Under-pressure Premier League managers at mercy of owners’ whims

An international break can be a treacherous time for under-pressure club managers. Sackings were expected during the recent run of Nations League matches and friendlies. Even on the morning of the Queen’s funeral there was wide speculation that Steve Cooper would be relieved of his duties at Nottingham Forest. That the announcement had been delayed, suggested the rumour mill, was only out of respect for Her Majesty.

Cooper remains Forest’s manager, and will lead his team into the return of the Premier League. On Monday at Leicester, he will shake the hand of Brendan Rodgers, another manager that WhatsApps and social media ITKs (“In-The-Knows”) were suggesting had been given his cards.

While Watford kept their end up by removing Rob Edwards, in the top division a sack race that began the season in bloodthirsty fashion has slowed. The exits of Scott Parker from Bournemouth and Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel both came after friction between owner and manager. More than results, the prime reason for managerial departures has become an owner’s whims.

Cooper feeling the pressure after ending Forest’s 23-year exile from the Premier League reflects the dispensability managers in this age of all-powerful billionaires and their egos. The widely speculated sacking-that-wasn’t was put down to Forest’s struggles in assimilating the 23 players brought in by the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, and his operatives.

The days when a manager was the most important person at a club are long lost. The super-agents who curate the lives of star players are often closer to owners than even the sporting directors that managers are often answerable to. Managing upwards can involve joining a lengthy queue. Only the true modern greats in Jürgen Klopp at