Monday Cannon Fodder: sacked

Yesterday was a difficult day to be a Premier League manager — 10% of them lost their jobs. News broke during the West Ham - Southampton match that Brendan Rodgers and Leicester City had reached an agreement to part ways. Later in the day, Graham Potter was shown the door at Chelsea. Those two moves come on the heels of Antonio Conte leaving Tottenham and Patrick Vieira getting his walking papers from Crystal Palace last month.

This season has seen 12 manager sacked, the most of any Premier League season in history.

Managers sacked this season:

Scott Parker, Bournemouth, August 30th - on the heels of a 9-0 mauling by Liverpool
Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea, September 7th - slow start, new owner
Bruno Lage, Wolves, October 2nd - poor form, especially scoring, also Wolves aren’t good
Steven Gerrard, Aston Villa, October 20th - 1 win in 9, roster underperforming
Ralph Hassenhuttl, Southampton, November 6th - 6 losses in 9, also the team isn’t good
Frank Lampard, Everton, January 23rd - 5 losses in 6, relegation threat
Jesse Marsch, Leeds United, February 6th - 7 winless, 2 wins in 17
Nathan Jones, Southampton, Februray 12th - chaotic time in charge, also they’re just bad
Patrick Vieira, Crystal Palace, March 17th - 12 winless, harsh b/c of tough schedule
Antonio Conte, Tottenham, March 26th - was coming, threw players under the bus
Brendan Rodgers, Leicester City, April 2nd - dropped into relegation zone
Graham Potter, Chelsea, April 2nd - 39% winrate, lowest of any club manager this century

On one hand, it makes sense. The PL is the richest league in the world. Clubs want to stay in it at all costs. And changing the manager is one of the most impactful ways a team has of reversing the fortunes of a season gone wrong because in season, you can’t really change the players.

On the other hand, how much of an effect does a new manager really have? If the team stinks or doesn’t fit together, there’s not much a new voice in the room can do. Bringing Big Sam Allardyce in the door isn’t going to turn newly promoted players into stars overnight. Yes, there have been well-documented “great escapes” where a new manager has led a floundering team to safety against the odds. But it’s a numbers game. Three teams go down. If the nine relegation-threatened teams all change managers, three of those mid-season replacements will drop down.

My apologies for the late CF. I’ve been under the weather lately, so I hit the snooze button several times. I’m feeling better and more rested as a result, so I’d say it was worth it.