Premiership / Paul Moon / 12 November 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Few managers are safe from the axe with Roberto Mancini of fourth-placed Manchester City just as likely to lose his job as Roberto Martinez of relegation-threatened Wigan. Paul Moon looks at the situation in England's top division.

Sackings in the Premier League have fallen since the top division's clubs signed up to a binding arbitration process that determines compensation in instances where settlements cannot be agreed. That said it would be a significant shock if at least two Premier League managers were not sacked before the January transfer window opens.

Those most in danger are reflected in Betfair's latest prices for Premier League Relegation 2010/11: Blackpool [1.78], Wigan [1.94], West Ham [2.12], Wolves [2.14], Birmingham [3.4], WBA [7.4], Stoke [7.6], Fulham [9.4], Bar [12.5].

Avram Grant of West Ham, Roberto Martinez of Wigan and Roberto Mancini of Manchester City seem closest to the exit door, but should they be? One understands the clamour for success but expectations are not always realistic and changing for change sake is not always the best option - sometimes it does a lot more harm than good.

Grant heads the 'chopping block stakes' and supposedly has only a few weeks to save his job. Working for the meddling David Sullivan must be the hardest job in football. Sullivan's latest decree bordered on madness when he said: "I'm looking for at least seven points from the match at Birmingham followed by West Brom and Blackpool next week and then Liverpool away. If we don't achieve that goal, we know we have a real problem and that we have to shuffle the pack."

This outburst probably reflects his true understanding of the sport or the lack of it!

Judging by that statement Grant is on borrowed time. Like Gianfranco Zola before him the uncertainty is compounding the situation and he is making basic mistakes with selection and substitutions, this has been accentuated by mutterings of discontent from senior players. The position is intolerable and virtually impossible to recover from!

Martinez remains a manager of great potential but unfortunately football is primarily a results business. The consensus is that he is trying to get his team that does not know each other too well to play too much football, too soon. However, to hear him articulate in front of the camera is like birdsong and despite the results his football intelligence resonates, for Wigan's sake he must be allowed to continue the job! His chairman Dave Whelan is not naturally a sacking manager so it remains a possibility that he will stay irrespectively. In any case they are not certainties to get relegated, there are other clubs in the mix.

Regardless of their league position Blackpool may have played their best football already and near certainties to go down. Stoke's strong home form and Rory Delap's long throws should assure they stay up but Birmingham and Blackburn could get sucked into a six-way dogfight with Wolves!

Roy Hodgson has been given a reprieve because of the new administration at Anfield so speculation about his future should die down, at least in the short-term but Mancini's position is more tenuous. The Abu Dhabi United Group are the owners of Manchester City and paying compensation for a dismissal would not be an issue for them. They are not interested in building blocks, structure, continuity or attractive football, they have paid hard cash for success and they want it now!

Looking for a line in the sand one senses January could be the key month. If Manchester City drop even further out of the title race than they are now (seven points adrift of leaders Chelsea), drop to fifth place in the Premier League, exit early from the Europa or the FA Cup then the axe would swiftly end the manager's tenure. Conversely looking at Mancini's demeanour he looks secure with himself and his three and a half-year deal.

Latest Betfair prices for top four finish 2010/11 include: Chelsea [1.04] Man Utd [1.12] Arsenal [1.15] Man City [1.50] Liverpool [4.8] Tottenham [4.8] Everton [9.00] Aston Villa [18] Bar [40].