We’ve had just one managerial casualty to far in the Premier league, with Slaviša Jokanović being replaced at Fulham by the returning 'Tinkerman' Claudio Ranieri in the middle of November.
The usual names for the next to be relieved of their duties are still floating around, with Southampton’s Mark Hughes odds on favourite at around 1/2, after failing to guide Saints to a win in nine fixtures. Jose Mourinho and Roy Hodgson (12/1) continue to mill around just behind the Welshman.
Now, however, a relatively new name has plundered into the frame with the bookies smelling blood at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Manager Nuno Espírito Santo has suffered a dire run of results throughout the past month with just a single point from five games.
At the beginning of November, the Portuguese was 66/1 to leave his post. A fortnight later, that price had halved to 33/1 and now following an awful 2-0 home loss to Huddersfield, Santo finds himself at 12/1 to be the next manager sacked (betfair).
After a season high position of seventh after Gameweek 8 following a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, it’s been all downhill. Wolves have sank into the bottom half of the table with 16 points, just a point better than they were at the beginning of October.
Initial dreams of Europe look retrospectively preposterous. Wolves are now eleven points adrift of a Europa League qualification spot, compared to eight points off the relegation zone. Daunting meetings with Chelsea and Liverpool are forthcoming in their next five fixtures.
A visit to lowly Cardiff City awaits on Friday night. Should Wolves continue to bleed points, expect those odds for ‘Nuno no more’ to be dramatically slashed even further.
