‘Tis the season to get sacked from a Premier League job

Premier League coaches, whose sides are at the wrong end of the table, can expect no festive goodwill whatsoever from trigger-happy chairman. Following two years of giving nobody the sack in December, 2013 saw four managers given their cards in and around Christmas.

This month could prove to be a similar story with just three points separating the bottom six after 14 games. Who is in danger of losing their job then? Coral football experts found themselves asking the same question, and here’s our take on ‘the sack race’.

Nigel Pearson (7/4)
Steering Leicester City to the Championship title must seem a distant memory for Pearson. The East Midlands outfit now prop up the Premier League table with just 10 points and are on a run of nine without a win, losing seven.

Pearson has the King Power group from Asia backing his club, but will he be entrusted with further funds to revive Foxes fortunes? Maybe not, as main summer signing Leonardo Ulloa looks like being a flash in the pan. Since his brace in mid-September, the Argentine striker has failed to score and it’s no coincidence Leicester’s form has dipped as a result.

Owners from the Far East have proved tough to please. Just look at Vincent Tan. Pearson’s namesake Nigel Adkins could be facing a similar fate in the Championship now that Reading have been taken over. There have been rumours lately that Tony Pulis could be parachuted in to save the Foxes, and they may be not without substance.

Following his reported altercation with fans and saying critics of the club should stay away, Pearson is under real pressure and makes for a worthy favourite in the next manager to leave market.

Alan Irvine (9/4)
West Bromwich Albion head coach Irvine’s position was safe while Saido Berahino was scoring. His goals have dried up, however, with none since the end of October and now the Baggies are on a run of four straight defeats.

It was around this time last year that ruthless Albion chairman Jeremy Peace got edgy and handed fellow Scottish boss Steve Clarke his P45. While he was a victim of his own success, steering the Baggies to an eighth-place finish in 2012/13, the same cannot be said of Irvine.