have always been admired for their combative approach and for how difficult they are to beat have seen a total reversal in fortunes.
Currently dangling on the precipice, a couple of results going against them could see Stoke rooted to the bottom of the table.
Evidently confidence is at its lowest ebb for some while. How else do you explain why a team that can boast Bojan Krkic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Ibrahim Afellay amongst its ranks is struggling so badly?
Maybe Hughes should’ve perhaps adopted the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” maxim. He won’t win any plaudits for utilising Stoke’s previous approach but it was arguably more successful than the current way of playing.
Honourable mentions in this list should also be given to Tim Sherwood, Brendan Rodgers and Steve McClaren.
All three retain the confidence, for now, of their boards and the latter two have been backed to the hilt by their respective owners. It is that financial outlay which could just buy them some valuable time.
Sherwood’s modus operandi is to be applauded but at this point he doesn’t appear able to deliver on his enthusiastic and wide-ranging pre-season manifesto.
Who’d be a football manager eh?!
