Ready for the Chop: 90min Readers Name Which Premier League Manager They Next Expect to Face the Axe

Published on: 13 January 2017

"?Managerial sackings. They're nothing new in football and, with so much pressure on clubs to retain their Premier League status, due to the riches on offer, bosses being handed their P45s have become common place.


Four English top flight managers have already lost their jobs this term - two at Swansea City alone - but just who could be next in line for the dreaded chop? We asked, and you answered:

It has apparently been on the cards for a while and, with three defeats on the spin, Slaven Bilic is the most likely to received his marching orders. 


The Croat's job was rumoured to be on the line as early as October, but a stay of execution has been afforded to Bilic thanks to two short bursts of three successive victories in recent months.


With the news that Dimitri Payet no longer wants to play for the Hammers, however, as well as over-the-top transfer fees reportedly being paid - £15m for Brentford's Scott Hogan, really? - Bilic could lose his job if results don't improve drastically in the coming weeks.

QUOTE: Slaven Bilic: "Dimitri Payet does not want to play for us, but we are not going to sell him." ? pic.twitter.com/AWjWIkhxDQ

Not far behind the 48-year-old is Sunderland's David Moyes. The Scot hasn't enjoyed his time in the game ever since he legged it from Goodison Park to Old Trafford in 2013, and subsequent times in charge of the Red Devils and La Liga outfit Real Sociedad have seen him sacked just seven and 12 months into each job respectively.


The Black Cats currently find themselves embroiled in yet another relegation scrap at the foot of the table and, with tough league encounters to come in the next month, the 53-year-old could claim a hattrick of sackings in just four years if he's not careful.


A distant third in comparison now, but Watford's Walter Mazzarri will certainly be feeling the heat after a torrid run of results. The Italian has overseen just three wins in the past 11 league games - form that has seen the Hornets fall alarming down England's top flight.

Rumours persist of a potential player revolt due to Mazzarri's gruelling training sessions and, coupled with the trigger-finger nature of the club's owners, the Pozzo family, when it comes to firing managers, Mazzarri would do well to start picking up points as soon as possible.


Perhaps a tad surprisingly, Southampton's Claude Puel is another who fans consider to be under pressure to succeed. Southampton sit just inside the top 10 in the Premier League and, after Wednesday's EFL Cup semi-final first-leg win over Liverpool, may have a first cup final in 13 years to look forward to.


Results on the south coast have been frustratingly inconsistent in recent months for the Saints, admittedly, but Puel should do enough this term to remain in the job ahead of the 2017/18 campaign.

Congratulations, Claudio Ranieri!
Winner of #TheBest FIFA Men's Coach 2016 ?https://t.co/LO8lWBKxpn pic.twitter.com/8czujwPzIz

Two managers whose futures were the subject of whispers, early in the season, round off our poll now, with Leicester City's Claudio Ranieri and Middlesbrough's Aitor Karanka relatively safe in comparison to their peers.


The Italian and Spaniard find their sides in the midst of the battle at the wrong end of the league standings but, thanks to last season's unprecedented Premier League title triumph and the swell of good-natured opinion behind the pair respectively, the duo should have no fears over an imminent sacking by the Foxes or Boro in the foreseeable future.

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