The start of a Premier League season is a time of unbridled optimism. There are new signings, fresh tactics, and the belief that maybe, just maybe, this season will be different. Fans flock to stadiums, hearts brimming with hope, as players take to the pitch with the promise of glory ahead.
However, in the high-stakes world of football, optimism can swiftly turn into despair. For some managers, the season doesn’t even last long enough to open the first bottle of Christmas wine.
Premier League managers are well aware that success is short-lived, and job security is delicate. Some survive for years, cementing their place in club history, while others barely get time to learn where the staff room is.
Today, we take a look at the 10 earliest Premier League sackings in history.
Strap in for the details.
- 1. Paul Sturrock – Southampton (2004-05)
- 2. Peter Reid – Manchester City (1993-94)
- 3. Kenny Dalglish – Newcastle United (1998-99)
- 4. Bobby Robson – Newcastle United (2004-05)
- 5. Alan Curbishley – West Ham United (2008-09)
- 6. Kevin Keegan – Newcastle United (2008-09)
- 7. Christian Gross – Tottenham Hotspur (1998-99)
- 8. Ruud Gullit – Newcastle United (1999-00)
- 9. Howard Wilkinson – Leeds United (1996-97)
- 10. Graeme Souness – Blackburn Rovers (2004-05)
- 11. Frank de Boer – Crystal Palace (2017-18)
1. Paul Sturrock – Southampton (2004-05)
- Sacked: 23 August 2004 – 9 days
Nine days. That’s all Paul Sturrock had to make an impression before Southampton decided, “Nah, this man isn’t it.” It’s like being dumped after a first date before you’ve even ordered dessert. Sturrock, who took over in March 2004, was tasked with steering the Saints into calmer waters, but just two games into the new season, the club decided to call it quits.
A 2-0 loss to Aston Villa followed by a 3-2 win over Blackburn should’ve bought him some time, right? Wrong. Two days after the win, Sturrock was gone.
In classic football speak, they parted ways by “mutual consent” – which is like saying you both agreed to the breakup, but really, it was Southampton swiping left hard and fast.
His replacement, Steve Wigley, fared no better, lasting only until December. And to make things worse, Harry Redknapp, the eventual saviour, couldn’t keep them from relegation. The grass wasn’t greener – just browner and shrivelled.
2. Peter Reid – Manchester City (1993-94)
- Sacked: 26 August 1993 – 12 days
Back when Manchester City wasn’t the juggernaut it is today, Peter Reid became one of the first casualties of Premier League impatience.
Technically a player-manager, Reid might’ve had a hunch that things were going south when he saw the back of a new City hierarchy – a classic “new boss, new ideas” scenario.
Just four games into the season, City only managed to scrape together a single point, courtesy of a 1-1 draw against Leeds on the opening day. But three successive losses – including a 2-0 humbling by Blackburn at home – proved to be Reid’s undoing. If you think Pep’s got pressure today, imagine being a manager when all you had was Niall Quinn’s head to aim for.
Reid had anticipated the sacking but was probably hoping for at least a month’s grace before someone hit the panic button. Instead, they hit it after just four matches.
Reid moved on to try his hand (or feet) at Southampton, while City struggled on, finishing just two points ahead of relegation. Across town, Manchester United won their second consecutive title, as City fans undoubtedly muttered, “Typical.”
3. Kenny Dalglish – Newcastle United (1998-99)
- Sacked: 17 August 1998 – 12 days
Being the man after the man is never easy, and no one knew this better than Kenny Dalglish. Having replaced Kevin Keegan, who was as beloved in Newcastle as Greggs pasties, Dalglish never quite managed to capture the same magic. And after an underwhelming start to the 1998-99 season, the board had seen enough.
Two draws – one with Charlton and another against Chelsea – was all it took for Newcastle’s notoriously twitchy owners to decide Kenny’s time was up.
Out you go, manager. Ruud Gullit came in as his replacement, but he too found out that the Toon job was about as cushy as a bed of nails.
Dalglish would go on to reappear at Liverpool some years later, but his early Newcastle exit is a reminder that some jobs are just poison chalices, no matter your pedigree.
4. Bobby Robson – Newcastle United (2004-05)
- Sacked: 30 August 2004 – 16 days
Few sackings in football history are as universally lamented as Sir Bobby Robson’s departure from Newcastle. Freddy Shepherd, Newcastle’s chairman, famously said that firing Robson was like “shooting Bambi,” and he wasn’t wrong. Robson was a beloved figure, not just in Newcastle but across the footballing world.
However, the wheels were starting to wobble after Newcastle finished 5th in the previous season, missing out on Champions League football. A few matches into the 2004-05 campaign, with no wins in their first four games, the knives were out.
Robson was dismissed after a 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa. Many blamed player power, and to this day, former chairman John Hall holds a grudge against the players who contributed to Robson’s sacking.
Newcastle’s poor form continued under Robson’s successors, and the team ended up in the mid-table wilderness. It’s fair to say the decision to axe Robson didn’t have the desired effect.
They spiralled into mediocrity, while Robson left behind a legacy that remains untouched.
5. Alan Curbishley – West Ham United (2008-09)
- Resigned: 3 September 2008 – 18 days
Now, technically, Curbishley wasn’t sacked—he resigned. But we’re counting it because it’s one of the more notorious early-season departures.
