Spilling the Claret

By Aiden McLaughlin

Here’s a list for you:

Alan Curbishley (West Ham – 3rd Sept)

Kevin Keegan (Newcastle – 4th Sept)

Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth – 25th Oct)

Juande Ramos (Spurs – 27th Oct)

Roy Keane (Sunderland – 4th Dec)

Paul Ince (Blackburn – 16th Dec)

Luiz Felipe Scolari (Chelsea – 9th Feb)

Tony Adams (Portsmouth – 9th Feb)

Joe Kinnear (Newcastle – 11th Feb)

Ricky Sbragia (Sunderland – 24th May)

 

What do they all have in common? They were the 10 Premier League managers that left their clubs in the 2008-09 season. Ricky Sbragia took over from Roy Keane at Sunderland in early December and, rather than being sacked, he resigned following the final game of that season having taken Sunderland to safety in 16th place (the team he inherited from Keane were 18th).

Of the other clubs, Spurs made the most notable rise that season. They were bottom of the 20 team league when Ramos departed in late October; his replacement, Harry Redknapp (who left Portsmouth after Spurs paid GBP5 million in compensation) took them to 8th. Sam Allardyce took over from Paul Ince at Blackburn in mid December and took them from 19th to 15th.

10 Premier League managers departed in the 2013/14 and 2017/18 seasons and yesterday, Sean Dyche was sacked by Burnley to become the 10th Premier League manager ousted this season. Burnley have lost 5 of their last 6 games in the league, are placed 18th and are 4 points from safety behind Everton who have played the same number of matches as them.

Dyche was appointed by Burnley in October 2012. He was the longest serving manager (with the same club) in the Premier League and the third longest serving in the top four divisions of English football (only Simon Weaver at Harrogate Town and Gareth Ainscombe at Wycombe Wanderers were in their jobs longer). Jurgen Klopp, having been appointed by Liverpool in October 2015, is now the longest serving manager in the Premier League, followed by Pep Guardiola, who joined Man City the following July.

Dyche’s team played yo-yo in his first three full seasons in charge; promoted to the Premier League in 2013/14, relegated in 2014/15 and promoted again (as winners of the Championship) in 2015/16. Starting with the 2016/17 season, they have finished 16th, 7th, 15th, 10th and 17th on the ladder and that 7th place finish in 2017/18 saw them qualify for European football for the first time in 51 years, as they played three rounds in the UEFA Europa League in 2018/19.

In December 2020, Burnley was bought by the American investment group ALK Capital but rather than this see substantial funds made available to Dyche to consolidate and improve their position in the league, the club, in a similar fashion to the Glazer family takeover of Man Utd in the 2000’s, appears to have been loaded with debt immediately.

In this year’s January transfer window, Burnley sold star striker Chris Wood to relegation rivals Newcastle, after a GBP25 million release clause was activated. Wood’s GBP12 million replacement Wout Weghorst has scored only once in 12 Premier League appearances since that time.

It’s well known that relegation from the Premier League is a financial disaster for those clubs, but have the new owners made the right call at the right time? There appears to be a sense of panic at the 11th hour. Dyche has the experience of guiding the club through a relegation battle, having been there a number of times – even when his side was relegated, they came straight back up, as champions.

With only 8 games left, there’s no opportunity to use the transfer market – that time has long since passed. The players they have are the players that need to get them out of the bottom three.

Observers seem convinced that there must be a replacement waiting in the wings – perhaps Sam Allardyce – but if that person can’t turn things around then the owners’ gamble will have been in vain. With an opportunity to stick or twist, they have chosen to twist and remove the man who had been loyal to them many times when bigger clubs had come calling. One thing is for sure – with his proven qualities as a manager, he won’t be out of work for long.

Follow Aiden on Twitter