Football in England in particular shows very little loyalty to managers and it is widely anticipated that a manager will stay at a club for no more than a couple of years at a time, even less in some cases. This is why one of the hottest debates of the pre-season, at least between me and my buddy Shane Kersh, is who will be out the door first. Owners get pretty trigger happy when their teams are playing because they want instant success, failing to give managers the chance to actually build something. Shane and I pretty much agree on the top choices for the sack race, have a look and see if you agree.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Surprisingly Solskjaer isn’t a bookies favorite for losing his job first but both Shane and I agree that the pressure will be on the Norwegian from the get-go. Solskjaer has a poor track record as manager of Cardiff and Molde, two teams which are poles away from this Manchester United team, and we think that he’ll get found out. Last year he was given the ‘new manager bump’ from the players, but as the real job began 10 games later, the cracks started to show. Ole has been backed heavily in the transfer window and whist they have bought well, Shane and I doubt his raw abilities as a manger and expect him to be out.
Marco Silva
Shane is a long suffering Everton fan who didn’t like the hiring of Silva in the first place, let alone how the board have gone about backing him. Silva showed talent at Hull which got him a move to Watford, he hardly had time to take his first training session there when Everton came knocking. Unfortunately however Silva doesn’t appear to know how to spend money or recruit well, Everton should be knocking on the door for a top 6 finish but they look miles away. Shane concedes that Everton have a great starting run of fixtures, which is why Silva will be out if he fails to hit the ground running.
Graham Potter
Personally I felt that David Wilder would be more at risk than Graham Potter but Shane and I have debated this at length and he has convinced me that the Brighton boss could be the first out of the door. Brighton were only held together last season by the defense tactics and man-management of Chris Hughton, which is why it was sad to see him go at the end of the season. Potter isn’t made in the same way as Hughton and this isn’t a team which can approach games any differently than looking for a clean sheet and a chance or two at the other end. Brighton are a team who we have tipped to go down this season, and the Brighton board will swing the axe as soon as they see their team struggling.
