Ranking Every Premier League Manager by How Likely They Are to be Sacked

As we take stock of the current Premier League table, it’s clear that the managerial merry-go-round is not far away from spinning again. While some clubs have started the season with solid performances and seem to have their hierarchical structures firmly in place, the unforgiving nature of top-flight football ensures that not every manager will see out the campaign unscathed.

In this results-driven business, the margin for error is razor-thin. Erik ten Hag, who narrowly avoided becoming the final managerial casualty after Manchester United’s disastrous 2023-24 season, knows this all too well as he became the first boss dismissed this campaign. Meanwhile, new arrivals like Arne Slot at Liverpool and Enzo Maresca at Chelsea may still have the luxury of time to shape their squads, but others may soon find themselves under intense scrutiny to turn things around.

Here, we explore the precarious world of Premier League management, assessing each manager’s likelihood of facing the sack this season. From those navigating the treacherous waters of relegation battles to those leading title-chasing sides, GIVEMESPORT examines the factors that could impact managerial job security – from team performance trends and the patience of the boardroom to the constant glare of media attention.

Read on to find out which managers are sitting comfortably in their positions and which ones might need to keep a wary eye on the shadows of potential successors.

Ranking factors

• Overall performance in the Premier League.
• Overall performance in external competitions including the FA Cup, League Cup and the Champions League.
• Recent form.
• Expectations of the club’s hierarchy.
• Manager’s legacy within the club.
• Fan feeling towards the manager.

20 Pep Guardiola, Manchester City

Last season’s league finish: 1st

Rankings usually don’t come much easier than this one. After all, having won the Premier League for a record-breaking fourth consecutive time last season, it would be quite remarkable if Pep Guardiola was under any sort of pressure in his position. This security is then only further tightened by the fact his contract runs out in 2025. So, in the worst possible scenario, Manchester City will wait until then to make a change.

Just nine games into the season, City are the only unbeaten team left in the Premier League and once again find themselves sitting top of the table. Winning just seems to come easy to Guardiola and it’s unfathomable that the club would even think of replacing him.

19 Ruben Amorim, Manchester United

Last season’s league finish: 8th

Considering he’s only just been appointed manager of Manchester United, and is yet to take charge of a single match, it’s extremely unlikely that Ruben Amorim will be the next coach sacked. He’s arriving at Old Trafford with plenty of promise and the Red Devils will be hoping they’ve finally found the man to lead them in the right direction.

Considering Guardiola’s legacy at City, it’s still probably more likely that Amorim will be dismissed before him, but he’s got to be ranked above everyone else as things stand. How quickly he may fall down this list depends on how his start to life in England gets underway, though.

18 Arne Slot, Liverpool

Last season’s league finish: 3rd

If there’s any team in world football that stands by the ethos that managers need time, it’s Liverpool. In many cases, Anfield’s helmsman is revered, cherished, and held in higher regard than the players. It’s a rare club tradition, but one that stretches as far back as the pre-Shankly years with Jurgen Klopp’s tenure the perfect encapsulation of such a notion.

Because of this, Arne Slot should feel pretty safe on Merseyside, but going off the start to life he’s enjoyed at Anfield, he shouldn’t be worried anyway. A dominant display against Manchester United in their third game of the season made it three wins from three for Liverpool’s new head coach. A surprising loss to Nottingham Forest halted that momentum, but there are still plenty of promising signs at Anfield, as they then wracked up a number of key victories to place themselves firmly in the title race. Currently occupying first place in the table, it’s hard to imagine his job will be in danger anytime soon.

17 Unai Emery, Aston Villa

Last season’s league finish: 4th

The former Arsenal coach didn’t enjoy a great time in England while in north London but has managed to rejuvenate his Premier League reputation with a fantastic spell at Aston Villa so far. Indeed, Unai Emery has taken the Villans back into Europe – where he has a formidable record – and built an exciting team. With the likes of Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey now darting about in attack, big things were expected of Villa in 2023/24, and they’re certainly living up to expectations.

Barring a loss to his former side Arsenal, the Villans have made an excellent start to 2024/25, too. Midweek Champions League football could prove to be a challenge for Emery’s squad, but now that they’re back in the big time, the Spaniard’s job is incredibly secure – especially since they’ve also won their first three games in the Champions League, including a historic 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich.

