At the start of this season, would anyone have predicted Unai Emery and the previously retired Roy Hodgson would be vying for the Premier League manager of the month award going into the final weeks of the campaign?

Of those not sacked, Nottingham Forest’s Steve Cooper has been told “results and performances must improve immediately” by owner Evangelos Marinakis and West Ham’s David Moyes appears to be under pressure whenever his struggling side lose a game.

And there are currently five interim managers plugging gaps at Tottenham, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leicester and Southampton – plus Javi Gracia on a “flexible contract” at Leeds – which tees up a very busy summer.

It has been an unprecedentedly difficult season to be a Premier League manager. Here, BBC Sport crunches the numbers and speaks to League Managers Association (LMA) chief executive Richard Bevan to find out why.

1. Big-six failings and ‘disruptor teams’

“Unpredictability” has characterised the season, according to LMA chief Bevan.

Two members of the traditional ‘big six’ have struggled – inconsistent Liverpool are in eighth, with disjointed Chelsea in 11th and closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League places.

Under Eddie Howe, Newcastle are gatecrashing the top four, while Brighton, Brentford and Aston Villa – who replaced Steven Gerrard with Emery in October – are in contention for the European places.

“The established Premier League ‘big-six’ teams’ performances have been more variable than recent years, which has created opportunity for some of the mid-table teams to emerge, causing employment instability within the league,” says Bevan.

“Two clubs which have historically achieved Champions League qualification through finishing in the top four are currently out of these positions and high-performing disruptor teams have shown an excellent level of consistency, perhaps above pre-season expectations.”

2. Intense relegation battle

This season is seeing one of the closest relegation battles in recent years and of the bottom nine team teams, only West Ham and Forest are yet to sack their boss.

Bournemouth’s Scott Parker was the first manager to lose his job when he was sacked on 30 August, just 25 days into the season, after his side were thrashed 9-0 by Liverpool. But his successor Gary O’Neil is – currently – one of those rare caretaker-turned-permanent manager success stories.

Bottom club Southampton are on to their third manager after dismissing Ralph Hasenhuttl in November and then sacking his successor Nathan Jones after just 95 days, before settling on Ruben Selles until the end of the season.

“European qualification and relegation remains a high possibility for a high number of teams, which adds to the significant pressure for managers to succeed,” said Bevan.

3. Short-termism

Half of the top flight’s current managers have been in their roles less than six months, with Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, appointed in October 2015, the longest serving.

There are just five managers who have been in place for more than two years.

“The average tenure of dismissed Premier League managers this season is 1.57 years. Ten out of 13 managers who have been dismissed were in post for less than two years,” says Bevan.

“This short-term approach does a disservice to the quality and talent of the managers and coaches in our game.

“One of the most important prerequisites for success is stability, a core component in the elite performance environment, which managers and coaches are responsible for developing.”

Patience, however, was high in the Premier League’s inaugural campaign – 1992-93 – when there was just one manager sacked, Ian Porterfield leaving Chelsea in February.

4. Competitive balance

“The Premier League’s global reach and the revenue that it generates has enabled all clubs across the league to acquire high-quality playing talent, narrowing the performance gaps across the league and increasing competitive balance,” says Bevan.

“This is a significant contributor to the unpredictability we see in the league this season.”

The Premier League’s financial dominance in Europe has seen two record-breaking transfer windows this season with £2.8bn spent across the 2022-23 campaign, dwarfing the rest of Europe.

Forest signed a record 29 players since last summer, spending more than £160m, while Southampton paid out £126m and West Ham splashed out £171m.

5. More scrutiny than ever before

“The intense scrutiny on teams and managers in the Premier League continues to increase,” says Bevan.

“It is clear that continued, vociferous external pressure forces club decision-makers to take short-term decisions in an effort to find improvement in results and performances.

“Notwithstanding a small number of exceptions, short-termism is not a proven strategy for performance improvement. It may appease the critics, but it rarely delivers results.

“It is important for clubs to appreciate that sport creates variability, and therefore to build their business models to withstand variations in performance.”

Before his dismissal in April, Chelsea’s Potter also revealed his mental health had suffered after he and his family received anonymous abuse during the club’s poor run of form.

Bevan added: “While the managers understand and appreciate the context in which they work in, and are well remunerated, the personal and vitriolic abuse they often have to deal with can have a significant personal impact on them and their families.

“This season we have witnessed well-documented cases of abuse going beyond the context of football.”

Sourced From BBC