EPL managers not so merry

The Premier League's managerial merry-go-round has turned once again and this time it's Derby's gaffer, Billy Davies, who has taken a leap from the EPL's equivalent of the London Eye.

Indeed, it's been a whirlwind three months for Premiership bosses as six managers have departed their clubs for various reasons since the season began, with the trend set to continue if Fulham and Middlesbrough can't pull themselves out of the relegation race.

The turnover in managers, particularly in the last few weeks, is not completely surprising.

As maintaining a position in the Premier League is such a lucrative financial business, any club that is not achieving the results it needs to guarantee a position in England's top flight has to implement changes of some sort and the easiest of those is the manager.

November is also the optimal time to make this change as well for not only has the League settled down - with the contenders separated from the pretenders - but the incoming manager also has all of December to evaluate his new charges and make plans ahead of the January transfer period.

However, the six managerial casualties in this campaign so far is a significant increase on 2006-07, when just two clubs had opted to change their bosses up to this point in the season.

The two clubs in question last year were West Ham and Charlton, two sides whose dire results up to that point had prompted the changes. In Charlton's case it actually fired two bosses, Iain Dowie and Les Reed, before settling on Alan Pardew.

This season, though, results have only been one part of the managerial equation and the hiring and firing of managers has increasingly been influenced by the backroom politics of various clubs.

The highest profile political casualty has been Chelsea's Jose Mourinho. Ever since the arrival of Andriy Shevchenko at the club at the start of last season, the 'special one' was under pressure from owner Roman Abramovic to play the Ukrainian superstar regardless of his lack of form in the English competition.

This seems to have been just one of the reasons for the well-publicised bust-up between Abramovic and Mourinho which, after an injury crisis derailed the early part of the Blues' season, led to Mourinho and the club's board 'mutually' agreeing to part company.

After Mourinho, Tottenham's Martin Jol was also a victim of club politics. Spurs have been one of the great disappointments of the season so far, having promised a Champions League spot and delivering 14th on the table to this point. But Jol's fate was sealed before the campaign even kicked off as club insiders had approached Sevilla's Juande Ramos to take the helm at White Hart Lane during July because they did not believe Jol had what it took to take Spurs to the next level.

Ramos, himself, was in many ways the victim of club politics back in Spain as well for his president at Sevilla, Jose Maria Del Nido, looked set to offload his best player, Dani Alves, for a huge profit, thereby forcing Ramos to contend in both the domestic and Champions League with a team missing their talisman.

Back to England, though, and Wigan's Chris Hutchings and Bolton's Sammy Lee were certainly the victims of their own results. However, this was probably not the case for Birmingham's Steve Bruce as the Blues have produced solid results so far in their return to the top flight.

In the case of Birmingham, prospective new owner Carson Yeung has become public enemy number one amongst Blues' fans, as he had publically declared prior to beginning takeover negotiations that Bruce's head would be on the chopping board. As the negotiations have now stretched on and on, Bruce did what he had to do to secure a job, stepping into the vacant position at Wigan following Hutchings' departure.

Davies' resignation from Derby following a string of poor results is perhaps not unexpected but also seems to be symptomatic of a season in which a fluid managerial market has caused unexpected ripples across Europe.

Although the managers of struggling newly-promoted clubs like Sheffield and Watford - Neil Warnock and Aidy Boothroyd respectively - stayed on for the entire season last year, this time around, with so many top flight managers now available, Davies knew it was better to jump or be pushed.

While a high level of sackings is not unexpected elsewhere in Europe, particularly in places like Italy and Spain, to have it happen in England during the first three months of a season is somewhat unusual. The trend also appears set to continue as well, for more managers will surely head out the door before the season ends.

Lawrie Sanchez at Fulham and Boro's Gareth Southgate are obvious candidates for dismissal if results do not improve. Another under-pressure manager is Sunderland's Roy Keane, although the credentials Keane established for himself in the Championship last year might see him through the season.

Another manager who is at odds with his club's owners, though, is Liverpool's Rafa Benitez. Rafa has openly criticised American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillet's refusal to consider new transfers until January. The Liverpool boss believes it's necessary to have money available prior to the transfer window opening in order to have liquid funds available to tempt new signings, but the owner's refusal to provide these has seen Rafa open fire.

However, conspiracy theorists have questioned the timing of Rafa's moves, believing the Liverpool man is attempting to get himself fired in order to put his hand up for the vacant England job now that Steve McClaren has bitten the dust.

In all the shenanigans surrounding managers, it does appear that a combination of results and dodgy backroom politics is behind the increase in sackings/resignations so far this season. Managers are also under more pressure than ever as clubs are desperate to stay in the top flight in order to reap the benefits from the new TV rights deal the Premiership signed with Sky Sports last year.

But, the end result of so many managers suddenly becoming available has been increased managerial instability across England and also in Europe and it's anyone's guess now where some people will turn up before the season's been completed.

As always, watch this space.