Graham Potter, second among Premier League top 10 managers, is doomed (2023)

None of these guys had a cat in hell. Your P45s were in the outbound mail. The Grim Reaper was at the door from day one.

Three of these top 10 doomed managers have held and lost their positions over the past two seasons...

10) René Meulensteen (Fulham)In his book 4 Per Nielsen – Brondby for Evigt? (Brondby forever?)” Soren Sorgenfri Frederiksen tells the story of Rene Meulensteen, who asked his Brondby players what their spirit animal was before the Uefa Cup first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

"When Rene asked all 11 players he said: 'OK, we've got pretty good coverage - we've got tigers, lions: we're smart, we've got muscles, we're strong and so on. We mustn't lose today.'

Brondby lost 4-0 and received two red cards. We can only guess how Dimitar Berbatov, Damien Duff, Adel Taarabt and Darren Bent would have reacted when asked to live out their alter egos against Hull City. But a 6-0 defeat does not bode well and what is absolutely clear from Meulensteen's 17 games at Fulham is that spirit animals cannot defend for nothing. They conceded 37 goals.

9) Sammy Lee (Bolton)Little Sam became a bride for a very short time when Sam Allardyce picked up sticks for Newcastle but was to remain bridesmaid.

Lee won just one of his 11 games in the hot seat at Bolton, then returned to warm spots alongside Rafa Benitez at Liverpool and Ronald Koeman at Southampton before being caught again by Allardyce's big,verybriefly with England, then at Crystal Palace, Everton and West Brom.

8) Tony Adams (Portsmouth)"If you don't ask, you get nothing" is essentially the philosophy behind Tony Adams, who becomes Harry Redknapp's successor in Fratton Park. Adams was Redknapp's assistant for two years and asked the board if he could replace his mentor, who responded to Tottenham's call.

After Redknapp guided Pompey to back-to-back finishes in the top half of the seasonFirst Leagueand the FA Cup title, Adams - who had no managerial experience apart from a brief stint as an assistant - won just four of his 21 games in charge.

7) Unai Emery (Arsenal)Emery has averaged 1.85 points per game in his time as Arsenal boss, just behind the legend who came before him and the young winger who threatens Arsene Wenger and Mikel Arteta at 1.95 and 1.94 respectively.

The Spaniard led the Gunners to fifth in his only full season, a feat Wenger has not been able to match in his last two campaigns, while Arteta was eighth in his first two seasons. That along withGood job by Emery at Aston Villa, leaves you wondering if Arsenal might have progressed if their fans could put up with his "good evening" excuse. Still, getting fired now seems like a pretty decent decision.

(Video) How much was Graham Potter to blame for Chelsea disaster?

6) Roy Hodgson (Liverpool)After Hodgson improbably guided Fulham to the 2010 UEFA Cup final, he was tasked with restoring Liverpool to their former glory. It's fair to say that Reds fans weren't exactly convinced by a manager whose side finished the season in 12th place before his arrival, albeit with that European run.

And a medium to low tableFirst LeagueThe pundit couldn't hope to win fans over by blaming a lack of support for poor performances.

Losing Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano as he walked in the door certainly wouldn't have helped, but the arrival of Luis Suarez should have eased the pain more than it did.

5) Andre Villas-Boas (Chelsea)Portuguese? Check over. Bride? Check over. Minor/no player career? Check.Porto Manager? Check over. Triple winner? Check over. Unfortunately, Villas-Boas wasn't Jose Mourinho.

While his predecessor took over at Stamford BridgeFirst Leagueper storm, Villas-Boas disruption was seemingly limitedChelseateam while demoting the club's legends to reserve, where they attempted to be sacked by a perceived authority with fewer chest hairs than them.

Released in March and until MayChelseawon another FA Cup and their first Champions League trophy.

4) Nuno Espirito Santo (Tottenham)Nuno was the fifth pick behind Mauricio Pochettino, Paulo Fonseca, Gennaro Gattuso and Antonio Conte, who decided he actually wanted the job after his interim manager was sacked after 17 games. In that sense, Nuno was a way to give Conte a little more peace of mind.

The former Wolves boss was only given a two-year contract and after looking for a midfielder and reinforcements for Harry Kane, he was given neither. New sporting director Fabio Paratici took time out of his busy schedule to frown at Nuno on the sidelines, presumably sending scouting reports to Conte on his deckchair as they prepared for his inevitable arrival once the stopper was relieved of duty became.

3) Rafael Benitez (Everton)As he smacks the fans in the face,That was stupid. Not only have they lost one of the greatest managers in history in Carlo Ancelotti, but Everton's board of directors decided to replace him with a man whose face graced dartboards in pubs north of Stanley Park.

Signs reading 'We forgive you, Rafa' could be seen at Stamford BridgeChelseaSupporters managed to put past injustices behind during the Spaniard's involvement, but not at Everton, whose fans instead hung 'Benitez not welcome' banners at the gates of Goodison Park as Liverpool's rivalry predictably proved too strong.

2)Graham Potter(Chelsea)New morning inChelsea. New owners, new players, new manager and new long-term strategy. Todd Boehly and his partners at Clearlake wanted a legacy. No more obviously brilliant managers who keep winning. Thomas Tuchel? No thank you.

But really, why not wait a bit to sack an obviously brilliant manager so that the relative rookie who replaces him doesn't have the benefit of a pre-season with this group of totally random players so many assembled that other clubs don't you can have asChelseathey actually want or need them.

Oh, and did you know that the exceptional striker, known for being a bad influence in the dressing room, signed five days before Tuchel's sacking? He's going to score all the goals, right? Cool.

1) David Moyes (Manchester United)It would be fascinating to see how Sir Alex Ferguson would fare if he stayed on for another season. Although Moyes has a Premier League-winning squad to work with, many of those players have had sell-through deadlines.

Paul Scholes retired with his gaffer. Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic stayed for one final season but were essentially eliminated. Robin van Persie's constant overhaul of the 2012-13 season when United won the title took its toll under Moyes.

He couldn't say no as Ferguson had told him he would be Manchester United's next manager, but he was probably also aware that the cup he was given was as poisoned as it could be. Moyes didn't just replace the greatest managerFirst LeagueHistory saw him take office at a time when the greatest renewal was needed.

Moyes didn't have to spend all his pocket money on Marouane Fellaini, but £30m definitely wasn't enough pocket money either.

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