Premier League 2019-20: 4 managers who need quick results to keep their job safe

It's just been four games into the 2019-20 Premier League season and we have already witnessed the first managerial sacking, as Watford sacked Javi Garcia two days ago. The Spaniard failed to win a single Premier League game and left Watford with just one point and at the bottom of the table.

Despite his poor start, his sacking came as a huge surprise to many football fans. But football is a ruthless sport, and I am sure we will witness more managerial changes through the course of the season.

After the first month of this new Premier League season, we've got a rough idea of how the teams are going to fare the rest of the way, which teams are going to struggle, which managers are going to struggle and so on. With the competition heating up in the Premier League every season, you can bet there will be more sackings before the end of the year.

Here is a look at 4 Premier League managers who need strong and quick results to keep their job safe.

#1 Dean Smith (Aston Villa)

Dean Smith has not had the best start to life in the Premier League.

Dean Smith is a new face to the Premier League. He did an excellent job last season to get Aston Villa back into the Premier League after a three-year absence, and Aston Villa did not hold back in spending money on transfers.

The Villans spent a total of £130 million on 12 new players, which is a lot of money for a club that only just got promoted. As a result, the Aston Villa higher-ups will be expecting results from the get-go, but unfortunately for Smith that has not been the case so far.

Aston Villa have won just one of their opening four matches, and while that is not as bad as it looks for a newly promoted team, it kind of sets a tone for how their season is likely to go. The Aston Villa chairman and board members will want immediate results after spending so much money, and with Smith having no Premier League experience at all I see him struggling quite a bit this year.

We still have to wait and see how things unfold, but as of now all signs point to a long, tough and grueling season for everyone involved with Aston Villa. Should the L's start piling up, it wouldn't come as a surprise to see Smith getting sacked.

#2. Nuno Espirito Santo (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

This is a long shot and I could probably be way off with this, but Nuno Espirito Santo and Wolves do have a long and tough season ahead of them - particularly because they have to play in the Europa League as well.

After finishing an impressive 7th in their first season back in the Premier League, Wolves have set a very high benchmark for this season. And Nuno is going to have a tough time matching that or probably even doing better than last season.

The start of this season has certainly not gone the way they wanted, with Wolves the only other team apart from Watford not to register a win so far. Part of the reason for their disappointing start to the season could be that their players had to go through three rounds of qualifying to get to the group stage of the Europa League. And I feel that playing in the Europa League could be the cause of their downfall this season.

Wolves did spend a lot of money over the summer and they have a huge squad. But with the players not accustomed to playing Thursday night football followed by a match over the weekend, they could struggle this season.

It happened to Burnley last season and could very well happen to Wolves as well. And if their Premier League form does not improve soon, Nuno could get the sack by January.

#3. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United)

I don't think any football fan or any Manchester United fan for that matter would be surprised to see Solskjaer on this list. After impressing in his first nine games last season, things have gone wrong for Solskjaer.

United started this season with an impressive 4-0 hammering of Chelsea in the opening game, and things looked positive for them at that point. But the games that followed proved that nothing has changed. A draw against Wolves, a draw against a 10-man Southampton and a shocking 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace at home suggest something is wrong at the club.

Maybe Solskjaer just needs more time to implement his tactics and ideologies. But honestly, after a managing the team for half of last season and going through an entire pre-season as well, one would expect results.

The season is long, and we are just getting started; things could turn around too. But if Manchester United continue to struggle even against the smaller clubs, moving on from Solskjaer will probably be for the best.

#4. Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

I had to think twice before adding Frank Lampard to this list given Chelsea's current situation with their transfer ban and the fact that Lampard was thrown into the deep end after just one year in the Championship with Derby County. After four games in charge, Lampard's Chelsea sit in 11th position with one win, one loss and two draws.

While that might not seem so bad considering it's just the start of the season, things are only going to get tougher and probably worse for him.

Despite being one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, winning countless trophies with Chelsea and knowing the club inside out, being the manager of the team is an entirely different thing. Lampard has never managed a club at the highest level, and while there is a very high possibility that he could be a success, he could also fail miserably.

Lampard is unlike any other manager Chelsea has hired, and deep down I feel he will be given sufficient time to prove himself. But the reason I chose to add him to this list is because of how unpredictable football can be and more importantly how ruthless Roman Abramovich can be.

The Russian is a winner and always wants to win trophies, and he could be open to giving Lampard sufficient time. However, should Lampard fail to deliver quickly, and should Chelsea struggle for the rest of the year, I wouldn't be surprised if they sacked him as well.

Edited by Musab Abid