Football fans believe Martin Jol will be the next Premier League manager to be sacked, new YouGov research shows.
The study – undertaken following Paolo Di Canio’s removal from the Sunderland dug out - shows that one in five (20%) fans think that the Fulham boss will be this season’s second top flight casualty.
YouGov’s research – part of wider Premier League study – finds around one in ten fans (11%) believe Newcastle United’s Alan Pardew will be the next to get the boot, while similar numbers say the same for Crystal Palace’s Ian Holloway (10%) and new Manchester United boss David Moyes (9%).
Only 6% do not think another Premier League manager will be sacked this season.
Di Canio – the wrong man
The survey was carried out after Paolo Di Canio became the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season, departing as Sunderland manager after only 13 games in charge and leaving the Black Cats at the bottom of the Premier League. A majority (52%) of football fans thought Sunderland were right to sack Di Canio as manager, while roughly half this amount (27%) thought they were wrong in doing so.
This number increases significantly amongst Sunderland fans, with over three-quarters (77%) believing their club made the right decision in getting rid of their fiery Italian manager.
There was initially much controversy surrounding the Italian’s appointment, due to previous remarks he had made about fascism. Despite more than half (55%) of football fans thinking it was acceptable for Sunderland to hire Di Canio at the time of his appointment, following Di Canio’s dismissal a similar number (58%) said that Sunderland were wrong to appoint him as manager in the first place.
Again, this number increases slightly amongst Sunderland fans, with 61% believing their board were in the wrong.
Fans get it right
With former Brighton boss Gus Poyet being announced as Sunderland’s new manager, YouGov’s research can also reveal that, prior to Poyet’s appointment, a quarter (25%) of football fans correctly predicted the Uruguayan would become the next Black Cats boss. Fifteen per cent of fans thought other bookies favourite, Roberto Di Matteo, would take the hot seat, while only 5% thought caretaker boss, Kevin Ball, would become the next manager.
A higher proportion of Sunderland fans rightly anticipated the appointment of Poyet as their new manager with 44% of the club’s fans getting it right, though a higher proportion (16%) also thought that Kevin Ball would take the hot seat.
