Championship close to breaking league record for most managerial changes in one season with 15 so far – and Watford have made just one
Every season the Championship has become increasingly competitive in the race to win the £170million promotion to the Premier League.
As a result, clubs have become more and more cut throat when it comes to their managers – so much so that England’s second tier is now close to breaking its own record for the most changes in one season.
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The latest change saw Mick McCarthy come in at Blackpool
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As it stands, just four points separate third place and 11th place Preston in the race for the play-off spots, with Vincent Kompany’s Burnley and Sheffield United comfortably taking up the automatic promotion spots.
As a result, all those sides in the race bar Blackburn have made managerial changes. But whilst the battle for the top six has been tense, dismissals have happened all across the second tier.
By the start of October, Chris Wilder’s departure from Middlesbrough saw the tally for managerial changes rise to eight for the season – a record for that stage of the campaign.
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Now, following Blackpool’s decision to sack Michael Appleton, the tally stands at 15, with 14 out of 24 clubs making changes with four months of the season still to go.
The record for the most switches in the dugout in one Championship season is 19, which was set in the 2014/15 campaign back when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked by Cardiff before his managerial spell at Manchester United.
So which clubs have made the chop this season and should we expect anymore before May? talkSPORT.com has all the information…
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Watford have made just one change this season, bringing in Bilic for Edwards
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The story so far
Mick McCarthy’s first game in charge at Blackpool against Huddersfield – who sacked Danny Schofield for Mark Fotheringham in September – was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
But whilst McCarthy has time to turn the Tangerine’s season around, the Terriers still sit in the drop zone and are at risk of dropping to League One for the first time since 2012.
It’s no surprise Watford have contributed to the sacking tally this season.
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However, whilst the Hornets board have a reputation for being trigger happy with managers, they’ve made just one change this campaign – although they did dismiss Rob Edwards for Slaven Bilic after just nine games.
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Morison faced the chop this season and so did his replacement
Edwards then signed for Watford’s fierce rivals Luton Town, stepping in for Nathan Jones after the Welshman’s first Premier League appointment at Southampton.
It’s actually strugglers Cardiff that have sacked two managers, dismissing Steve Morison and his replacement Mark Hudson with a new appointment yet to be announced – and ex-England boss Sam Allardyce is the bookies favourite to take the job.
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The changes haven’t driven the Bluebirds clear of the relegation zone, and QPR’s change hasn’t seen them progress either with now-Rangers boss Mick Beale‘s replacement Neil Critchley’s side still sitting in 13th.
Rock-bottom side Wigan bringing in Kolo Toure and Stoke City’s decision to appoint Alex Neil from Sunderland following the sacking of Michael O’Neill has had the same effect.