After leading West Ham to two wins from their first three games, Curbishley quit 18 days into the 2008-09 campaign in protest over the club selling players against his will.
West Ham shipped out George McCartney and Anton Ferdinand behind his back, breaking Curbishley’s contract and trust. Naturally, he took them to court and won, pocketing a tidy compensation sum.
But after such a sour experience, Curbishley has stayed far away from football management since.
West Ham went on to hire Gianfranco Zola, who led them to a respectable ninth-place finish. Zola’s charm may have worked with the fans, but Curbishley’s exit left an unmistakable cloud over the Hammers.
6. Kevin Keegan – Newcastle United (2008-09)
- Resigned: 4 September 2008 – 19 days
The Return of the King was meant to be a dream homecoming for Newcastle fans. Instead, it turned into a Mike Ashley nightmare.
A day after Curbishley threw in the towel at West Ham, Kevin Keegan – the King Kev himself – followed suit at St. James’ Park.
Frustrated by Newcastle’s shambolic transfer policy (you might remember the name Xisco – no one else does), Keegan decided he wasn’t up for being a puppet on Mike Ashley’s string.
Much like Curbishley, Keegan felt that he wasn’t given the control a manager should have, and when you’ve got Keegan’s passion, compromise just isn’t an option.
His resignation sparked outrage among fans, and rightly so. They eventually dropped out of the Premier League that year, and Keegan’s second stint as manager ended with a sour taste.
What followed was a managerial merry-go-round that only solidified Newcastle’s reputation as a club that couldn’t get out of its own way.
7. Christian Gross – Tottenham Hotspur (1998-99)
- Sacked: 5 September 1998 – 21 days
When Christian Gross arrived at Tottenham Hotspur in 1997, he famously brandished his London Underground ticket at the press conference, saying it was his “ticket to success.” Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
Instead, it was his ticket out of north London, as Gross became a walking punchline for tabloid hacks everywhere.
By the time the 1998-99 season rolled around, Gross was on thin ice, and it didn’t take long for that ice to crack. Just 21 days into the new campaign, the club had seen enough, and Gross was sent packing.
It was less about the team’s poor form and more about the feeling that Gross was out of his depth in the Premier League.
Tottenham fans breathed a sigh of relief as they moved on to George Graham, who at least knew how to set up a defense, even if it wasn’t always pretty.
8. Ruud Gullit – Newcastle United (1999-00)
- Resigned: 28 August 1999 – 21 days
Another season, another Newcastle sacking – this time, it was the turn of Ruud Gullit. Gullit had taken over from Kenny Dalglish and, for a while, things looked promising. But by the time the 1999-00 season kicked off, Gullit’s relationship with key players – notably Alan Shearer – had hit rock bottom.
The final nail in the coffin was a 2-1 defeat to Sunderland, where Gullit bizarrely left Shearer and Duncan Ferguson on the bench. Newcastle fans were not impressed, and Gullit paid the price for his tactical blunder.
The fans were livid, and Gullit’s decision to quit before being pushed seemed inevitable.
9. Howard Wilkinson – Leeds United (1996-97)
- Sacked: 9 September 1996 – 23 days
Howard Wilkinson remains the last English manager to win the top-flight title, but that wasn’t enough to save him.
Leeds United, where Wilkinson had worked miracles by winning the old First Division in 1992, saw their form dip significantly in the 1996-97 season. After just two league wins in their opening five games, combined with a humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Manchester United, the board decided it was time for “Sergeant Wilko” to march off.
The decision to let Wilkinson go was met with mixed reactions.
After all, this was the manager who had delivered Leeds’ first league title in 18 years. However, football is a fickle game, and past glory rarely holds weight when the current form is dire.
Wilkinson’s departure was the beginning of a turbulent time for Leeds, a club that would eventually fall from grace spectacularly in the following years.
10. Graeme Souness – Blackburn Rovers (2004-05)
- Mutual: 6 September 2004 – 23 days
During his playing days, Graeme Souness may have been a tough-tackling midfield general, but his managerial stint at Blackburn ended abruptly.
After just 23 days into the 2004-05 season, Souness packed his bags and headed for Newcastle United, much to the relief of Blackburn fans.
His departure was somewhat of a mutual decision, with Blackburn happy to pocket some compensation while Newcastle hoped Souness could turn their fortunes around. Spoiler alert: he didn’t.
11. Frank de Boer – Crystal Palace (2017-18)
- Sacked: 11 September 2017– 29 days
If brevity is the soul of wit, Frank de Boer’s time at Crystal Palace was a Shakespearean tragedy of managerial tenures. Hired with great fanfare in the summer of 2017, the Dutchman was supposed to bring an Ajax-style revolution to Selhurst Park.
But in just 29 days, he was shown the door after four consecutive losses, with zero goals scored.
Palace’s ambitious vision of Total Football evaporated almost as quickly as it began. The Eagles had brought de Boer in for a tactical overhaul but pulled the plug after just 450 minutes of football.
While de Boer claimed he needed time, Palace’s hierarchy wasn’t feeling quite as philosophical. His replacement? Roy Hodgson, who quickly reminded everyone that pragmatic football was the way to go at Selhurst.
De Boer’s ill-fated stint remains the shortest managerial reign in Premier League history in terms of games—four, to be exact. The Dutchman later had the dubious honour of being dubbed “the worst manager in Premier League history” by José Mourinho.
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