Michael Carrick Enters Sacking Season as Departing Managers Averaged 310 Days

• Premier League managers who left their jobs last season had lasted 310 days on average, the second lowest figure on record.
• Nearly a third of all in-season managerial exits happen in November and December, and no Premier League manager has been sacked so far this campaign.
• Michael Carrick, Pierre Sage, Oliver Glasner and Regis le Bris are among the bosses looking over their shoulders.

Autumn Is When Premier League Boards Reach for the Axe

No Premier League manager has lost his job this season. All 20 who started the campaign are still in place. History says that will not last, and sacking season is almost here.

In 2025-26, 11 bosses left their clubs, and only Enzo Maresca’s resignation at Chelsea was his own decision. The ones who went had been in charge for an average of 310 days. Only the 1994-95 season was lower, at 154 days.

November and December Are the Danger Months

Almost a third of all managerial exits come in those two months. Across the 34 completed Premier League seasons, club boards have favoured change around the autumn international breaks and before Christmas, with the winter transfer window, introduced in England in 2003, a further trigger.

Big names have gone in November. Roberto di Matteo left Chelsea in 2012, Mauricio Pochettino left Spurs in 2019 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer left Manchester United in 2021. December has claimed Jose Mourinho twice, at Chelsea in 2015 by mutual consent and at United in 2018 by sacking.

Short Reigns Keep Getting Shorter

Les Reed was dismissed by Charlton Athletic on Christmas Eve 2006 after one win in seven league games, with four points. His 40 days stood as the shortest Premier League tenure for almost two decades, until Sam Allardyce lasted 30 days at Leeds United in 2022-23, a spell that ended in relegation.

Patience in recent years has kept shrinking. Ange Postecoglou lasted 39 days at Nottingham Forest last autumn. His successor at Spurs, Igor Tudor, took one point from five league games and left after 44 days. A record nine clubs began this season with new permanent managers, and five of them now sit in the bottom half of the table.

Relegation carries grave financial consequences, and social media noise is hard to escape. Clubs are showing no mercy when big decisions come up.

Who Should Be Worried

Carrick is the obvious name. Manchester United lost 4-1 at Como in the Champions League on Wednesday, and then lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth on Sunday. Carrick cut an isolated figure as he applauded the away fans at full-time in Italy. Lisandro Martinez criticised the club’s hierarchy last week, and captain Bruno Fernandes appeared to call out Carrick’s tactics after the Como game.

Match of the Day pundit Nedum Onuoha said splits like that make life hard for a manager. “When you find those sorts of splits it can be very hard within a dressing room to maintain that sort of energy behind the manager,” Onuoha said. Of Carrick’s walk to the travelling supporters, Onuoha said that “he knows how bad this game was in particular”.

Crystal Palace’s Sage apologised to fans after a 5-0 defeat at Brighton and joined from Lens only four months ago. He then watched his side lose 2-0 to Newcastle on Sunday. Newcastle’s own new boss, Matthias Jaissle, also needed a positive result.

Glasner at Forest and Le Bris at Sunderland, whose side are juggling Europa League football, were also listed as nervous. Marco Rose has not had the most convincing domestic start at Bournemouth, though a midweek win over AC Milan extended the club’s perfect Europa League start.

Some managers have bought time. Roberto de Zerbi has taken Spurs to 12th with successive wins, and Alvaro Arbeloa at Fulham has strung together back-to-back 1-0 wins.

The November Break Is the Next Decision Point

The international break in November is the next natural moment for boards to act. It feels early to talk about managers under pressure, but the numbers say the first departure of the season could be only weeks away.