Barely three weeks until the start of the new Premier League season, somehow, so probably only about five weeks from the first manager to officially enter crisis mode and have three games to save his job. Last season was a quiet one for manager departures, with by far the biggest one of the lot only happening at the very end of the campaign after a six-month farewell tour. But it did prompt a fair bit of early summer managergeddon and does mean quite a few new or returning faces among the 20 men in the race none of them want to win.
All hail the return of the Premier League Sack Race. Here’s a rundown of who’s likeliest to be packing their bags first and who can, for now, luxuriate in relative safety and security. 1) Eddie Howe While he’s not entirely immune from the sack – particularly with Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi no longer around – clearly Howe’s current position as favourite has a lot less to do with the chance of him being sacked and a great deal to do with the fact he’s among the frontrunners for another job.
The England job . A useful early reminder that while we all nickname it the Sack Race, its official name is ‘Next Premier League Manager to Leave’ and that’s not quite the same thing. 2) Andoni Iraola Hmm.
We understood Howe being favourite even though he isn’t really, but we’re not quite sure what’s going on here to be honest. Iraola’s Bournemouth ended the season in perfectly solid mid-table territory with plenty of signs .