Johnny Phillips: Sacking season is yet to start in the Premier League
I was at Rotherham’s match at home to Leeds last night, with the South Yorkshire club currently under the caretaker charge of Wayne Carlisle, Dan Green and Scott Brown following the dismissal of Matt Taylor earlier this month. But while there have been sackings in the EFL this season, the Premier League has been noticeably quiet.
It is unusual for all of the incumbent Premier League managers to still be in their jobs after the November international break. Only last season there were five dismissals by this stage of the campaign.
Bruno Lage at Wolves, Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa, Scott Parker at Bournemouth, Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea and Ralph Hasenhuttl at Southampton were all victims of early season departures. While Chelsea and Southampton did not experience any uplift by making a change, it could be argued the other three clubs saw a noticeable improvement.
This season, though, it has been pleasing to see a more measured approach from the men in the boardroom, with all 20 managers still in a job.
Elsewhere, tt appears that the Republic of Ireland are at yet another international crossroad. After failure to secure a spot at Euro 2024 the contract of manager Stephen Kenny was not renewed. The clear-out continued with the departures of coaches Keith Andrews, John O’Shea and Dean Kiely.
Kenny has been at the helm since 2020, replacing former Wolves manager Mick McCarthy. In that time there have been significant changes within the squad, but he never found a winning formula. In all, his record of six wins out of 29 competitive matches was not enough to earn a new deal. His
contract expired following the uninspiring friendly draw with New Zealand in midweek and Kenny admitted in his post-match interview that he did not expect to be kept on in the role.
Where Ireland turn next is anyone’s guess. There is no outstanding candidate available and with such a moderate pool of players to choose from it will take something special to turn the tide in time for World Cup qualification in 2026.
