With another Premier League season on the horizon, one question that inevitably rears its head is which Premier League manager will be for the chop first?

Arguably Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert is only still at the club due to Randy Lerner putting the club up for sale. All the talk at the start of the year of a new contract for Lambert has long evaporated and after two lacklustre seasons, that have each recorded a record number of home defeats in the club’s history, Lambert has the worst Premier League record of any Villa manager.

Technically, if the club is sold Lambert could go as soon as, if the new owner has a new manager in mind. Also, Villa’s tough September fixture list could have the temperature turned up on the Villa boss early doors, if results go against him. Interestingly though, Lambert isn’t the favourite for the axe to drop first.

 

Premier League Sack Race

 

Premier League Sack Race 2014/15

 

Currently, Lambert lies joint-third with Harry Rednapp to be the first manager to lose their job this season.

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is clear  favourite mainly due to his lack of rapport with the Hammer’s fans. West Ham have always advocated playing football the right way and Big Sam’s functional direct game has the fans booing him even if his team ends 90 minutes with points in the bag.  The West Ham board though will have his back as long as the results come in, so I don’t think there’s much value to be had at those odds.

West Brom’s new manager Alan Irvine for me should have the shortest odds. The Baggies were a tad shaky last season and nothing cries ‘easy to sack’ than a 12-month rolling contract that Irvine finds himself on. The former Everton’s academy manager is celebrated for being a decent coach and for his knowledge of the game from the grassroots up, but those qualities are suited for the long-term. It remains to be seen if he can do enough to convince the Albion fans and get them on side. The sacking of Steve Clarke increasingly looks a mistake.

With the Southampton team needing to start from scratch, I don’t see Ronald Koeman as safe as 18/1. The Saints will be approaching the season pretty much as a newly-promoted team with a need to add quality pronto after being asset stripped by Liverpool another big teams.

Alan Pardew has made some decent enough purchases in the close season to make Newcastle competitive. The MOMS favourite at decent odds to be the first manager to get the boot is Swansea’s Gary Monk at 14/1. Swansea seemed a team on the slide last season. Yes, the Europa League bogged them down, but this season will be a serious test for 35-year-old Monk, as his managerial credentials are tested across a whole season for the first time.

 

8 COMMENTS

  1. If anyone feels humiliated after last nights loss perhaps they need to find a new life ! After all the match for Villa was all about checking out which of the youngsters is ready for the big time & which need to go out on loan . As for the Spirietes well it looked as if they were getting a kick out of kicking a few Villa youngsters

    • I’ve probably been a follower of AVFC lot longer than you’ve had hot breakfasts but what does that have to do with why seem to want to beleive any & all of the crap printed in papoers & posted on the web painting the club in a bad light . So why is that ? could it be that you have a vested interest in seeing the club fail ? As despite all the mutterings about supporting the club I see very little that supports that idea , as after all supporting a club means win or lose , The season has not yet started & here you are denigrating the clubs efforts to improve

      Incidentally did you watch last nights match as it seems that you are just commenting on the comments about the match and not on the match it self ???

      • Ah yes the memories but did you watch last nights match ? I did !

        And even if the Spirietes & the press treat it as a real match it seemed more like a real preseason match where Villa took the oportunity to give players the chance to prove them selves or not as the case might be against real opposition.
        The scoreline flattered the oposition , but they do need some credit for taking their chances when Villa wasted theirs , but that is the nature of the game when the starting lineup included 7 -from the U21’s
        But then giving the youngsters their chancs could be the sign of a good manager making the most of preseason to judge the squad & where it needs strengthening , which players are not good enough & those who need to go out on loan to gain more experience

        • Colin, well said, and I admire your tenaciousness, I find I give up with Mr Jones after a very short time. Will address the excuses first, as I am not sure how some 19 year old kid would feel if he woke up this morning with his boss saying he wasn’t good enough for Villa, Paul Lambert could just be protecting the team.

          I didn’t see the game, shame as I think it would have been more entertaining than the ones I wasted two nights sleep on. From the lineup it seemed to me Guzan was getting match practice, Delph was given some leadership time, and the rest was as already stated succintly by Colin a review of mainly kids. Hope there were at least promising signs.

  2. Think I would bet on the safe money, when your boss favorites a tweet calling for your sack it can’t be a good sign. As for Lambert as others have already said he should be ok until the new owners are found. However he may be given a shot even when that happens.

    He was one of the promising new managers in the Prem, don’t think he’s lost his touch. He’s been shackled by wage restrictions and the inability to get rid of big earners, and yes his policy of buying youth doesn’t pay off everytime. We didn’t lose a fortune on bowery, and others are getting loans to sort themselves out. Hoolahan and Holt are unforgivable, but even Holt helped get us some points. Haven’t really seen Kozak or Okore. A lot of the others looked promising but faded, so maybe they’ll swing back. Looks like he’s bringing Grealish into the fold, will be interesting to see if he is the first youth product to really shine this season. I have moaned about who he’s brought in, but I understand the logic and the 0 cost restriction. Done well with Keane’s help to get who he has. I still think Senderos is slow and Cole has glass everything though. So from a business view he’s stayed in budget, and even better taken all the press. He gave the message people wouldn’t play again because of cost, not the CEO, then he took those same words back. Again silence from PF, though think he was off to Brazil. Other occasions he’s protected Randy Lerner, specifically from accusations of non attendance. So Lambert has been astute politically and is still astute football wise, I think end of next season we could find ourselves trying to hold on to him.

    I hope he gets a shot with some cash and a big investment in a scouting system overhaul.

    • On another thread I posted why I think the Manager should be in charge of what he needs and the CEO should be the only one to say no based on the strategic direction of the club and business. However I am glad we agree on scouting investment, they’ve done a good job in Holland with Benteke and Bacuna, maybe we just need more like them not a complete overhaul as I earlier suggested.

  3. records are made to be broken! As for being trusted to take the club forward do you mean forward to relegation or to success in the relegation battle, as certainly Lambert has won all of those competitions whilest at Villa, despite the odds stacked against him . And the only battle he seems to have lost is the one against the doom & gloom merchants who do seem todelight in finding cause to belittle our once mighty club !
    As for what new owners might want to do that remains to be seen but all this topic seems to do is generate funds for the bookies !

    • And where is the proof that Lambert does not know how to spend money wisely ? Seems to me that those who make such comments would have willingly spent the club into oblivion . Of course there have been some bad buys . Bowery for instance seemed to have been a panic buy as even the Spireites were suprised when we bought him , but as a ?? backup for Benteke he semed to fit the mould & Kozak had not come into the frame . The much maligned Tonev was bought on the reccomendation of Petrov his International team captain & may yet come into contention just as his mentor did . As for instant sucess those who call for that are barking up the wrong tree , but maybe just maybe Villa will have a better season in 2014/15 and remain fighting for a place in the upper half of the table instead of suffering a slide into the battle in the lower half as they did last season , And that will not take the millions some clamour to be spent

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