The price of the Premier League: Are club owners more willing than ever to sack a manager to remain in the top-flight? – Opinion

After just 94 days in charge, Nathan Jones’ exit from Southampton was not a surprise, but a decision that shows just how ruthless Premier League football club owners can be. 

The pressure to stay in the top-flight, the most lucrative and competitive football league in the world, means owners are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure their side remains in the competition. 

And that can often come at the expense of the team’s head coach. 

Jones is the second manager Southampton have had this season, after the club chose to sack Ralph Hasenhuttl following a disappointing start, that saw Saints win just three out of 14 league games. 

Appointed in the Austrian’s wake, the 49-year-old now becomes Southampton’s shortest-serving boss in the Premier League era and also ranks inside the ten shortest managerial reigns in the history of the top-flight, despite having signed a three-and-a-half-year contract at St Mary’s back in November.

And his credentials, guiding Luton to a play-off finish last season, were a compelling draw for Southampton, who needed a quick replacement for Hasenhuttl late last year. 

Jones went on to lose 10 of the 15 matches he took charge of across all competitions, with his record in the league standing at one win in eight games – with that win coming against a struggling Everton side. 

Sadly for the Welshman, his name joins a growing list of managers that have been sacked since the league started in August.

Frank Lampard, Jesse Marsch, Steven Gerrard, Bruno Lage, Thomas Tuchel and Scott Parker, bring the total number of managers axed this season up to eight.

While it’s not uncommon to see several coaches be dismissed at this stage of the tournament, eight is a big number and is two managers shy of the record for the most sacked in one Premier League campaign which currently stands at ten and was equalled last season.

Are managers facing more pressure from their owners to perform?

Interestingly, according to Transfermarkt and Opta, the average tenure of a Premier League manager currently stands at about two years. In 2012 the average time in the job for a head coach was double that at approximately four years.

In a bid to protect what is their main revenue stream, owners show just how ruthless they can be, axing managers when things aren’t going right on the field.

That might be understandable considering Norwich, who were relegated last year, still earned a total of £100.3m just by taking part in the season.

In fact, that was actually more than what Bayern Munich received last year, despite winning the Bundesliga.

What’s even more astounding is that Premier League club earnings are set to increase again this year. According to The Mirror, club earnings will grow from the £2.5bn on offer last season, with each side receiving a base payment of £84m from TV rights.

That is a staggering amount of money and for comparison is £30m more than what LaLiga clubs will be earning. 

Considering the high financial stakes at play, you could argue Premier League owners are under such immense pressure, that they are willing to brutally offload managers like Lampard and Jones, regardless of the short periods of time both coaches had spent at their respective clubs.

Obviously there are other factors at play when the board are deciding whether a manager should keep their job, but poor form and the pressure to stay in the top-flight to retain those enormous revenue streams year-after-year is paramount for many clubs.

While it’s never nice to talk about managers losing their jobs, there are several other coaches who are currently under the microscope. Gary O’Neil, Brendan Rodgers, Graham Potter and David Moyes are the bookies favourites to be dismissed next. 

And considering Dyche was laid-off by Burnley as late as April last year, bosses around the league have shown before that it is never too late remove a manager from their post.

Could the record for the most managers sacked in one season be surpassed in the next couple of months?