
<p>When Leeds decided to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/leeds-considers-sacking-javi-gracia-after-another-blowout-loss-20230501-WST-431058.html">part company with Javi Gracia</a> and <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/leeds-call-on-sam-allardyce-to-rescue-club-from-relegation-20230502-WST-431254.html">bring in Sam Allardyce </a>it became the 15th managerial change of this Premier League season, a <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/record-number-of-premier-league-managers-sacked-this-season-20230414-WST-428448.html">record for sackings</a> of managers by owners. The previous high was in the 2017/18 season. But, why has the practice become so commonplace? Clubs constantly seek change to reverse their fortunes, and the managers fall as the scapegoats. In reality, the blame lies higher up in the food chain of the club hierarchy.</p>



<p>The trend for mid-season managerial change in the Premier League steadily rose since its inception in 1992. Therefore, in some regard, this new benchmark merely continues the pattern to its next step. What stands out this season, however, is that those 15 changes have come from just 11 clubs. Four clubs, including Leeds United, have made two changes during the one season.</p>



<p>It cries of mismanagement from the top, an admission of error and a desperate attempt at over-correction. Rather than managers, it is the duty of those in the posh seats to determine a club’s route. Those executives identify the personnel to accomplish preset goals. To get it wrong once is bad. But, to do so twice in the space of one year is, ironically, a sacking offense.</p>



<h5>Big clubs get big decisions wrong</h5>



<p>The highest-profile example of owners contributing to the record sackings of managers this season is <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/chelsea-tv-schedule/">Chelsea</a>. Chelsea adopted the cavalier approach. It made scattergun signings and played with the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/latest-chelsea-transfers-not-at-fault-for-aimless-spending-20230114-WST-415145.html">eye-watering spend of new owner Todd Boehly</a>. That all failed spectacularly, much to the amusement of fans of the league’s other 19 teams.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🗣 "Boehly&apos;s had a nightmare. He&apos;s completely misread this league."<a href="https://twitter.com/GNev2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GNev2</a> believes Todd Boehly is to blame for much of Chelsea&apos;s problems <a href="https://t.co/Br6ZC3AutE">pic.twitter.com/Br6ZC3AutE</a></p>— Football Daily (@footballdaily) <a href="https://twitter.com/footballdaily/status/1654095123209236481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2023</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>Accepted wisdom says Chelsea was perhaps wrong to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/09/07/chelsea-sack-thomas-tuchel/">part so hastily with Thomas Tuchel</a>. Then, it was naïve to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/09/08/graham-potter-arrives-at-chelsea-to-finalize-move/">bring in Potter</a> who, for all his obvious pros, was wholly untested. Worse off, this <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/chelsea-sack-graham-potter-after-poor-run-of-form-20230402-WST-426393.html">relatively unproven manager</a> dealt with a squad of entirely new faces. Follow that up with <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/lampard-returns-to-chelsea-as-caretaker-manager-20230406-WST-426952.html">the reappointment of Frank Lampard</a> as the man to salvage the season. It is indisputably the result of bad planning from the top down.</p>



<p>At least Chelsea fans can take heart from the plight of a team across the capital. North London rival Tottenham has been suffering its own meltdown. It, too, is on its <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/tottenham-considers-sacking-stellini-after-pounding-at-newcastle-20230424-WST-429836.html">third manager of the season</a>. This is the culmination of failing to consistently recover from letting go of Mauricio Pochettino in 2019. The fact that his departure was a self-inflicted wound by the club following a failure to financially back the Argentine only serves to highlight the club’s failings at the top level.</p>



<p>Botched attempts at replacing him provide little evidence that these decisions are made by the smartest men available. Spurs hired an out-of-sorts Mourinho, a fifth-choice Nuno and a hot-headed ‘winner’ in <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/tottenham-sacks-antonio-conte-names-stellini-interim-manager-20230327-WST-425358.html">Antonio Conte</a>. The Italian <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/conte-explodes-at-spurs-players-in-fiery-press-conference-20230318-WST-423720.html">never gave the impression</a> he wanted to be there in the first place.</p>



<h2>Owners put managers to sword with record sackings</h2>



<p>What the latest appointment at Leeds demonstrates is the lack of consideration for the playing style and long-term approach that owners can adopt. Going from Marcelo Bielsa to Sam Allardyce in a little over one year is a shift as stark as you can imagine. In between the two, Jesse Marsch made signings of his choice to suit his high-pressing playing style. Now, these players are bit-part players on large wages that cost big transfer fees. Swinging so violently from one approach to another suggests less of a plan and more of desperate late-night trolley dashes for whoever’s available.</p>



<p>The league’s bottom club, Southampton, is the fourth team on its third manager of the year. Formerly an example of how to run a smaller club in the top flight, their season has been a result of ill-planning, unbalanced experience levels within the squad a huge managerial gamble on the wildly untested Nathan Jones.</p>



<h5>Interim managers</h5>



<p>Among these unending appointments, a new job has emerged: the dedicated interim manager. This paid intern position is taken up by those considered able to get the job done. Yet, it does not disrupt things too much for a future, longer-term appointment to follow in the summer. Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace, Dean Smith at Leicester, Ryan Mason at Spurs and the previously mentioned Lampard and Allardyce. At least two of these have taken over from a previous caretaker manager themselves in Lamard and Allardyce. Once again, this underlines a lack of forethought at the very top.</p>



