It’s that time of year when punters start to place their outright bets on the outcome of the Premier League campaign. Who will win the title? Finish top four? Be relegated? Top goalscorer? Most clean sheets? The available markets are almost countless. Another popular option is the Premier League Sack race, or the ‘Next Manager to Leave Their Post’ category, to give its somewhat more polite name.
Offered by a number of leading UK bookmakers, this is a market that will now pay out on the first manager to be given the boot during the 2025/26 season… after all, resignations at the top level are as rare as hen’s teeth. Three of the top four positions in the market are occupied by the managers of the promoted teams, with Leeds United’s Daniel Farke the protagonist at 5/1 and Sunderland’s Regis Le Bris (6/1) and Burnley’s Scott Parker (7/1) in behind. Of the trio, it’s perhaps Parker – given his CV – that should be considered the most likely to be handed their P45.
The Early Bird
Scott Parker (Credit: Nick, Flickr.com)
Parker has held three permanent managerial jobs prior to Burnley… and he was sacked from each of them. But on two occasions, he lasted barely a matter of weeks in the role. It will be fascinating to see if the Burnley hierarchy give him time even if it looks as though the Clarets are heading for relegation.
They certainly did with Vincent Kompany, who after guiding the Lancashire club to the Championship title in 2022/23 oversaw an immediate return to the second tier with relegation the following season. Burnley only won five games all season long, but they played in a progressive manner and there was a sense that Kompany was a head coach on an upcurve – confirmed when he was handed the Bayern Munich job even after that EPL demotion.
Will Parker be viewed in the same light as Kompany? He guided Bournemouth to Championship promotion in 2021/22, before overseeing a remarkably chaotic start to their Premier League return. The Cherries were trounced 0-3, 0-4 and 0-9 by Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool respectively; the latter an indictment of the doubts over Parker’s coaching style at the top level.
He was sacked after launching a verbal tirade at Bournemouth’s owners, blaming them for a lack of spending in the summer – Parker’s tempestuousness had made it easy for him to be sacked. Although the Clarets have splashed the cash in the summer transfer window, they’ve also lost top goalkeeper James Trafford, have been unable to persuade defender CJ Egan-Riley to sign a new deal and released club stalwart – and last season’s top goalscorer – Josh Brownhill.
That sound you can hear is Parker simmering… Prior to that, he’d overseen a Premier League relegation with Fulham in 2020/21 – the Cottagers scoring just 27 goals all season long, before a dismal spell at Belgian side Club Brugge saw Parker dismissed after two months and one week in charge.
Burnley earned promotion from the Championship on the back of being tough to beat – breaking all manner of defensive records along the way. But Parker has lost Trafford and Egan-Riley since, while doubts about his ability to coach teams to be effective in an attacking sense means that the home support at Turf Moor could lose patience quite quickly this term. There’s no shortage of punters interested in the 7/1 about Parker to be sacked first… and it’s hard to argue with them.
Premier League Sack Race: Best of the Rest
Daniel Farke (Credit: Michael John Button, Flickr.com)
Rumours abounded that Leeds United were considering sacking Farke literally days after he had won the Championship for them. The club’s fans were up in arms and the German’s future was assured; with an army of thousands of Yorkshiremen and women behind him, Farke will surely enjoy a stay of execution at the helm.
Regis Le Bris is beloved on Wearside after his work in securing a Premier League return for Sunderland. He will surely be given a chance to prove himself at the top level… up to a point, anyway. Even so, the Frenchman can be expected to outlast Parker, you would think, given so much goodwill is with him. Eyebrows were raised when Brentford appointed Keith Andrews as their replacement for Thomas Frank in June.
The Irishman has never managed at any level, let alone the Premier League, and was working as Brentford’s set piece coach when hired. The Bees’ board, helmed by professional punter Matthew Benham, have opted for continuity with the appointment of Andrews, and while he may or may not prove to be a success, he will surely be given time to prove it either way. Maybe more time than Parker is given, anyway…