Southampton sack Mark Hughes following an increase in managerial dismissals
BBC sport broke the news that Mark Hughes had been sacked after winning just three out of 22 league games.
In November, The Sun newspaper compared a historical average of sacked managers to six ‘under fire’ managers. One of them was Mark Hughes and the statistical data showed that his sacking was on the horizon.
Southampton fan Sean Walford said: “I can understand why we sacked him but I think the problem is bigger than just the manager.”
It begs the question of whether we expect more of managers today. In 2015, the League Managers Association revealed that managerial sackings in England’s top four divisions were at their highest level in 13 years.
LMA chief Richard Bevan said: “ The figures highlight the complexity and volatility of being a manager. It makes it a very difficult environment to build long-term winning cultures.”
The infographic below shows the worrying rise in managerial sackings across England’s top four leagues.
Whether managerial sackings results in better team performance remains unanswered, but overall statistical data shows that there has been a significant increase in dismissals.