It’s been a strange but heartwarming Premier League season so far in that no manager has been sacked, at least not quite yet. But when was the last time a manager was sacked so late in the season?

According to the record books, the 2009/2010 Premier League season is on course to have the fewest managers sacked before November for several years. The last time a manager was sacked so late in the season was November 13, 2006 when Iain Dowie was the first manager of the season to be removed (in this particular example for Charlton Athletic).

It’s very possible that no EPL managers will get sacked before November 13, so the next latest managerial change was in the 2005/2006 season — four years ago — when Harry Redknapp left Southampton on December 3, 2004 only to join Portsmouth a couple of days later on December 5, 2004 as manager.

In more recent years, there have been managerial changes much earlier in the season. Sir Bobby Robson was sacked from Newcastle United in late August, 2004. Last season, Alan Curbishley resigned from West Ham United on September 3, 2008 followed a day later by Kevin Keegan resigning from Newcastle United. Plus, for the past two season, there have been an average of two managerial changes every October. This season it looks like all of the managers who started the season will be in charge to at least November.