It’s been a quiet season in the Premier League when it comes to managerial changes. Only three clubs have opted to roll the dice this season with Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace decided to swap their gaffers mid-campaign.
The majority of the upheaval in the dugout is likely to be reserved for the summer months, with owners using the two and a half month break as an opportunity for a clean break. We’ve picked out three clubs who may decide to ditch their coaching team once the current campaign has concluded.
Manchester United
It’s largely been a season to forget for Manchester United and Erik Ten Haag. The Dutchman was praised last year for his handling of the Cristiano Ronaldo saga, yet he has been unable to take the club to the next level. The former Ajax boss’ contract expires in 2025, although he’s been extremely coy around any discussions taking place about a potential extension to his current deal.
Ten Haag has been criticised for his tactics this season with the Red Devils failing to control games, particularly during the second half of the campaign. United have conceded 48 goals in 32 matches so far and have won less than 50% of their matches (15 of 32).
At the beginning of August, Ten Haag’s men were priced up as one of the favourites for a top four finish by the majority of the online best betting sites, however, they’ve routinely confused bettors and since Christmas, they’ve dropped points against Nottingham Forest, West Ham, Brentford and Bournemouth. United now find themselves in a battle for sixth spot with Newcastle and are likely to start the 2024-25 campaign at much heftier odds.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe purchased a 25% stake of the club this year and the businessman, who also owns OGC Nice in France and Lausanne Sport in Switzerland, may decide that Ten Haag’s days may be numbered and pull the trigger once United have completed their final game of the campaign at the AMEX Stadium on May 19th.
West Ham
David Moyes’ position has been under scrutiny for a number of months, however, the club’s current run of form has done very little to secure his tenure in East London. The Hammers have won just three Premier League games since December 28th and their Europa League campaign looks likely to be cut short by Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.
Although Moyes hasn’t necessarily lost the dressing room, his style of play is often perceived as fairly negative and having won just one of their last eight home matches, the London Stadium has had very little to cheer so far throughout 2024.
Although some fans have suggested that Jose Mourinho may fancy a return to the English top flight, he is arguably a fairly unrealistic target for the club. Reims boss Will Still is reportedly a target with the French club expecting their highly-rated gaffer to make his exit this summer.
Still, who supposedly supported the Hammers growing up, is just 31-years old, yet he has done a fantastic job in the Grand Est Region of France and has previously been linked with a number of vacancies in the UK.
Brentford
Although the majority of Bees fans are resigned to losing striker Ivan Toney this summer, they may also have to cope with a change in the dugout too.
Thomas Frank arrived in West London in 2016 as assistant head coach to Dean Smith before stepping up to take control upon Smith’s departure in 2018. He has been praised for maintaining the club’s Premier League status year-on-year, yet there have been some suggestions that he may have taken the team as far as he can.
The Dane is extremely popular with the fans and he appears to be under very little pressure from the hierarchy, yet he may fancy a new challenge this summer.
It has been a disappointing campaign for the Bees, who have picked up just four victories since the beginning of November, however, the players are still clearly working hard for the gaffer and his squad has been beset by injuries with several key players missing significant chunks of the season.
In terms of potential replacements, Anderlecht’s Brian Riemer is a leading candidate having previously coached at the club under Frank, however, he signed a new contract last year which will keep him in Belgium until 2026. He was part of the club’s most successful period and would be an extremely popular appointment at the Brentford Community Stadium.
