As the FIFA international break pauses the 2023/24 Premier League season following the conclusion of matchday 8, several managers who have underwhelmed this season have found themselves in the dreaded position of not knowing if/when a sack letter will come. The old saying that “Managers are hired to be fired” has been proven to be true in most cases, with less than 5% of top-flight managers across Europe lasting five or more years in their roles, as revealed by UEFA’s September report by the BBC. Last season witnessed a record 15 permanent managerial sackings in the Premier League alone. And this season, several prominent managers have already come under pressure. Erik ten Hag will have been a relieved man after Scott McTominay’s two late goals helped Manchester United snatch a win against Brentford and quieten the rumours swirling around his position as manager. Another manager who’s on shaky ground is Paul Heckingbottom of Sheffield United. Under his leadership, the Blades have failed to secure a victory in the first eight matches of the season, joining Andoni Iraola of Bournemouth as the only other winless manager with both teams rooted to the bottom of the English Premier League table. Rob Edwards of Luton and Everton’s Sean Dyche have also struggled since the start of the season. With winter approaching, this article will delve into the permutations and odds surrounding the potential first managerial casualty in the Premier League’s Sack Race for the 2023/24 season. Punters alike can also win big with the best odds from the potential sacking of these managers by betting on the managers to get sacked in the Premier League on Nigeria’s best online sports betting platform, Betking. **First PL Manager to get sacked in the 2023/24 season** 1) **Paul Heckingbottom (Sheffield United):** Paul Heckingbottom became the coach of Sheffield United in November 2021. He guided the Blades to an impressive second place finish in the 2022/23 Championship season to help them secure promotion into the Premier League. But since gaining promotion, Sheffield United have lost seven out of eight games, one of which was an embarrassing 8-0 defeat at home to Newcastle United on matchday 6. To make matters worse, their only point this season came in a 2-2 draw at home against Everton on Matchday 4. Heckingbottom has also struggled to deploy solid defensive strategies as the Blades have conceded 22 goals (a staggering 56.41% of the total number of goals that they conceded in the Championship last season). It is also the most conceded by a single team in the Premier Leage so far this season as they sit bottom of the league. These stats are not in favour of a team that wants to maintain topflight status and it suggest Paul Heckingbottom’s days at the helm might be numbered, especially because of the daunting fixture list ahead. After the international break, they welcome [Manchester United](https://m.betking.com/sports/match/5666641/sheffield-united-manchester-united) before going away to play [Arsenal](https://m.betking.com/sports/match/5690829/arsenal-fc-sheffield-united) with Wolves and Brighton to follow. It only gets tougher from here for Heckingbottom. If he doesn’t turn the fortunes of the Blades around, he could well be the first manager to fall in the 2023/24 Premier League sack race.
2) **Andoni Iraola (AFC Bournemouth):** AFC Bournemouth currently sit 19th on the Premier League table, with 5 losses and 3 draws after 8 games. The Cherries have scored the fewest number of goals (5) in the league and have the 3rd poorest defence in the league having conceded 18 goals already this season. If last season is anything to go by, then Iraola’s days are numbered as Bournemouth are not known for patience if favourable results aren’t forthcoming. Former head coach: Scott Parker, who guided the Cherries safely into the Premier League last season, was sacked after being in charge for just 26 days following a poor start to the campaign just after 4 games. Iraola will need to turn the Cherries’ fortunes around very soon if he is to avoid losing his job. Unlike Heckingbottom, he has a fair chance to do that against Burnley and Wolves. If he cannot arrest the slide over those fixtures, it’s unlikely that he can against Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle. You can get odds on [Bournemouth’s next game against Wolves](https://m.betking.com/sports/match/5666347/afc-bournemouth-wolverhampton-wanderers) with BetKing and visit [their Blog](https://m.betking.com/blog/) for betting tips, and bet prediction on all types of bets.
3) **Erik Ten Hag (Manchester United):** It would have been near impossible to imagine Erik Ten Hag’s position would be uncertain before the season started, but here we are. The Dutchman ended Manchester United’s 6-year trophy drought by winning the EFL Cup, reaching the FA Cup final and finishing third in the 2022/23 Premier League season. That impressive debut season have made the struggles of this campaign unfathomable as United look completely disorganised and disoriented. The latter has been of particular concern to fans and pundits as they still look as disorganized as they did with Cristiano Ronaldo in the team; something that the Portuguese legend was blamed for. Six defeats in 11 games across all competitions this season have set off the panic alarms. Even when they win, they rarely look convincing. First, a 1-0 win against Wolves who were by far the better team, coming from 2-0 down to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2, another narrow 1-0 away at Burnley and most recently coming from behind to snatch all three points against Brentford with two goals scored in added time. These are the results still keeping Ten Hag in the job while his team continues to be plagued with multiple problems on and off the field. The Glazers have shown in times past that they have no problems firing underperforming managers and if Ten Hag doesn’t do something soon, he could find himself on the unemployment line very soon. Up next for Ten Hag and Manchester United is an away game against Sheffield United, before hosting champions, [Manchester City](https://m.betking.com/sports/match/5690835/manchester-united-manchester-city)
4) **Rob Edwards (Luton Town):** It is probably unfair to have Rob Edwards in such discussions considering the extreme lack of topflight quality he has to work with, but the game is the game. Luton Town earned a fairytale promotion to the Premier League with a squad many considered not even good enough for the Championship. The underdogs only spent £17 million last summer and failed to add any real Premier League-quality players to the squad so it wouldn’t have taken a soothsayer to see their struggles coming. The Hatters are currently 17th with four points from eight games, the type of form to put any manager’s job in serious jeopardy. Edwards is likely to be the first manager to get fired, albeit unfairly, as pretty much any coach would struggle to get much from the current Luton squad. Up next for them is a run of games against [Nottingham Forest](https://m.betking.com/sports/match/5666640/nottingham-forest-luton-town), [Aston Villa](https://m.betking.com/sports/match/5690831/aston-villa-luton-town), Liverpool and Manchester United. If they somehow survive that, Rob Edwards should be safe.
5) **Sean Dyche (Everton):** Everton appear to be stuck in a loop. Every year the Toffees underperform and barely escape relegation. Often, this is thanks to a manager change. But how many more lives does this cat have? Everton are currently 16th on the log with seven points from eight games and it doesn’t bode well for Dyche that they have the Merseyside Derby coming up immediately after the international break with games against West Ham, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Manchester United to follow. The stat that should worry Sean Dyche the most: he’s the seventh permanent coach Everton have had since 2016 and four of his predecessors were fired mid-season. The only bit of good news for Dyche is that precedence suggests that Everton typically wait till December/January to fire managers, so he still has some time to set things straight.
**This season’s sack race is on, and the wait continues for the first Premier League manager to fall.** **For more on high odds, live bet predictions, along with the best betting offers, [sign up with Betking](https://m.betking.com/account/registration), take advantage of our amazing products, features and offers such as FlexiCUT, Free Bet and our 300% acca bonus.**