Sport
Who will be next to lose the sack race?
Sacking season in the Premier League is officially underway, with a range of clubs likely to be considering their options in the wake of West Brom snapping up Sam Allardyce to replace Slaven Bilic, who was the first loser of the sack race last week. Unusually, no managers were sacked in the first few months of the season, perhaps due to a lack of fan pressure because of games being played behind closed doors. But with supporters now returning to stadiums, perhaps teams will be wondering if the grass is greener on the other side, especially with the transfer window about to reopen. Who else could be spending the festival season on the dole, along with Bilic?
Contenders to be the second manager to lose the sack race
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
Arsenal’s first game with fans back at Emirates Stadium saw the team booed off after a tepid defeat at home to Burnley, in which Granit Xhaka was sent off for a moment of madness. Xhaka’s lack of indiscipline has been replicated throughout the Arsenal squad this season and there is also a lack of creativity, with top earner Mesut Ozil oddly cast aside by Arteta.
After winning the FA Cup last season and following that up by defeating Liverpool in the Community Shield, Gunners fans had hoped for further progress under Arteta. But the team has gone backwards with captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struggling to make an impact after being handed a lucrative new contract.
Arsenal do not want to get trapped in a cycle of sacking managers every year, but is Arteta performing any better than predecessor Unai Emery? Following another defeat to Everton at the weekend, Arteta is now a genuine contender to lose the sack race.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United)
Another Premier League powerhouse mulling over managerial options this winter can be found at Old Trafford, where a Champions League exit has raised more questions about Solskjaer.
The Norwegian has claimed having a game in hand on the league’s other elite clubs means United are in a false position, but performances indicate that is simply not the case with comebacks often needed to haul them out of trouble after bad starts in games.
United have regularly been rotten with a 6-1 home loss to Tottenham, led by former Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho, one of the club’s worst losses in modern history. Mauricio Pochettino has long been linked with United and the ex-Spurs boss will not be out of work forever. Can United afford to keep faith with Solskjaer for much longer or will he be the next manager to be sacked?
Chris Wilder (Sheffield United)
Having taken Sheffield United from League One to the Premier League, then leading the Blades to a top-half finish last term, speculating on Wilder’s future seems extremely harsh. But the drop-off in performances at the Bramall Lane club has been concerning this season and they prop up the table heading into the busy Christmas schedule.
Sheffield United are even on pace to be the worst ever team in the Premier League era, potentially even failing to match Derby County’s historically low tally of just 11 points. However, if they were to be relegated, which seems certain already, could they bring in anyone more suited to bring them back to the big time than hometown hero Wilder? A spirited draw against Brighton, in which they nearly won the match with ten men, could buy Wilder more time.
Scott Parker (Fulham)
Fulham have improved a lot recently, with big strides made at the back in particular. But they still look a strong bet to be relegated to the Championship, despite signing a whole team’s worth of new players in the summer which means Scott Parker has to be considered a contender in the sack race.
Parker is highly regarded at Craven Cottage but Fulham might decide it is worth the risk of moving on to someone with more Premier League experience in the coming weeks. A desire for stability could see former England midfielder Parker given more time to turn things around, especially as most people expected the play-off winners to go straight back down.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Like with Solskjaer at United, being a club legend will likely earn Lampard more patience than he would get in different circumstances in charge of another team. But the Blues remain worryingly inconsistent despite splashing the cash heavily on recruits including Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz and Edouard Mendy in the last window.
It is not inconceivable that Chelsea could yet muscle their way into the title race but successive losses away to Everton and Wolves showed how much work there is still to do. Lampard’s inexperience counts both for and against him. The Englishman, who is only in his third season as a manager, has plenty of potential. However, a safer pair of hands might be a better bet for Chelsea in the short term.
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