Watford are changing manager. Who else is the chair rocking under?

The first major coaching change of this season was made by Watford. Spanish coach Xisco has been sacked and his successor is Claudio Ranieri, who won a sensational title with Leicester in the 2015/16 season. The club’s management decided to make this move due to disappointing results (15th place in the PL). However, let’s now take a look at 5 coaches whose future at the club is very uncertain.

Ronald Koeman

A clear candidate for the sack. He was appointed Barcelona coach at the beginning of the previous season and he was supposed to be the saviour who would bring the Spanish big club back to the top. He was quite successful in the early part of his engagement. Last season can be judged as a success. 3. a league place and a Spanish Cup triumph were very solid results.

However, since this summer, things have been going downhill for Barcelona. The club has been hit especially by the departure of Messi, who left his heart team after 17 years when the club could no longer afford him due to the dire financial situation. Griezmann and the promising Royal also left.

Thus, the club’s ambitions could not be the same as in the past. Barcelona’s current season, however, has been an agony. The Catalan team is in 9th place in the league and already has a huge gap to the top of the league. 2 games, no points and a horrible 0:6 record in the Champions League.

After Messi’s departure, the team has lost its playing identity. The defence is in total disarray, the attack lacks productivity, and some of the starting lineup is past its prime. Coach Koeman simply has nothing left to give the team, nothing to move it forward, his end is inevitable.

So far he has the support of President Laporta, but it’s only a matter of time before he is removed. There would have to be a drastic improvement, and with Barcelona’s current state of mind, that doesn’t really seem to be an option. The management has several names in its sights. Erik ten Hag, Roberto Martínez, Adrea Pirlo or the legendary Xavi could be the new coach.

Steve Bruce

As far as the Premier League is concerned, Steve Bruce is a big candidate for recall. The experienced Newcastle coach has been with the team since 2019 and the previous 3 seasons have been quite successful. He has always finished in 15th place with the team, exceeding the club’s ambitions.

However, things are not so glorious in the current season. Newcastle’s entry into the new season hasn’t gone well at all. 7 games, 3 points and 19th place in the table. It’s quite possible that the Magpies will have big rescue worries. The English side hasn’t even won yet.

The team needs some positive momentum, some change to get going. They certainly have the quality to stay in the league. The chances of Bruce finishing the season on the Newcastle bench are pretty slim. On the contrary, it is very likely that he will soon have to move on.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The former player icon of the club has been coaching the Red Devils since 2019. He has managed to stabilize the club, bringing the proper concept to the team, which has steered the famous club in the right direction. The management has bought him great players and the current quality of the team is immense. However, he is still waiting to win the big trophy.

And this is no coincidence. It turns out that the Norwegian coach has some coaching shortcomings. The team lacks a game face, there is no game system built into the DNA of the team.

Manchester United relies heavily on the genius of Fernandes and co. With the arrival of Ronaldo, this reliance on attack has become even more pronounced. Their game is so quite readable and they have paid the price for this way of playing several times this season.

Solskjaer is not in danger yet. The Red Devils are in direct contact with the front of the Premier League, they can achieve great success in the Champions League as well. His dismissal doesn’t make sense yet.

But Manchester United have always had the highest ambitions and that is still the case today. This is Solskjaer’s 3rd season on the Manchester United bench and if he fails to win any trophy again, then his dismissal will be a perfectly understandable move by the club’s management.

Nuno Espirito Santo

The start of the engagement went well for the former Wolves manager. His charges won all 3 league games 1: 0, he also scored the scalp of Manchester City and got the team to the 1st place of the Premier League.

But then things started to fall apart. Losses to Crystal Palace (0:3), Chelsea (0:3) and Arsenal (1:3) followed and the club suddenly dropped to the brink of the top 10. These defeats were all the more painful because each time it was a London derby.

Even the team’s biggest star, Harry Kane, is not in form (he hasn’t scored a single goal in the league yet). The summer transfer saga seems to have had a negative impact on him. He has been invisible in games and is a shadow of the cannonballer of yesteryear.

This negative streak was stopped by Tottenham with a home win over Aston Villa (2: 1). However, neither the performance nor the results are ideal. The team is currently in 8th place, which is far beyond expectations. The club’s ambition is to compete for the Champions League.

In addition, Santo has a clause built into his contract, which the club has used to insure that a similar situation to Mourinho’s does not occur. The clause says that if he doesn’t finish with the team in 6th place, he will automatically be sacked. And that’s without any compensation.

Source: Twitter, Transfermarkt