Being a football manager at any level is a precarious occupation, and the Premier League is the most intense pressure cooker of all.
Life as a Premier League manager is tough, particularly when filling the dugout of an ambitious outfit that expects to be challenging at the business end of the division while also chasing down major honours.
Securing silverware is not enough for some, with short memories ensuring that nobody is ever more than a few games away from the Job Centre.
Some notable names have found that out to their cost down the years, with the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham giving coaches little time at the start of any given season in which to prove their worth.
Thomas Tuchel has become the latest to face the chop, with GOAL on hand to cast an eye over some of the earliest managerial changes that have been implemented by members of the so-called ‘Big Six’.
Getty ImagesJuande Ramos | Tottenham | 2008-09 | Eight games
It was quite impressive that Juande Ramos managed to get Tottenham into the position they were in by October 2008.
After just eight Premier League matches, Spurs were firmly rooted to the bottom of the table with only two points – earned via draws with Chelsea and Wigan Athletic. Although Spurs weren't getting blown away in games – they lost by more than one goal just once during this spell – it was clear that something had to change.
Martin Jol came in to replace Ramos and went on a five-match unbeaten run that included four wins, eventually guiding Spurs to an eighth-placed finish.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesBrendan Rodgers | Liverpool | 2015-16 | Eight games
Brendan Rodgers had a net spend of over £70m in the three transfer windows that followed Liverpool's agonising second-place finish in 2014.
And what did the Reds have to show for it after eight games of the 2015-16 campaign? 12 points, that's what. This might have been acceptable had the club been showing the green shoots of a recovery, but a 1-1 draw in the Merseyside derby proved to be the final straw.
Rodgers was sacked in October 2015 and swiftly replaced by a certain Jurgen Klopp, who has since transformed Liverpool back into an elite force on domestic and European fronts.
Getty ImagesGlenn Hoddle | Tottenham | 2003-04 | Six games
He may have been a club legend from his playing days, but that was not enough to keep Glenn Hoddle’s neck from the chopping block once the going got tough in north London.
The former England manager was relieved of his duties at White Hart Lane by the end of September in the 2003-04 campaign, with only four points taken from six Premier League fixtures.
Spurs came unstuck against Birmingham City, Fulham and Chelsea before seeing their manager moved on after going down 3-1 at home to Southampton.
David Pleat stepped in as caretaker coach, but only managed to lift a sleeping giant as high as 14th in the table.
Getty ImagesThomas Tuchel | Chelsea | 2022-23 | Six games
On May 29, 2021, Thomas Tuchel got his hands on the Champions League trophy following Chelsea’s narrow 1-0 victory over domestic rivals Manchester City at Estadio do Dragao in Porto.
By September 7, 2022, fortune had reversed so dramatically for the German tactician that was handed a P45 at Stamford Bridge.
Eyebrows were raised when the axe fell in west London but, given the Blues’ penchant for change in the dugout, such drastic action was not all that surprising.
Former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain boss Tuchel was moved on after picking up 10 points from six games in the Premier League and suffering a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in an opening European encounter of the 2022-23 campaign.