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The home run of the 2018/2019 European league season is upon us and while some clubs are on course to achieve their objectives, others have flattered to deceive and find themselves way off what their pre-season goals.
As expected, there are always repercussions for underperforming teams, with some wholesome changes usually made and more often than not, the first person to pay for a team's struggles is usually the manager.
The coach's job in modern football is a peculiar one, as they are constantly under pressure to deliver in an ever demanding world of professional football, with the need for instant success adding even more pressure to an already intense job. Get it right and you are adored, but get it wrong and you are vilified horrendously regardless of your previous achievements.
So far this season, there have been managerial upheavals at major clubs, with Real Madrid and Manchester United having already changed coaches, while the smaller clubs all over Europe have not been left out either.
As the saying goes, 'all coaches are just one loss away from getting the sack' and this cliché literally holds true for some more than others. In this piece, we shall be taking look at four coaches who could get fired if they lose this weekend.
#4 Marco Silva (Everton)
Marco Silva arrived the Premier League in January of 2017 when he was announced as the manager of struggling Hull City. Despite being powerless to stop The Tigers' relegation at the end of the season, he performed creditably well, including helping the club get its first win in 43 years over Manchester United as well as a 2-0 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League.
His displays at Hull led to Watford announcing him as their new manager at the start of the next season and he continued his impressive displays with The Terriers, helping them consolidate their spot in the top half of the table and get fans dreaming of European qualification.
This good start to the season led to Everton going all out to sign him as their next manager following Ronald Koeman's sack in November 2017 and this coincided with a massive drop in form by Watford, with the club winning just five points from their next 10 matches to pummel them down the table.
He was sacked by Watford in January of 2018, with the club stating that 'an unwarranted approach by a Premier League rival' was instrumental in their team's loss in focus.
Everton finally got their man at the start of the current campaign, but it has not quite been the love story that was expected.
Despite having the most expensive squad in Everton's history, the 41-year-old has struggled to get positive results on the field, winning just 12 of his 34 matches in charge of the Merseysiders in all competitions.
Everton currently find themselves in 11th position in the league, seven points off the European places and this is a rather poor return considering how much investment has been made into the squad.
The Toffees have won just one out of their last six PL matches, while they got knocked out by lowly Millwall in the FA Cup.
Last week's embarrassing 3-2 defeat to Newcastle despite being 2-0 up put Marco Silva under even more pressure, which makes this weekend's clash with Chelsea take on even more significance as it could have an impact on his future at Goodison Park.
#3 Jan Siewert (Huddersfield Town)
Having struggled throughout the course of the season, Huddersfield Town made the decision to part ways with the immensely popular David Wagner in January of 2019.
The 47-year-old had helped the club secure promotion to the EPL in 2017 and performed an even more improbable feat by helping the club stay up at the end of the 2017/2018 season, but his departure was largely expected owing to The Terriers struggles.
In his stead, the club announced the appointment of Jan Siewert and the 36-year-old had his hands full, as he inherited a club which was rock bottom of the league.
Ensuring survival for Huddersfield would have been the greatest miracle in Premier League history, but so far, there have not been indications that the club have made any sort of improvement under Siewert.
Huddersfield have won just one of their seven matches under the German manager, losing the remaining six and currently find themselves bottom of the league on just 14 points, with it all but certain that they would be playing in the Championship come next season.
#2 Sean Dyche (Burnley)
Sean Dyche has been Burnley manager since October 2012 and he has endeared himself to the club's fans forever with his performances on the bench.
The 47-year-old helped guide the club to two promotions in three seasons and heed forge Burnley into one of the most compact teams in the league, earning widespread praise for the team's resoluteness and difficulty to beat despite their limitations in terms of spending power.
Last season, Dyche led Burnley to 7th spot on the table which was their highest finish in over half a century and helped the club qualify for the Europa League.
However, the club failed to make it to the group stage and struggled in the Premier League, finding themselves in the relegation zones for most of the season.
Results improved somewhat at the start of this year, with the club going unbeaten in five consecutive PL matches including a 2-1 victory over Tottenham, but results have since plundered, as The Clarets have lost each of their last three matches to sit just two points above the relegation zones.
A loss to Leicester and victory for Cardiff could see Burnley drop into the relegation spots and having established themselves in the Premier League they would be keen to avoid getting the drop, with Sean Dyche's job very much on the line.
#1 Luciano Spalletti (Inter Milan)
Luciano Spalletti is one of the more seasoned managers in Italy, having managed a multiple of clubs in the Serie A including Udinese, Roma and Sampdoria, while he also had a spell abroad as coach of Zenit St Petersburg.
He was appointed manager of Inter Milan in 2017 and helped the club to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in six years in just his first season at the club.
His second season at the club started well enough, with the club being one of the early challenges to Juventus at the top of the table, but there was always a feeling of false sense of security at Inter, as even when things seem to be going well, the club has a history of self-implosion and their season has unravelled in the last few months.
They failed to make it out of their group in the UCL, dropping to the Europa League as a result. They then got eliminated from the second tier competition following their 1-0 loss to Frankfurt at home last Thursday.
There is also the ongoing issue with Mauro Icardi which has seen the Argentine refuse to play for the club and stripped off his captaincy.
UCL qualification which seemed a certainty only a few months back now seems less sure, as Inter's struggles have seen them plummet down the table, while rivals have gained ground on them.
Heading into the Derby della Madonnina, Inter find themselves in 4th spot, one point behind their city rivals and just three ahead of Roma in 5th and if results go against him this weekend, Spalletti could well find himself out of work.
