After an unprecedentedly long time before this season’s first Premier League sacking culminated in the Argentine boss Mauricio Pochettino being shown the exit door at Tottenham, everyone’s asking themselves the same question: Who will be next?
With Christmas fast approaching, Premier League fans have usually seen a spattering of high-profile sackings already as England’s top division grows more ruthless each and every year. A number of managers spent big in the summer, including Everton’s Marco Silva and Arsenal’s Unai Emery, but fans have been left scratching their heads as they remain in a job whilst Pochettino, who took Spurs to a Champions League final just six months ago.
We take a look at the odds on the next manager to go – managers that are currently under pressure to perform, and could potentially see the end of their tenure before Santa arrives, unless results improve:
Unai Emery – 1/3
Arsenal’s signing of Nicolas Pepe looked to be a shrewd signing of an in-form goal scorer who was heavily linked with a number of big teams. Alongside their current forward options of Alexander Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal looked set to be a huge goal scoring threat. Instead, frailties at the back and an inability to get the three attacking players working together, coupled with poor manager/player relationships and constant starting-11 tinkering has soured Emery’s time in the capital and Gooners are quickly losing patience with the Spaniard.
Marco Silva – 7/2
Word on the street is Everton bosses are currently in talk over a potential replacement for their current manager who is currently overseeing his side drop slowly down the table. With a hectic Christmas schedule where they must play Leicester, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, in that order, they could find themselves in a relegation battle before the season is halfway through. Everton were tipped as a team to start battling for top five after investing heavily in their squad over the past few seasons but Marco Silva’s lack of organisation and inability to get the best out of key players could very well see him out of a job sooner rather than later.
Manuel Pellegrini – 9/2
The Premier League winning manager has seen his role as Hammers boss teeter on the edge lately as West Ham have been limping through some poor defeats and currently sit just one place above the relegation zone. Their last Premier League victory came on the 22nd September, at home to Manchester United in a 2-0 triumph. Since then West Ham have been beaten by four goals by Oxford United in the Carabao Cup as well as further defeats to Everton, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Burnley.