Eight Premier League clubs head into 2026-27 with a new manager in the dugout, matching the competition’s joint-highest total for turnover in a single summer. With the opening fixtures locked in, the premier league betting odds markets are already shifting around which appointment carries the greatest risk of an early departure.
Some of the new arrivals inherit settled squads and modest expectations. Others walk into promoted sides still adjusting to the physical demands of the top flight, or clubs with a recent history of moving on managers within months rather than years. A handful will also be judged against a popular predecessor who left the club in significantly better shape than they found it.
In this article, we assess four managers facing the toughest opening months of the new season, and who looks most exposed to an early sacking.
Sergej Jakirovic, Hull City
Jakirovic is not a new appointment, having taken charge at the MKM Stadium in June 2025, but he is new to the Premier League. He led Hull City to a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final, Oli McBurnie scoring in stoppage time, after the Tigers finished sixth in the league and took the last play-off place on the final day by beating Norwich City.
Hull went down at the end of their previous top-flight campaign in 2016-17, and the recent record for promoted clubs is mixed. All three went straight back down in 2024-25, while Sunderland and Leeds United both survived last season. If Hull want to survive relegation this season, they will need a squad and manager capable of handling it, and Jakirovic is unlikely to be given long to prove he can, especially if results go against him early.
Alvaro Arbeloa, Fulham
Arbeloa replaced Marco Silva at Craven Cottage on a three-year deal after Silva left for Benfica. His only senior managerial experience came last season at Real Madrid, where he stepped in on an interim basis in January and took the club through the final 28 matches of the campaign, finishing second in La Liga and reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
Fulham finished 11th on 52 points last season, which leaves little room for a difficult start under a manager with no Premier League experience. His first fixture pits him against friend and former Real Madrid team-mate, Xabi Alonso, whose Chelsea side visit Craven Cottage on the opening weekend, with supporters already tracking football betting odds for early relegation candidates should results not go his way.
Gary O’Neil, Ipswich Town
O’Neil returns to the Premier League after Ipswich Town appointed him in June, six months into a spell at Strasbourg. This follows Kieran McKenna’s decision to step down, having guided the club to automatic promotion from the Championship. He kept Bournemouth in the division in 2022-23 before overseeing Wolverhampton Wanderers to a 14th-place finish in 2023-24.
Ipswich were relegated after a single season in the top flight in 2024-25, and O’Neil now follows a manager who spent four and a half years at Portman Road and won promotion twice. Liverpool and Manchester United feature in his first five fixtures, so a slow start would leave little margin for recovery.
Marco Rose, Bournemouth
Rose succeeds Andoni Iraola following the Spaniard’s move to Liverpool, taking over a squad that finished sixth on 57 points, the club’s highest ever Premier League placing and enough to secure Europa League football. His opening assignment is a trip to the Etihad Stadium, where Bournemouth have lost all nine of their Premier League visits. Everton, Newcastle United and Brentford follow, before Iraola returns to the Vitality Stadium with Liverpool in the fifth game.
Jakirovic, Roseand Arbeloa carry the least established top-flight pedigree of the group, both stepping into the division for the first time as head coaches. O’Neil has Premier League experience behind him, but the new Ipswich boss has little room for a slow start given what is expected his squad.
