Just over half a dozen games in and the Premier League is beginning to take shape. There have already been some heavyweight clashes with the newly oil rich Man City upsetting Big 4 stalwarts Arsenal while Spurs’ flying start was kept in check by Manchester United and Chelsea. With the electric Fernando Torres leading the line Liverpool have steadied the ship after a nervy start and last year’s pretenders, Aston Villa, have picked up useful points despite not fully hitting top form yet.
At the wrong end of the table things are looking far less rosy for a number of teams. It is about this time that chairmen begin to get itchy trigger fingers and there will be a number of managers who are enduring one or two sleepless nights at the moment.
This time last year both Alan Curbishley and Kevin Keegan had resigned from West Ham and Newcastle respectively while Juande Ramos was less than a month away from getting the chop at Tottenham. In that sense it has been a fairly sedate start to managerial proceedings in the top flight. However, with points being dropped and every game being as crucial as the next it won’t be long before an axe is wielded in earnest.
Current bookies favourite to win the sack race is Paul Hart. Statistically Hart has overseen the worst start to a top flight season ever. 7 defeats from 7 has thrust the spotlight on the softly spoken former Leeds man but while his team languish 4 points adrift at the foot of the table there seems to be a groundswell of support following the recent turmoil that Pompey have endured. With a whole raft of quality players shipped out since he took over from the hapless Tony Adams, Hart has done well to put together any sort of side. Recent performances against Villa and Everton suggest that a first point or even victory might not be too far away but time is not on Hart’s side.
One rung above Hart in the table is headset fan and tanning salon favourite Phil Brown. A revelation in the first half of last season Brown has overseen a downturn in fortunes of almost biblical proportions since he publically castigated his troops on the Eastland’s pitch at half time last December. Rumours of dressing room unrest allied to Brown’s habit of continually berating his players in the media paint an unhappy picture at the KC stadium. Throw in the sale of his best defender to Premiership rivals Sunderland and it might not be too long before the Tigers go in search of fresh blood.
Alongside Hart and Brown in the sack race sits Championship doyen/Premier League deadbeat Mick McCarthy, bumbling along nicely at Wolves. If ever a man were suited to a level it seems that it is he with Championship football. Not satisfied with bringing Sunderland up a few years back with a record points haul he followed that by making Wolves into second tier champions as well. However, once in the top division he seems to freeze like a gruff Northern rabbit in the headlights as his players flail helplessly while the goals fly in around them. With last years stars Sylvain Ebanks Blake and Michael Kightly in the squad there is always hope but with the big man at the helm it could be that a McCarthy-style witch hunt might be Wolves best chance of survival.
Of the other candidates, Owen Coyle must feel relatively untouchable at pre-season drop favourites Burnley. An inspired victory over Man United was followed by a solid win against Everton. Home form will be crucial if Coyle is to have a successful first year as a Premiership manager but if early indications are anything to go by he will adapt nicely. Alex McCleish’s squad at Birmingham and Gary Megson’s at Bolton look awfully thin on quality and they will struggle on their travels. West Ham’s early form will be a slight concern to Gianfranco Zola but there is enough talent within the squad to pick up points and climb the table. Sam Allardyce has crafted a squad in his burly image at Blackburn and while they won’t play very attractive football they should bully enough physically smaller teams to stick around for another year. And while Roy Hodgson at Fulham has not started too brightly, he has bags of experience that will come in to play should Fulham continue to occupy a spot near the wrong end of the table.
So the race is on to become the first managerial casualty of the Premier League season. While it doesn’t quite engender the same thrill of a neck and neck title chase it should be remembered that with any casualty a fresh replacement comes into the fold. And with such past visionaries as the aforementioned Adams stepping up to (and then down from) the plate, surly that’s something to get excited about? And if that’s not enough then a mere mention of one of the names mooted to be in line to replace Hart should get the blood pumping – the one and only David O’Leary. Bring on the axe!
