Premier League 2018/19: 5 managers who could be gone by Christmas

2018/19 has been somewhat of an odd season thus far in the Premier League, and with one big reason – we’re into November now, four months since the season began, and not one manager has been sacked yet.

Sure, other leagues have seen managers dispensed of already – Aston Villa got rid of Steve Bruce, Real Madrid sacked Julen Lopetegui – but every boss in England’s top division remains intact. In contrast, 2017/18 had already seen 4 bosses fired by this point in the season.

How much longer this can continue is anyone’s guess, with a number of clubs either struggling or failing to meet pre-season expectations. Here, then, are 5 managers who may well be out of a job by Christmas.

#1 Slavisa Jokanovic

Slavisa Jokanovic is in trouble due to Fulham's poor start to the season

Serbian boss Slavisa Jokanovic did a great job in bringing Fulham back into the Premier League via the Championship play-offs last season, but his debut Premier League season with the Cottagers has been an absolute disaster thus far.

Following last night’s dismal defeat to fellow strugglers Huddersfield, Fulham are now rooted to the bottom of the table, and more worryingly, they’ve somehow managed to concede 29 goals in just 11 games. That’s an average of 2.6 goals per game, and if they continue at that rate, they’ll end the season with a total of somewhere around 99 goals conceded – not far off Swindon Town’s record of 100.

What makes things worse for Jokanovic is that he doesn’t enjoy the same kind of long leash that the likes of Neil Warnock and David Wagner – who manage fellow strugglers Cardiff and Huddersfield – currently do. That’s because he spent a hefty amount of money to bring in 14 players this summer – including big names like Andre Schurrle and Jean-Michael Seri.

Jokanovic himself has admitted that whether he keeps his job is now out of his hands, and despite reports suggesting chairman Shahid Khan is willing to offer him more time, unless Fulham can turn their current slide around, he’s probably doomed.

#2 Mark Hughes

Mark Hughes oversaw a dismal 6-1 defeat to Manchester City this weekend

Mark Hughes was brought in at Southampton last season with the immediate goal of saving the club from relegation, and he at least managed that, keeping them up by just a three-point margin. It wasn’t exactly impressive, though – Hughes only claimed 8 points in his 8 games, and ended up with a statistically worse record than the man he replaced, Mauricio Pellegrino.

If things were expected to be better at St. Mary’s this season, then that certainly hasn’t been the case. Southampton have picked up just 1 win thus far in 2018/19 and even more alarmingly, they’ve only scored 7 goals in their 11 games. Last season saw them criticised for a lack of goals and yet if they stay on their current course, they’ll score even less this time around.

It’s not like the Saints have a bad squad – the likes of Nathan Redmond, Alex McCarthy, Ryan Bertrand and James Ward-Prowse are all excellent players and the addition of Danny Ings has helped to add some firepower, but you have to look at the cold, hard facts and a glance at them tells a dark story – Southampton have scored just once in their last 6 league games.

Most recently, the Saints thoroughly capitulated against an admittedly impressive Manchester City side, eventually losing 6-1. While there’s no shame in losing to Pep Guardiola’s side, the spineless performance that Southampton put on suggests that there are major problems at the club. And Hughes is undoubtedly the most likely fall guy if things don’t improve soon.

#3 Jose Mourinho

Manchester United could still lose faith in Jose Mourinho if results go sour again

A few weeks ago – following bad results against Wolves, West Ham and Valencia and a high-profile fall-out with star midfielder Paul Pogba – it looked like Jose Mourinho’s head was on the block at Manchester United and it felt like only a matter of time before he was removed from power at Old Trafford.

Since then though, United have experienced somewhat of a mini-revival under the Portuguese boss, winning 3 of 4 Premier League games and pulling off a solid draw against Chelsea. Unfortunately, though, the fact is that the Red Devils were expected to be title contenders this season and despite sitting 4 points away from the top 4, they’re already 9 adrift of league leaders Manchester City.

Their recent wins haven’t been massively impressive either – a miraculous comeback against Newcastle and a pair of workmanlike performances against Everton and Bournemouth haven’t fully turned things around at Old Trafford, and their October Champions League loss to Juventus was dismal.

United also have some tricky fixtures coming up, like the return game against Juventus, a match with hated rivals City, and showdowns with Arsenal and Liverpool in early December. Mourinho is in a stronger position than he was a month ago, but if he can’t prove that United are genuine title contenders, the Old Trafford powerbrokers could still lose patience with him before 2018 is out.

#4 Roy Hodgson

Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace have begun to struggle again this season

Former England boss Roy Hodgson has built a great deal of good will from both the board and the fans at Crystal Palace due to the miracle he pulled off in 2017/18 – the Eagles were rooted to the bottom of the table without a single win prior to his arrival, but Hodgson turned things around to the point where Palace finished 11th and ended the season on a 3-match winning streak.

Unfortunately, goodwill can only take a manager so far and right now Palace look like they’re on a major slide. They haven’t won a game since their September victory over fellow strugglers Huddersfield, and an encouraging 2-2 draw with high-flying Arsenal was then followed by a disappointing defeat to Chelsea.

It’s almost hard to pinpoint what’s been going wrong at Selhurst Park, too. Hodgson has used largely the same personnel as last season – Patrick van Aanholt, Mamadou Sakho, Luka Milivojevic and Wilfried Zaha being key players – but he has lost Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Yohan Cabaye, who both played major roles in 2017/18.

It almost feels like Hodgson himself has bought into the much-discussed fan theory that the Eagles are a one-man team who purely rely on the influence of Zaha to win their games – and unsurprisingly, he’s been their best player thus far. But he’s also played 10 of 11 league games, and Palace have still lost 7 of them. Hodgson certainly isn’t doomed yet, but with tough games against Spurs and Manchester United coming up this month, he may well find himself skating on thin ice soon.

#5 Rafael Benitez

Could Rafael Benitez abandon a sinking ship at Newcastle?

Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle side actually picked up their first win of the season this weekend, surprisingly overcoming Watford to finally drag themselves out of the bottom 3. But one result doesn’t turn around a pretty diabolical start that’s seen the Magpies lose 7 games, including two slides of 3 losses in a row.

It’s honestly hard to blame Benitez for Newcastle’s struggles; they’ve already played (and lost to) 5 of the Premier League’s ‘big six’, with Liverpool being the lone exception, and with 14 goals conceded, they actually have a better defensive record than most of the other sides, including Manchester United and Everton.

That’s not to say Benitez will see out 2018 in the hot seat at St. James’ Park, though. The likelihood of him being outright fired by Mike Ashley and company seems slim, but the Spaniard leaving of his own accord or by mutual consent wouldn’t come as a surprise at all. Realistically he’s in a horrible position – adored by the fans but simply not given enough backing by the men in power at Newcastle.

The summer transfer window saw him given a paltry £22.5m to spent on new players to strengthen a relatively threadbare squad, and if it becomes clear that no funds will be available in January to sign more talent, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Benitez abandon what appears to be a sinking ship. To be quite frank, he deserves far better.