16 Mikel Arteta, Arsenal

Last season’s league finish: 2nd

While it wasn’t quite a faultless season, Arsenal still managed to finish second again last term as they look ever closer to inching towards their first Premier League title since 2004. Declan Rice enjoyed a superb maiden campaign at the Emirates and is already being earmarked for a future leadership role, according to journalist Dean Jones.

This season has seen the club take a noticeable step back, though, and they’ve already dropped a handful of points. They’ve lost ground on City and Liverpool in the title race and fans have begun to voice their frustrations about the gaffer. Still, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be let go anytime soon.

15 Nuno Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest

Last season’s league finish: 17th

While he was in charge, Steve Cooper achieved some pretty remarkable things with Nottingham Forest. After all, he helped the club shock the Championship with promotion and then kept them up in their first season back in the top flight. What’s more, he did so while handling a destabilising influx of new signings.

But that is in the past and owner Evangelos Marinakis is more worried about the present and the future. And so, with Forest losing five games out of six, Cooper was sacked and replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo.

Although there were points when relegation looked inevitable for Forest, the Garibaldi bounced back to survive by the skin of their teeth in 2023/24. Nuno has been heavily backed in the transfer market this term, and it’s been reflected in their excellent start to the season. The club is occupying a Champions League spot after a third of the campaign. Incredible stuff from the former Wolves coach.

14 Fabian Hurzeler, Brighton and Hove Albion

Last season’s league finish: 11th

Replacing Roberto De Zerbi was no easy task. However, this was exactly what was said about Graham Potter, too. And with Brighton’s unending production line of special players, along with enigmatic managers who know exactly how to get the best from them, it’s safe to predict it’s already proved to be a rinse-and-repeat situation with the arrival of former St Pauli boss, Fabian Hurzeler.

Brighton’s streamlined operation can be evidenced by last season’s success. Despite losing key midfield personnel in Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister, the Brighton production line continued to develop top talent. An unbeaten start to the season in the Seagulls’ opening five fixtures, until falling at the hands of Chelsea and Cole Palmer’s four-goal haul, already indicates their new head coach is doing a fine job.

They’ve lost just once since, falling at the hands of Liverpool. Still, they find themselves sitting seventh, just two points away from the Champions League places. It’s been a blinding start for Hurzeler.

13 Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth

Last season’s league finish: 12th

It came as a bit of a shock when Gary O’Neil was sacked and former Rayo Vallecano chief Andoni Iraola was handed the Bournemouth job last summer. However, that surprise appointment suggested that he’d be backed by the Cherries – and that’s just how it played out. Following a mixed start to life in England, the Spaniard was under pressure, but he has turned things around brilliantly.

His side’s 3-0 win at Old Trafford was truly special, and after Jamie Carragher predicted Iraola to be the surprise of the season on Monday Night Football at the start of the 2023/24 campaign, we’re starting to see why he made such a big call. The Cherries accumulated their biggest-ever points tally in the Premier League and, despite struggling early this season, they’ve found their feet once again. An incredible victory over Manchester City, their first ever, underlines the impeccable job that the manager is doing.

12 Marco Silva, Fulham

Last season’s league finish: 13th

While Marco Silva did a fine job in keeping Fulham up two terms ago, it was suspected that he may well find the task a little more complicated last season, especially after losing star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who scored 14 goals out of Fulham’s 55. The club’s manager appeared to be pretty frustrated on the touchline in the early stages of the season, and three losses in five Premier League games made for grim reading at one point.

He’s managed to turn things around though, and once again has the credit in the bank to lead the Cottagers forward after a serviceable opening nine games this time around that has seen a trio of brilliant wins, three draws and three losses added to their record.

11 Enzo Maresca, Chelsea

Last season’s league finish: 6th

With Chelsea’s track record of impatient higher-ups, you just never know. After Roman Abramovich spent his time at Stamford Bridge hiring and firing managers like it was going out of fashion, many would have expected less drama under Todd Boehly. Instead, it’s been more of the same. Beyond the billions of pounds spent on new transfers, the Blues also saw Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, and Frank Lampard all come and go during the 2022/23 campaign, before Mauricio Pochettino failed to make sense of it all and departed after just 12 months at Stamford Bridge.