<p>Managers and clubs alike have little to gain from the role. Fail to perform and the club boots you out the door. Succeed and suddenly the owners have a headache over who to hire in the summer.</p>



<p>What it speaks to is the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/leeds-to-pay-3-75million-to-allardyce-if-club-avoids-relegation-20230503-WST-431536.html">desperate fear of relegation</a> and the anxious panic it can elicit among owners. It’s unsurprising too with the financial implications involved. Deals are tied up with guarantees of Premier League income or revenue from European competitions and to lose one of these can result in a speedy fall from grace. Owners know this all too well, they are first and foremost businessmen after all and, while the Premier League promises high rewards and reputation boosts, the risks are just as mighty.</p>



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<div class="ck-youtube"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Relegation Race: The Ultimate Thriller" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OEuta3gF2xc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
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<h5>Instances of success</h5>



<p>Maybe it’s best to look at the successful models, the positive examples set by <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/brighton-want-to-sign-james-milner-and-joao-pedro-20230429-WST-430930.html">Brighton</a> and Brentford. Both adapted to life in the league and excelled within it thanks to shrewd and knowledgeable ownership. Or at Manchester City where the club spent five years building a project tailor-made for Pep Guardiola before he even joined and are now seeing the benefits of their actions.</p>



<p>Sadly though, less fruitful ownership models regularly outnumber these examples of success. The lure of the Premier League, its wealth and global appeal likely prove too attractive to those with bigger wallets than football know-how.</p>



<p>The Premier League has the best players and managers in the world. It needs the best owners, too.</p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO / Colorsport</em></p>


Owners of Premier League clubs are pumping managers through with a record number of sackings. The executives are the common denominator.

Owners, not managers, guilty of record Premier League sackings

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<p>Tottenham is making another managerial change, as it gets rid of Cristian Stellini. The Italian coach was only at the head of the club on an interim basis. He was part of Antonio Conte’s staff, but he did serve in <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/premier-league-to-nominate-antonio-conte-for-manager-of-month-20230228-WST-421709.html">a caretaker role</a> at Spurs before <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/tottenham-sacks-antonio-conte-names-stellini-interim-manager-20230327-WST-425358.html">Conte’s sacking</a>.</p>



<p>However, that prior stint was far more fruitful than his current spot. Following the weekend’s result, the <em><a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-manager-news-stellini-mason-b1076235.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evening Standard</a></em> expressed “serious doubt” from the Tottenham hierarchy over the future of Stellini’s spot in the dugout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The belief is that Stellini lost the confidence of the players. That much was evident in the first 21 minutes against Newcastle. Spurs conceded five times in that span in an eventual <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/newcastle-smash-six-past-spurs-to-strengthen-top-four-hopes-20230423-WST-429774.html">6-1 loss</a> in the north of England.</p>



<p>The punishment for Stellini was swift. Even though Spurs only have six games remaining, the club dismissed the manager this week. The Italian is now out of the club with a home game against Manchester United on Thursday. After that, Tottenham has a trip to Anfield, which could put the club’s European hopes to bed.</p>



<p>As of now, Stellini’s Tottenham plunged from fourth to fifth, now facing a six-point deficit with both Newcastle and Manchester United for fourth. On top of that, Newcastle has played one fewer game than Spurs, and Manchester United played one fewer than that. Aston Villa, Liverpool and Brighton, which has played three fewer games than Tottenham, are nipping at the heels of an ailing Spurs side.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Tottenham are discussing the future of acting head coach Cristian Stellini. <a href="https://t.co/HMdQ9u8dtn">pic.twitter.com/HMdQ9u8dtn</a></p>— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/1650448491544563712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2023</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<h2>Tottenham not appointing permanent replacement for Stellini</h2>



<p>The replacement for Stellini is a familiar face. Ryan Mason, who served as an interim manager of Spurs in the past, is taking the reigns of the club for the remainder of the season.</p>



<p>After Tottenham sacked Jose Mourinho in the 2020/21 season, Mason did enough to get the club a spot in the Europa Conference League for the next season. At the time, he was the youngest manager of a Premier League club in history at the age of 29.</p>



<p>In terms of a permanent manager, Spurs are in the running for some major names. <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/pochettino-open-to-return-to-tottenham-management-job-20230326-WST-425295.html">Mauricio Pochettino</a> could make a return, and the club is looking into <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/julian-nagelsmann-wants-to-join-spurs-after-rejecting-chelsea-20230422-WST-429695.html">Julian Nagelsmann</a>, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/tottenham-challenges-chelsea-for-luis-enrique-20230418-WST-429007.html">Luis Enrique</a> and <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/tottenham-contact-potential-new-coach-as-conte-decision-looms-20230322-WST-424565.html">more options</a>. However, these managers would not arrive until the summer. That way, they would have a fresh slate and a fresh summer to make squad changes of their choosing. </p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO / PA Images</em></p>


Tottenham Hotspur could show interim manager Cristian Stellini the exit door. A brutal, and embarrassing, loss to Newcastle could be it.

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Owners, not managers, guilty of record Premier League sackings

Antonio Conte

Tottenham sacks Stellini after pounding at Newcastle