Should David Moyes be sacked and is Ryan Giggs perfect for Wales?
Betting odds, sack race and news from the football manager merry-go-round
Who would be a football manager? Just three months into the season, five Premier League bosses have already been sacked and there is constant speculation over a number of others.
So far this campaign, Frank de Boer, Craig Shakespeare, Ronald Koeman, Slaven Bilic and this week Tony Pulis have been fired by Premier League clubs. On the international stage, the end of World Cup qualifying has seen Chris Coleman and Gordon Strachan move on, leaving the Wales and Scotland jobs vacant.
With the busy festive period coming up – and pressure building on a host of top-flight gaffers – could we see more managerial casualties? It may not be a happy new year for some…
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A quick glance at TransferMarkt.co.uk shows just how many talented and experienced managers are currently out of work. Luis Enrique, Thomas Tuchel and Laurent Blanc are just three notable names on the unemployed list.
So, which big clubs and international teams are searching for a manager? Here’s the rundown...
Vacant manager positions
- Premier League: Everton, West Bromwich Albion
- Scottish Premier: Rangers
- International: Wales, Scotland, Italy
We round up the news from the managerial merry-go-round, starting at West Ham...
Fans call for Moyes to be sacked – after one match
Poor David Moyes. He was appointed West Ham United manager on 7 November but fans are already calling for him to be sacked.
The former Everton, Manchester United and Sunderland boss took charge of his first Hammers match on Sunday and watched his new side crash to a 2-0 defeat at Watford. West Ham fans were not happy with the performance and many made their feelings known on social media.
The Daily Mirror reported that the knives were out for Moyes after only 11 minutes of the game, when they conceded the first goal. The #MoyesOut hashtag on Twitter was the last thing the under-fire board of the East London club wanted to see.
Another fan on Twitter wrote “he’s made us worse”, says The Sun, as Moyes’s team slumped to defeat at Vicarage Road.
Moyes takes charge of his first home match on Friday night when Leicester City are the visitors to the London Stadium. Despite being in the job for only a couple of weeks, the London Evening Standard says that the Scot has “two games to stop club spiralling out of control”.
If West Ham don’t get a good result on Friday, the Standard predicts, “it could be a very cold winter in the East End” for Moyes.
And the Daily Express reports Joey Barton saying that Moyes could face the sack in January if a more “attractive” manager becomes available.
‘Giggs is perfect for Wales’
After Chris Coleman left for the Sunderland job, Wales are in search of a new manager for the first time since 2012.
According to Oddschecker, former West Brom boss Pulis is the bookies’ favourite to take over from Coleman, while Craig Bellamy, Thierry Henry and Carl Robinson are also in the running.
Another option – and one that could be very popular with fans – is former Manchester United star Ryan Giggs, who won 64 caps for Wales.
Phil Neville believes Giggs, his former United teammate, is “perfect” for the Wales job. Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said: “I’ve not spoken to Ryan Giggs about the Wales job but what I would say is that Wales have got to find somebody who is fresh, able to relate to the players and somebody who will inspire them.
“Wales is a great first job, a chance to take over a team and take them forward again and inspire them again after a massive disappointment in failing to make the World Cup.
“They don’t need somebody with experience, they need somebody who will inspire the likes of [Gareth] Bale and Aaron Ramsey again and Ryan is the perfect man to do that.”
Silva still Everton’s first choice
Everton have already had a £10m approach turned down by Watford for their boss Marco Silva, but the Daily Express reports that he is still the first choice for the Goodison Park role.
David Unsworth is in charge on a caretaker basis after Ronald Koeman’s sacking in late October, but the delay in announcing a replacement could mean Unsworth’s chances of landing the role are looking slim.
According to Oddschecker, Silva is the 8/11 favourite for the Everton hot seat while Unsworth is 5/1 and Sean Dyche 12/1.
Meanwhile, former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, priced at 12/1, has reportedly ruled himself out of the running for the Everton job, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Five leading candidates for West Brom
Following Pulis’s sacking West Brom are searching for a new boss and the Daily Star picks out five leading candidates for the vacant position at the Hawthorns.
The Star names Alan Pardew, Koeman, Nigel Pearson, Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp as five managers who could replace Pulis. Pardew is 2/5 favourite with Oddschecker while Martin O’Neill and Allardyce are 7/1.
When asked who would be their pick as West Brom’s next manager, the football writers at the Birmingham Mail all had differing opinions.
Names such as Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder, Burnley’s Sean Dyche and former Chelsea and Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas were also thrown into the mix.
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