New seasons offer fresh starts, and the chance to draw a line under previous misery or mere disappointment.
There are novel projections and trajectories; the hope that maybe this time, things will be different. However, it doesn’t take all that much for the pre-season optimism to rapidly dwindle into pessimism and, in some cases, outright nihilism.
So many clubs in this day and age are desperate to back their project manager; to stumble upon their answer to Jürgen Klopp or Mikel Arteta. Letting go of whom you thought was your ideal is tough, but some have been cut-throat enough to pull the plug early before the spiral fully kicks in.
Here are the earliest sackings in Premier League history, based on games played at the start of a new season.
10. Javi Gracia
Club: Watford
Season: 2018–19
Games Lasted: 4
Date Sacked: September 4
Watford have developed a reputation for churning through managers, but many Hornets supporters thought they had something quite special in Gracia.
The Spaniard had them dreaming at the start of the 2018–19 campaign, when four wins from four had them third in the Premier League table. They were seventh as late as Gameweek 34 but slipped down to 11th, and subsequently succumbed to the joint-biggest FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Their struggle down the stretch permeated into 2019–20, and Watford parted ways with Gracia four games into the new season, having amassed just a single point. Still, he lasted longer than most.
9. Scott Parker
Club: Bournemouth
Season: 2021–22
Games Lasted: 4
Date Sacked: August 30
Parker certainly looks the part on the sidelines and has impressively earned promotion to the Premier League as a manager three times. But despite those successes, he’s yet to prove himself at the highest level.
Developing a methodology which sets his sides up for success in the top tier has so far escaped him, and after helping Bournemouth quickly return to the top-flight in 2022, he was given the boot off the back of a 9–0 defeat at Anfield—the joint-heaviest defeat in Premier League history.
8. Sir Bobby Robson
Club: Newcastle United
Season: 2004–05
Games Lasted: 4
Date Sacked: August 30
2004–05 was poised to be Sir Bobby Robson’s final season in charge at St. James’ Park, but the great English manager didn’t quite enjoy a Phil Jackson-like ’Last Dance’.
Instead of bowing out on a high note following an undoubtedly successful reign, Robson was dismissed just 16 days into the new season amid reported player discontent.
Former chairman Freddy Shepherd likened sacking Robson to “shooting Bambi.”
7. Peter Reid
Club: Manchester City
Season: 1993–94
Games Lasted: 4
Date Sacked: August 26
Manchester City player-manager Reid was sacked just 12 days into the 1993–94 campaign, yet the Sky Blues were able to cram four games in during that time.
A hierarchical shift, although not one quite as significant as the 2008 arrival of Sheikh Mansour, meant Reid was on borrowed time despite his respectable three-year stint at Maine Road.
City earned just a point from their first four, and the fast start made by champions Manchester United across town convinced the club to act.
6. Nuno Espirito Santo
Club: Nottingham Forest
Season: 2025–26
Games Lasted: 4
Date Sacked: September 9
Only time will tell just how silly a decision this was from Nottingham Forest, with owner Evangelos Marinakis opting to part ways with the man who returned European football to the City Ground for the first time in almost 30 years.
Nuno’s Forest were the surprise package of 2024–25, with their efficient counter-attacking style and stubborn defence seeing them secure a seventh-place finish.
However, trouble brewed over the summer, and Marinakis’ appointment of Edu Gaspar as his empire’s Global Head of Football ultimately brought Nuno’s hugely successful reign to a premature close. The pair fell out and supposedly weren’t on speaking terms long before the manager’s departure.
Forest went on appoint Ange Postecoglou—a manager with completely contrasting ideals when it comes to style of play.
5. Christian Gross
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Season: 1998–99
Games Lasted: 3
Date Sacked: September 5
“And even Christian Gross...”
The Swiss wasn’t actually one of the 14 managers hired during Daniel Levy’s near-25-year tenure, with Gross instead dismissed by the man who’d later earn TV notoriety for firing hapless business hopefuls: Lord Alan Sugar.
This was peak 90s Tottenham Hotspur purgatory, with the unknown Gross somehow earning a brief second season after guiding the club through a miserable 1997–98 campaign, having arrived in November.
4. Kevin Keegan
Club: Newcastle United
Season: 2008–09
Games Lasted: 3
Date Sacked: September 4
The tragic romance of Keegan’s first spell in charge of Newcastle United wasn’t quite mirrored during his second bite of the cherry.
Keegan’s Magpies of the 90s were the great “entertainers,” yet their absence of defensive structure cost them silverware. 11 years later, Keegan succeeded Sam Allardyce midway through the 2007–08 campaign with the aim of reinvigorating a drifting side.
After a woeful start, Newcastle showed signs of life under Keegan in the spring and there was hope of a sustained revival in 2008–09. However, the former Ballon d’Or winner resigned just three games into the new season following a dispute with the board over transfer policy.
3. Alan Curbishley
Club: West Ham United
Season: 2008–09
Games Lasted: 3
Date Sacked: September 3
Curbishley just pipped Keegan to the honour of earliest departure in 2008–09, and the West Ham United manager left for similar reasons to the returning hero on Tyneside.
Having spent 15 years in charge of Charlton Athletic, during which time he oversaw two promotions and consolidated their Premier League status, Curbishley took on the role as West Ham boss in 2006 but barely lasted 18 months at the helm.
He miraculously guided the Hammers to safety in 2006–07 before overseeing a top-ten finish the following season. A bright 2008–09 campaign was projected, but Curbishley resigned due to a lack of control over transfer policy.
2. Kenny Dalglish
Club: Newcastle United
Season: 1997–98
Games Lasted: 2
Date Sacked: August 27
A Premier League-winning boss with Blackburn Rovers in 1995, Dalglish succeeded Keegan as Newcastle manager in January 1997.
There was hope that the Scot would be the man to help the Magpies over the line, but Dalglish’s reign on Tyneside was largely a disappointment.
His final Premier League managerial stint until 2011 lasted just two games into the 1998–99 campaign.
1. Paul Sturrock – 2 games
Club: Southampton
Season: 2003–04
Games Lasted: 2
Date Sacked: August 23
Two games and nine days. It’ll take some doing to break Sturrock’s earliest departure record.
Success in Scotland and subsequently with Plymouth Argyle convinced Southampton to give Sturrock a gig in the big time, when they needed a replacement for Gordon Strachan in March 2004.
Remarkably, Sturrock’s brief tenure ended on a winning note, but Saints chairman Rupert Lowe was convinced that the club wasn’t heading anywhere with the Scot in charge. Still, the swift exit did little to change the course of their inevitable fate, as Southampton were relegated despite Harry Redknapp taking over in December.
Sturrock, meanwhile, never managed in the top-flight again.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Earliest Sackings In Premier League History.