Premier League Managerial Patience Driven by Competitiveness and Costs

Key Quotes

"At that point i think when it gets that toxic the manager has to go sometimes it can be the relationship between the the manager and the owner so when nuno made some comments about his relationship with marinakis at the start of the season the nottingham forest owner and i think after he wasn't even especially critical but i think when you start raising that kind of topic in public like it's pretty obvious what's going to happen down the line so that's the factor as well and i guess the other one is if it just becomes clear that the manager can no longer get anything out of the players"

Jack Pitt-Brooke explains that a manager's position can become untenable due to fan toxicity, a strained relationship with the owner, or a clear inability to elicit performance from the players. He highlights that these factors, when present, strongly indicate an impending departure for the manager.

"I feel like in my experience with covering united you know every united sacking during my time covering the club has been trailed for weeks and months sometimes in advance and so you can feel it coming that's at a club with a lot of media exposure and a lot of media coverage and so it's always choreographed and sort of signal posted or sign posted even in that way but also there've been times when you know the walls have been closing in it feels like that at least and then suddenly they don't"

Mark Critchley describes how, particularly at a high-profile club like Manchester United, managerial changes are often preceded by extensive speculation and a palpable sense of impending doom. He notes that while sometimes predictable, there are also instances where a manager's situation appears dire, only for a sudden shift to occur.

"But generally speaking i would say you do get a sense and when you see a manager lose games i think the key thing you know to you ask what makes a manager's position untenable it's once expectations don't really align with performances or vice versa of almost this don't really align with expectations once there's a gap there between what you thought and what you expected a manager to achieve and what is actually happening out on the pitch usually whatever the scenario is well no matter how many games they've won or lost because expectations can be immensely high but once that gap is there then a manager starts to come under pressure and that's usually the telltale sign"

Mark Critchley identifies a critical indicator of a manager's precarious position: a disconnect between expectations and actual performance. He explains that when this gap emerges, regardless of wins or losses, pressure mounts on the manager, signaling that their job is at risk.

"I think it was probably because of the world cup which happened in november and december of that season it basically i can't remember exactly how long but there was between i think there was about seven weeks maybe between like the premier league season pausing and then it resuming which i think was on boxing day and that meant that if you were a struggling club like normally you might not sack your manager because you think oh well like there'll be no time to train i'll have no time with the players it's just match match match match match we might as well stick with the bloke we've got but in that season you could think well if we sack if we sack him then actually the new bloke will have a pre season effectively or he'll get to work with a lot of players during november and december and therefore it's easier for us to start again"

Jack Pitt-Brooke suggests that the 2022-23 season's record number of managerial sackings was influenced by the World Cup break. He explains that the extended pause provided struggling clubs with an opportunity to implement a new manager and effectively conduct a "pre-season," making mid-season changes more appealing than in a typical continuous schedule.

"My theory on this is that clubs are probably less scared of relegation than they used to be i think because they see that the championship is so weighted in favor of teams in receipt of parachute payments so obviously if you go down to the championship like yeah you make a lot less money than you would do in the premier league but you're really cushioned by parachute payments so if you're first two years you get big chunks of money which means that and like generally speaking i know it's not true this season where coventry who are not in receipt of parachute payments are running away with the championship but generally speaking the teams who get automatically promoted from the championship are teams with parachute payments"

The speaker proposes that clubs may be less fearful of relegation due to the financial cushioning provided by parachute payments in the Championship. These payments, received by relegated Premier League teams for a set period, can help stabilize finances and increase the likelihood of a swift return to the top flight, potentially altering a club's risk assessment regarding relegation.

"The sense that alonso is you know the athletics done a lot of really good reporting really uh which is really worth reading on this but the sense that alonso is trying to dictate to the players in a way that you know carlo ancelotti never did like real madrid is such a unique club and it's seemingly a club where the players are very powerful and the the right type of manager is the manager who says to the players you know you're great players we'll figure out a way together to win this game and that was you know i'm generalizing a bit but i think that's kind of the ancelotti approach or the zidane approach which is obviously you know zidane who's an unbelievably light touch manager was very very successful there whereas alonso's approach seems to be more akin to what we see from the top premier league sides which is very clear ideas about how he wants to go about it very clear tactical plans and that means that the players have to comply with him rather than you know rather than the other way around"

The speaker suggests that Xabi Alonso's managerial style at Real Madrid might be clashing with the club's established culture. They contrast Alonso's more directive, tactical approach, similar to Premier League managers, with the historically successful "player-empowering" styles of Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, implying that Real Madrid's powerful players may resist a manager who demands strict adherence to his plans.