Last time out, it was a season of inconsistency at the club, and the baton is now passed to Enzo Maresca. The former Leicester City boss has already had to deal with off-field tempests amid Argentina’s racism row, which saw Enzo Fernandez in the firing line for singing derogatory lyrics against French players with African Heritage. That said, so far so good is the notion in west London, as recent performances are finally starting to show that money can buy happiness.

10 Thomas Frank, Brentford

Last season’s league finish: 16th

As the man to have led Brentford up into the Premier League for the first time in their history, Thomas Frank has an awful lot of good faith in the bank among the G-tech Community Stadium faithful. After finishing 13th in their debut campaign, the Bees managed to beat any fears of second-season syndrome with a ninth-placed finish in 2022/23.

Even without star striker Ivan Toney, Frank’s side managed to avoid the drop in 2023/24, but the Bees now face a tougher challenge after Toney’s permanent exit. Time will tell whether the Hounslow outfit have it in them to continue their early season form without their main man. Frank is under contract until the summer of 2027, and Bryan Mbuemo is more than filling his predecessor’s heavy crown. The Bees are currently 11th in the table, performing beyond expectations so far.

9 Kieran McKenna, Ipswich Town

Last season’s league finish: Promoted (Championship)

In very similar vein to Luton Town’s survival efforts last season, Ipswich Town are just happy to be in the Premier League. And when you consider a lot of the reasons behind their promotion were because of Kieran McKenna’s footballing brain, it’s hard to see the Suffolk-side losing faith in him, unless, of course, the Tractor Boys really do crash and burn.

But even still, the club are riding the crest of a wave, and last term’s fairytale campaign means that McKenna, who turned down the United job to stay at Ipswich, has a substantial reserve of goodwill to his name, as evidenced by the undying support and love shown by the Portmand Road faithful, despite not winning a game in the top tier thus far.

8 Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham Hotspur

Last season’s league finish: 5th

In many ways, the Greek-Australian inherited a job assumed to be a poisoned chalice. After all, Antonio Conte failed so miserably at Tottenham Hotspur two seasons ago, so who would want to take charge of that side, especially with club icon Harry Kane leaving for Bayern Munich? Well, Ange Postecoglou was utterly unfazed by all that and wasted no time in bringing the feel-good factor back to Tottenham.

Having been at the summit of the Premier League table, a bump in the road saw them unable to keep up with the aforementioned trio of clubs, with Postecoglou’s job security taking a small hit in the process. Spurs continued to plummet last season and things haven’t started promisingly this time around.

The London-based side are currently 10th in the table and have lost four of their opening nine matches. That sort of form could see Postecoglou shown the door pretty quickly.

7 Eddie Howe, Newcastle United

Last season’s league finish: 7th

Eddie Howe enjoyed a season of exceeding all expectations in his first full campaign as he helped bring the return of Champions League football to St James’ Park. That, however, makes his job all the more complicated in the following terms as the Saudi-led club now looks to push on even further.

That was highlighted in 2023/24, with the Magpies struggling to maintain that form, crashing out of the Champions League in the group stage and failing to qualify for Europe via the Premier League. Howe, despite having a lot of good favour at the club, has also admitted that he’s not sure about his future at St James’ Park. The start of the 2024/25 campaign marked the Magpies’ best in decades, but things have fallen apart quickly.

Having won three of their opening four games, the Magpies haven’t tasted victory since. They went five league games without a win and slipped into the bottom half of the table. A surprise win over Arsenal has righted some wrongs and they’ve climbed back to ninth, but the work is far from over.

6 Steve Cooper, Leicester City

Last season’s league finish: Promoted (Championship)

Despite having just recently started his job at Leicester City after the Foxes regained Premier League status at the first time of asking, a club of this stature will have high expectations this season, meaning Steve Cooper will most likely need to avoid relegation back down to England’s second tier in order to avoid the critics and, more importantly, keep his job in the King Power Stadium hotseat.

It’s a taller task than most would make out to be. While the Foxes managed to make the Championship look like light work last term, they lost key players over the summer, and Cooper’s task is only getting steeper by the week. Two recent victories have strengthened his job security, though.

