In a shocking twist not seen since turkeys' stunning referendum came out against Christmas, ‘experienced Premier League managers’ are reportedly calling for English football to implement a sacking window that would prevent clubs from dismissing managers outside certain periods of the season.
The Sun report that the League Managers Association are being lobbied to push for the change, which would make changes of managers permissible only during the summer and January transfer windows.
They quote an anonymous ‘leading gaffer’ as saying: “Players have contracts and rules that mean they are not moved outside of the windows. It should be the same for us.”
Place your bets now as to which manager you think that might be. Our money is on [redacted].
The timing seems a bit odd from a Premier League perspective, with the top flight seeing just three managerial changes during the current active season.
All of those were within touching distance of the January transfer window, with Paul Heckingbottom and Steve Cooper sacked by Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest respectively in December.
The other was Roy Hodgson, who actually resigned from the post at Crystal Palace earlier this month.
Julen Lopetegui’s summer departure from Wolverhampton Wanderers by mutual consent meanwhile came six days before their season began on 14th August and during the transfer window.
It’s been a different story in the EFL, though, with 26 managerial dismissals taking place while the transfer window was closed, plus another six mid-season changes that occurred during transfer windows.
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