It's that time of the year when managers of struggling teams start getting a bit nervous about their immediate future. These fears are not unfounded as witnessed last weekend when two Premier League gaffers were axed on the same day.
The departure of Russel Martin at Southampton came as no surprise with his team cast adrift at the bottom of the table after a series of poor performances. They particularly suffered from the manager's insistence on "playing out from the back" and not having the players capable of doing it.
With just one win, two draws and 13 defeats the Saints look to be beyond redemption. The humiliating 5-0 home defeat to Tottenham was the last straw for the Southampton owners.
The other casualty, Gary O'Neil at Wolverhampton Wanderers, was more contentious as owner Jeff Shi had publicly given O'Neil his "full support" only two days before. O'Neil was popular with some Wolves fans who thought he could turn it around despite the team being second from bottom, three points below Ipswich.
There had been a growing lack of discipline amongst the Wolves players after recent defeats. Following the loss to Ipswich there were ugly scenes and Matheus Cunha has since been charged with misconduct by the Football Association. It doesn't help that Cunha is one of the team's best players. Only the week before Mario Lemina was stripped of the Wolves captaincy after grappling with West Ham's Jarrod Bowen.
It will be interesting to see whether new manager Vitor Pereria can sort things out at Molineux.
The departure of Martin and O'Neil means four Premier League managers have been sacked this season, earlier casualties being Steve Cooper leaving Leicester City and Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
So who's next for the axe?
Although they are third from bottom, Ipswich have turned in some decent performances and are unlikely to dispose of young manager Kieran McKenna who is also popular with fans.
The bookmakers pf course have their own view on potential managerial casualties and believe West Ham's Julen Lopetegui will be the next to go. Many thought he might have gone already but recent results have shown some improvement and he should be okay for a while.
Next on the bookies' list is Ange Postecoglou whose Tottenham side lurch from being really entertaining to quite awful. As long as Spurs continue to score goals, the Australian should be okay.
Third on the bookies list of managers tipped to part with their club is a name you would never imagined to be there, Pep Guardiola. He won't be sacked but there is a chance he might decide that it is better if someone else takes over the reins. Manchester City's unexpected woes have been well documented with even Guardiola questioning his own ability, saying "I'm not good enough." He's simply not used to losing.
Last week's dramatic derby loss to United highlights Pep's problems. In a rather dull game City were controlling things with a 1-0 lead and just a few minutes to go for a welcome three points. Then City fullback Matheus Nunes sends a terrible back pass to the goalie and loses his head with a ridiculous foul on Amad Diallo to give away a needless penalty. Within two minutes United were 2-1 up with Diallo exploiting huge gaps in the City defence to score the winner.
No manager can do anything about that.
The departure of Russel Martin at Southampton came as no surprise with his team cast adrift at the bottom of the table after a series of poor performances. They particularly suffered from the manager's insistence on "playing out from the back" and not having the players capable of doing it.
With just one win, two draws and 13 defeats the Saints look to be beyond redemption. The humiliating 5-0 home defeat to Tottenham was the last straw for the Southampton owners.
The other casualty, Gary O'Neil at Wolverhampton Wanderers, was more contentious as owner Jeff Shi had publicly given O'Neil his "full support" only two days before. O'Neil was popular with some Wolves fans who thought he could turn it around despite the team being second from bottom, three points below Ipswich.
There had been a growing lack of discipline amongst the Wolves players after recent defeats. Following the loss to Ipswich there were ugly scenes and Matheus Cunha has since been charged with misconduct by the Football Association. It doesn't help that Cunha is one of the team's best players. Only the week before Mario Lemina was stripped of the Wolves captaincy after grappling with West Ham's Jarrod Bowen.
It will be interesting to see whether new manager Vitor Pereria can sort things out at Molineux.
The departure of Martin and O'Neil means four Premier League managers have been sacked this season, earlier casualties being Steve Cooper leaving Leicester City and Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
So who's next for the axe?
Although they are third from bottom, Ipswich have turned in some decent performances and are unlikely to dispose of young manager Kieran McKenna who is also popular with fans.
The bookmakers pf course have their own view on potential managerial casualties and believe West Ham's Julen Lopetegui will be the next to go. Many thought he might have gone already but recent results have shown some improvement and he should be okay for a while.
Next on the bookies' list is Ange Postecoglou whose Tottenham side lurch from being really entertaining to quite awful. As long as Spurs continue to score goals, the Australian should be okay.
Third on the bookies list of managers tipped to part with their club is a name you would never imagined to be there, Pep Guardiola. He won't be sacked but there is a chance he might decide that it is better if someone else takes over the reins. Manchester City's unexpected woes have been well documented with even Guardiola questioning his own ability, saying "I'm not good enough." He's simply not used to losing.
Last week's dramatic derby loss to United highlights Pep's problems. In a rather dull game City were controlling things with a 1-0 lead and just a few minutes to go for a welcome three points. Then City fullback Matheus Nunes sends a terrible back pass to the goalie and loses his head with a ridiculous foul on Amad Diallo to give away a needless penalty. Within two minutes United were 2-1 up with Diallo exploiting huge gaps in the City defence to score the winner.
No manager can do anything about that.