5 Sean Dyche, Everton

Last season’s league finish: 15th

What can be said about Everton that hasn’t been said before over the last few seasons? The Toffees seem to be in some sort of permanent crisis, only to then just about avoid relegation, before then dropping directly right back into the mire again. That seemed to be the case again last term as they failed to score in their first three outings, and after finding some momentum after that with some important wins, Sean Dyche’s team were hit with a 10-point deduction for Financial Fair Play breaches which threw them back into the relegation mix.

The ex-Burnley manager led the team to safety once again despite all the negativity around the club, ensuring that he retained his job. However, a terrible start to the 2024/25 season, amplified by blowing two 2–0 leads in a row, first with a 3-2 defeat at home to Bournemouth after leading 2-0 in the 87th minute, and then losing 3-2 at Villa Park after taking the early 2-0 lead, saw his future look bleak.

Once again, though, Everton have started to turn things around and, aside from a disappointing defeat to Southampton, they’ve been in solid form.

4 Oliver Glasner, Crystal Palace

Last season’s league finish: 10th

When Patrick Vieira was sacked by Crystal Palace in the 2022-23 season, the Eagles looked to be sliding towards the relegation zone. So, what did the club do? They, of course, hired the one man they knew best suited to steady the ship. The only thing, though, is that Roy Hodgson didn’t just steady the ship but instead had it rocking. Indeed, Palace scored goals with ease as they finished comfortably mid-table and so the 77-year-old had a contract laid out in front of him – this time permanently.

However, it has always felt as though that job was his only in the short term, and that proved to be the case. Indeed, after a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of their greatest rivals, Brighton, followed up by a 3-1 defeat at home against Chelsea, the former England boss was given the sack. In his place, Oliver Glasner came in. The former Eintracht Frankfurt man arrived with a good reputation and his style of football initially brought positive results and joy to the supporters.

A 10th-placed finish was a remarkable achievement after having been in the depths of despair, but it’s been a completely different story this campaign. The loss of Michael Olise seems to have hit the club hard and they’ve struggled early in the season. The Eagles have picked up just one win in their opening 10 matches and Glasner will need to turn the tide quickly or else he runs the risk of being given the boot.

3 Russell Martin, Southampton

Last season’s league finish: Promoted (Championship)

After a rough transfer window, many tipped Southampton to struggle this season and while it’s still fairly early in the campaign, that looks to be the case. Russel Martin guided the Saints back to the top flight last season playing a very particular type of football and they’ve been reluctant to switch that up this time around, despite their struggles. With the club sitting second bottom of the table, his efforts last year might buy him a little more time to turn things around, but it won’t last forever.

Since 2018, the Saints have employed seven managers, which just goes to show what little sentiment the bosses have. Last term, they needed the playoffs to earn promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and although that saw Martin rewarded with a new contract, there’s no guarantee he’ll be in the job for long. A recent victory over Everton handed them their first win of the season and may have alleviated some of the pressure on Martin, but he’s still far from safe.

2 Gary O’Neil, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Last season’s league finish: 14th

Considering he didn’t get a pre-season to work with the players, Wolves turned out to be a surprise package last season, and it may have gotten even better had they not been harshly impacted by some questionable VAR calls. Many believed Gary O’Neil would be one of the first managerial casualties as a consequence of his slow start, but they figured things out over time.

This season hasn’t started half as well, though, and after nine games, Wolves are second bottom Premier League table and have picked up just three points so far. With a goal difference of -13, they’ve been well off pace so far this season and the pressure is beginning to pile on O’Neil. If things don’t turn around quickly, the club may be forced to act soon and give him the boot.

1 Julen Lopetegui, West Ham United

Last season’s league finish: 9th

Another new arrival in the Premier League is Julen Lopetegui. The former Sevilla and Wolves boss took over from David Moyes at West Ham and, given his experience at all levels of management, the east London fan base were initially excited about what was to come in his maiden campaign in charge. Boasting the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus, Lopetegui is already inheriting a side geared towards fighting for European qualification.

Teething problems meant a slow start to the campaign, though. They’ve had some bright moments, but more often than not, things haven’t been great. A recent 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Nottingham Forest was brutal and saw the Hammers fall to 14th. They haven’t been as bad as some other teams, but considering the talent at hand, Lopetegui should be doing a much better job. It wouldn’t be too surprising if the club decided to look elsewhere.