When is Premier League 'sacking season' — and which managers are under pressure?
Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has seen scrutiny increase after his side's 4-1 defeat by Como at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia on Wednesday, fuelling debate about the Premier League's traditional autumn 'sacking season' as the calendar approaches the November international break. Historically, almost a third of in-season managerial exits have occurred in November and December, months that frequently precede the winter transfer window.
Across the 2025-26 campaign, 11 bosses left their clubs, with only Enzo Maresca's departure at Chelsea described as a resignation rather than a sacking, and the average tenure of departing managers last season was 310 days. That 310-day average was the second-lowest in Premier League history, exceeded only by the 154-day average in 1994-95, and the pattern of boardroom changes often aligns with autumn internationals and the pre-Christmas period; the winter transfer window was introduced in England in 2003.
Short-lived appointments have punctuated Premier League history: Charlton Athletic's Les Reed was dismissed on Christmas Eve 2006 after winning one of seven league games and collecting four points, a 40-day tenure that stood as the shortest for almost two decades until Sam Allardyce's 30-day spell at Leeds United in 2022-23 ended in relegation. Ange Postecoglou lasted 39 days with Nottingham Forest last year, while Igor Tudor picked up one point from five league games before leaving Spurs after 44 days.
November has been a frequent month for high-profile sackings, including Roberto di Matteo at Chelsea in 2012, Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs in 2019 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021; di Matteo had "spectacularly guided the Blues to FA Cup and Champions League success as caretaker boss six months earlier," according to the record. December has also seen prominent departures, with Jose Mourinho leaving by mutual consent from Chelsea in 2015 and being sacked by Manchester United in 2018.
Carrick's position drew particular attention after the Como loss, amid recent unrest inside Old Trafford: Lisandro Martinez had criticised the club's hierarchy the previous week and club captain Bruno Fernandes appeared to call out Carrick's tactics in Como, while the coach cut an isolated figure as he applauded the away fans alone at full-time. "Bruno Fernandes thinks the tactics were essentially wrong in this game, while Michael Carrick thinks the players weren't running enough for the tactics to work out," Match of the Day pundit Nedum Onuoha said. "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. So I think for Carrick himself to go and see those fans... he knows how bad this game was in particular."
Other managers have eased pressure with positive results: Roberto de Zerbi's successive wins moved Spurs to 12th in the Premier League and Alvaro Arbeloa's Fulham recorded back-to-back 1-0 victories. By contrast, new Forest boss Oliver Glasner and Sunderland's Regis le Bris have been described as feeling anxious, with Sunderland juggling Europa League football, while Marco Rose "hasn't had the most convincing domestic start with Bournemouth, who face Carrick's United at Old Trafford on Sunday." The article also notes a midweek win against AC Milan that "extended their perfect Europa League start." Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage apologised to fans after a 5-0 defeat by Brighton and, only four months after joining from Lens, faces a fight to keep his job; Palace entertain Newcastle on Sunday, and Newcastle's new boss Matthias Jaissle "could do with a positive result quickly."
Nine clubs began this season with new permanent managers and five of those are currently in the bottom half of the table, a situation the piece links to the financial consequences of relegation and heightened social media pressure on club boards. With no Premier League manager dismissed so far this campaign, the historical tendency for clubs to act around the autumn international breaks and before the winter transfer window suggests that vulnerability may grow as those deadlines approach.
No top-flight manager has lost their job this season, but the article highlights a cluster of figures under scrutiny and notes that "it might not be long before someone is on their way out," with the November international break and the run-up to the winter transfer window presented as the next checkpoints for clubs considering change.
