Well, it’s the title of our site after all. The sack race is up there with death and taxes. It’s inevitable that at some point a Premier League manager will be clearing his desk, and it could be sooner than you think.
There’s an open feel to English football this year if the early weeks of the season are any indicator. Maybe Liverpool and Manchester City haven’t got the message yet. Away from what already looks a two-horse title race, however, the Sword of Damocles is hanging over the heads of these Premier League bosses.
Watford slump stirs up a Hornet’s nest
Bookmakers have Javi Gracia as favourite for the axe. From FA Cup finalists – where his Watford side were figuratively battered by compatriot Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in their selfish bid to hoard all the domestic trophies in English football – to bottom of the Premier League, and all in the space of just a few matches albeit over the space of a few months.
Gracia has been stung by the fickle nature of this beast. Going into the first international break of the campaign, Watford are the only Premier League club without a win. It leaves them playing catchup this autumn and the Hornets’ owners aren’t known for their patience.
Not since Malky Mackay has a boss at Vicarage Road had this much time in the post. Gracia is the tenth different Watford manager in just over seven years. With trigger happy owners and bet365 slashing the Hornets to 11/5 for relegation in their Premier League betting, things don’t look good for Gracia.
Plunge on Pochettino seems strange but take note
The “smart money” (whatever that means) has gone on Mauricio Pochettino leaving Tottenham Hotspur. Why? He’s kept hold of Christian Eriksen. The great Dane cast puppy dog eyes at Barcelona and Real Madrid but nothing ever materialised.
Surely, that should make Pochettino and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy happy? A disappointing defeat to Newcastle and letting a two-goal lead slip in the North London derby are hardly grounds for dismissal when you consider he took Tottenham to the Champions League final in June.
Maybe it’s those pesky Real Madrid rumours that won’t go away. Los Blancos haven’t lost yet this season, but two La Liga draws see them off the pace set by city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Is Pochettino even a good fit for the Bernabeu? The more you think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense. Real Madrid are as allergic to developing youngsters as Chelsea were until that transfer embargo forced their hand. How’s that working out for you under Frank Lampard, Roman Abramovich?
United honeymoon well and truly over for Solskjaer
Has the baby-faced assassin shot himself in the foot? It’s actually more a case of friendly fire from Manchester United players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer inherited because he’s got his new signings spot on.
Wales winger Daniel James has proved a revelation since joining from Swansea City. It’s no accident Aaron Wan-Bissaka got a maiden senior England call-up from Gareth Southgate after his £50,000,000 transfer to Old Trafford either.
No Red Devils fan can sleep easily in the theatre of dreams, however, as the team simply aren’t getting the results to match. Wolves were gifted a home draw by “penalty-gate” starring Paul Pogba, Wan-Bissaka’s old club Crystal Palace then somehow left Manchester with three points and United were held at ten-man Southampton.
If the Red Devils keep dropping points, then it only ends one way for Ole. Solskjaer isn’t quite getting sacked in the morning just yet but needs to be winning games against lesser opposition – especially after the way United started by demolishing Chelsea.
