Managing in the Premier League

Managing in the Premier League is a unique job across world soccer. With trigger-happy owners and a league dominated by victory and money, managers find job security scarce in the Premier League.

The Premier League

England is one of the oldest nations to play soccer and had a first division for just over 100 years. In wasn’t until 1992 however that it would be known as the Premier League.

As soccer was becoming more globalized and popular in entertainment, leagues, and teams around the world were doing their best to keep up. In the early 1990s, England rebranded its first division as the Premier League, and instantaneously was one of the powerhouses of the world.

Partly due to their rich history and partly due to fact, they were the biggest and best English-speaking country to play soccer, the Premier League quickly became the place to be for players and managers.

As popularity and viewership rose, the expectations and pressure on the players and coaches rose in sync. Not that it wasn’t common practice before, but as the Premier League entered the 21st century and investors started picking off clubs, managers started to get the sack more often.

An average of 53.8% of Premier League coaches were replaced per season from 1996 to 2015.

Biggest Names

Some of the best and most accomplished coaches lost their jobs at Premier League clubs for not winning each and every single week. 

Despite revolutionizing the club in his first stint, Chelsea sacked Jose Mourinho in 2015 during his second stint. He took over the post at Manchester United where he was sacked in late 2018. After a year away from the hot seat he was hired by Tottenham Hotspurs, only to be let go midway through his second season. Mourinho has also managed FC Porto, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid, but left all three clubs mutually and was not fired.

Manchester United is a club that is still synonymous with trophies. Sir Alex Ferguson was their manager when the Premier League began and only left in 2013. Since then, however, it has been a revolving door of big-name managers.

David Moyes was the head coach for just under a full season taking over from Ferguson. Following Moyes, Dutchman Luis Van Gaal lasted only two years at Old Trafford as mentioned above Mourinho’s time was cut short as well. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took the wheel and all looked steady for the moment until United called it quits on him as well in late 2021.

Mauricio Pochettino managed a second-place finish and a Champions League final appearance in only four years with Spurs. Tottenham sacked him due to poor results early into his fifth season, just months after the Champions League final.

Chelsea let Antonio Conte go in the summer of 2018, and his successor Maurizio Sarri only lasted a year.

The Present

This year already Chelsea has gone through two managers and is currently under a caretaker manager. Aston Villa, Everton, Crystal Palace, Leeds, and countless others have also fired their managers during this campaign. 

From the 20 managers that started the Premier League season, only eight currently remain.  Currently, the average length for a manager to keep his job in the Premier League is two years and four days, compared to almost four years back in 2012.

The Premier League recently inducted Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger into their Hall of Fame. Ferguson managed Manchester United for 26 years and Wenger was in charge of Arsenal for 22 years. Fans have been speculating that their induction is in part a stunt by the league to try and entice managers to keep coming to England, despite having little to no job security. 

A constant merry-go-round of managers can be detrimental at almost every stage of a club. You have to pay out your current manager’s contract before signing a new manager, which sometimes comes with a fee as well. This season so far Chelsea have paid off Thomas Tuchel, signed Graham Potter for a fee from brighton, paid off Potter, and now are seeking a new manager.

It is also increasingly hard to build and keep momentum with this business model. Sticking with Chelsea, N’golo Kante has spent most of the season out with an injury, and has only played three home games this season. Each of those games has come under a new manager, which cannot be an easy adjustment for players.

The Fallout

Despite being the ‘biggest and best’ league in the world, the Premier League may start to fail to attract top managerial talents. With higher job security elsewhere, England could start to lose ground on finding and keeping tactical geniuses.

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