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Premier League Sack Race Tips
Julen Lopetegui didn't give favourite backers long to wait to land ‘Sack Race’ honours last season, heading out of the Molineux car park three days before the season had even started.
Lopetegui had been a warm order in the summer heat, refusing to hide his dissatisfaction at what he saw was a lack of ambition from the Wolves owners, and a parting of the ways always looked inevitable.
The Spaniard was the first of just four Premier League managers to leave their posts in 2023-24, Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom copping in a hastily redrawn ‘Next Manager to Leave’ market by getting sacked in December.
A few weeks later Steve Cooper was also axed by Nottingham Forest, before Roy Hodgson was replaced by Oliver Glasner at Crystal Palace in February.
Poor starts will test owners’ patience
Betting on the first manager to be relieved of his duties has always been a relatively popular market, an oddity when you consider the number of unknowns that are wrapped up in it.
Sure, a team's predicted form will be uppermost in anyone's thinking ahead of a selection, but there is so much that goes on behind the scenes between boards and managers which we aren't privy to, never mind other jobs becoming available elsewhere which may change the landscape.
So without having Watford to rely on - the Hornets have provided the Sack Race winner in two of the past five seasons with Javi Gracia and Xisco Munoz - which club is going to blink first?
Lopetegui is back in the Premier League to have another go with West Ham, one of five clubs who have appointed new managers over the summer.
You would imagine those five bosses, including Arne Slot at Liverpool, would avoid too many shortlists though doubtless much the same was said when Frank de Boer was given the Crystal Palace job at the start of the 2017-18 campaign - he lasted only four matches.
Before we completely exempt the new summer intake, remember one of them is Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, who are on their fifth manager - interim boss Frank Lampard included - in under two years.
Chelsea have confused many a football fan with some of their decision making over managers since Todd Boehly took control of the club, but it's hard to believe that even they won't give Maresca a decent chance.
The club he left behind, Leicester, are favourites for relegation but they have their own new boss in the dugout in Steve Cooper, a man who built a decent reputation at Nottingham Forest.
Ipswich are also odds-on to be relegated though Kieran McKenna has far too much credit in the bank to seriously be considered. Tractor Boys fans will tell you that if McKenna doesn't go of his own volition - and he has been courted - then he doesn't go at all.
Southampton, the other promoted club, boast a more fickle relationship between manager and fans, and Russell Martin has had his critics despite winning the club promotion. A good transfer window and promising start are crucial for Martin and the Saints, to see him move away from the conversation about a possible early departure.
Ten Hag needs to prove doubters wrong
There are plenty of others who are also being talked about, especially Sean Dyche at Everton where any completed takeover will immediately put the manager under the microscope.
The same occurred at Old Trafford where new majority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe was instantly under pressure to oust Erik ten Hag, but has instead put a show of faith in him with a contract extension after their FA Cup final triumph.
But how indifferent does a start of a season need to be before the same questions over the Dutchman's future rise again?
Nor would it take too many backward steps at places like Fulham, Bournemouth or Wolves for the likes of Marco Silva, Andoni Iraola and Gary O'Neil respectively to start tumbling in the betting, and even though Nuno Espirito Santo hasn't been at the City Ground long, Forest are being priced up for a season of struggle.
Pressure on managers to perform has arguably never been greater given the riches being played for in the Premier League and, because of that, twitchy boards seem to act with greater haste than ever if results don't go right.
No doubt the 2024-25 season will see a healthy turnover of bosses and maybe, like last season, the first domino will fall early. Picking who it will be is the challenge.