Who's On The Chopping Block?

The Premier League is known for being one of the most competitive leagues in the world. Being a manager in the English top-flight means that one must constantly deal with the pressure of having to produce results week after week. Over the last few weeks, there’s been talk of certain managers supposedly being on the chopping block, for the right or wrong reasons. This week, the plan is to talk about some of these managers under pressure and whether they should or shouldn’t be at risk of getting the sack.

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Graham Potter (Chelsea)

Graham Potter is a man who’s truly feeling the pressure. The board and owner have publicly backed him but that doesn’t mean his job is necessarily safe. We’re not even at the end of the January and they’ve spent just north of £300m on new players. With that outlay, Chelsea should be fighting on multiple fronts. That’s far from the case. They’re out of both domestic cups and sit 10th in the league. Based on the above, Potter should be out of a job. However, I don’t believe he should be sacked, for three reasons.

One, he’s only been at the club for 4 months. I know time is a rare commodity when you’re managing a top club, but he needs time to imprint his philosophy and coaching at Chelsea. Two, he inherited a squad of players that weren’t really his. He should at least have the chance to bring in the players he wants. Three, Chelsea have been unfortunate with injuries/suspensions. At the time of writing this, I think 11 first team players are either injured or suspended. Any club would struggle with that many key players unavailable. I think Potter deserves the opportunity to right the ship at Chelsea, even if it means things get worse before they get better.

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Frank Lampard (Everton)

I’ve always thought that Frank Lampard was never that good a coach. He did a good job with Derby but when he became the Chelsea gaffer, I think we all saw his shortcomings. The pattern seems to be repeating itself at Everton, where they are, yet again, in the middle of a relegation battle. It’s been proven that no club is too big to go down (take Newcastle in 2009 as a prime example), but a club with the history and tradition like Everton shouldn’t be fighting for survival year after year.

I think the issue with Everton is less so the manager, and more so the ownership. It wouldn’t even matter if they sacked Lampard because of how diabolically bad Farhad Moshiri has been as an owner. Since he arrived in February 2016, Everton have been wretched in the transfer market, Moshiri has rarely been present at matches and the club have made some terrible decisions at board level. I’m not completely absolving Lampard as there are areas where he can improve as a coach and get more out of his players. But as the common saying goes, a fish rots from the head down. Therefore, the owner and board should be questioning their roles before relieving Lampard of his duties.

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Brendan Rodgers (Leicester)

Out of all the managers mentioned, I believe Rodgers has the most equity in the bank. What he’s achieved at Leicester is remarkable. Two consecutive top-five finishes, an FA Cup, a Community Shield, and he’s never finished lower than ninth since he’s taken charge. However, this season, Leicester have struggled with any sort of consistency, languishing in 13th in the Premier League and destined for a season of mediocrity. The question remains, is Brendan Rodgers running on borrowed time. Simply put, no.

The main reason why he should remain the Leicester boss: a lack of investment. If my memory serves me right, they only bought one first team player in the summer (centre back Wout Faes from Reims). This was coupled with them selling arguably their two best players, Kasper Schmeichel and Wesley Fofana to Nice and Chelsea respectively. Letting Kasper leave for dirt cheap made no sense at the time and still to this day makes no sense. You can’t expect a manager to do his job when he’s not given the resources to do that job properly. The alternative view is that Rodgers has taken Leicester as far as he can. He might feel that he should step away on his own accord, instead of waiting for the sack.

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David Moyes (West Ham)

It seems remarkable that West Ham are where they are in the league this season considering how they’ve performed in the last two years. Right now, they’re sitting in 17th, only out of the relegation spots on goal difference. How is a possible that a team can go from competing for Champions League qualification in back-to-back years, finishing 5th and 6th, to genuinely being in a relegation fight? Honestly, I can’t think of an explanation. Their squad is largely unchanged, and they’ve bought several players which should have improved their squad depth.

Admittedly I’ve not had the chance to watch a lot of West Ham this campaign but maybe there’s a lack of motivation from the players. Is that the manager’s fault? Partly. As a coach, it’s your job to be able to galvanise your players. But at the same time, external forces can cause players to lack the drive to perform. Take Declan Rice for example. He’s most likely leaving the club at the end of the season. Who knows if he’s fully committed to getting West Ham to a position where they should be. One thing that also needs to be mentioned is the passing of former joint chairman David Gold. Given that the club is still in a period of mourning, I don’t think they’ll be making any such decisions in the immediate future.

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This Week’s Hot Take

Unless it’s obvious that a manager is underperforming, I believe that the performance of owners and board members should be evaluated first before a decision is made whether to dismiss a manager or not. Football clubs are just like any other business and when a business is failing, it’s normally the people at the very top that are partly or fully to blame. Football clubs are no different. Before managers get sacked left, right and centre, those higher up should be held more accountable for the failings at football clubs.