The football manager job can be a horrible one in football which can be an unforgiving results based business. Someone is always going to be bottom of the league and that means someone will pay with their job as owners and fans have far reaching expectations. Let’s take a look at the 10 shortest manager stints in Premier League history.
8. Tony Adams – Portsmouth (106 days)
Tony Adams is one of the greatest one club players in Premier League history but he also holds one of the shortest manager stints in league history. Adams held trainee coaching roles in the Netherlands and a spell at Wycombe where he failed to avoid relegation to League Two before joining Portsmouth as assistant manager under Harry Redknapp in 2006.
Redknapp would leave to Tottenham in 2008 and Adams was appointed caretaker manager. After just 16 games as manager and picking up only 10 points, Adams was sacked and replaced with caretaker manager Paul Hart.
7. Colin Todd – Derby County (98 days)
Colin Todd played 600 games in the Football League but couldn’t even crack 100 days managing Derby County. Todd had a successful stint at Bolton where he earned promotion to the Premier League and yo-yoed through the top two divisions.
Todd joined Swindon in 2000 and was sacked after five wins in 20 games. He went on to join Derby County as an assistant before taking on the managerial role in late 2001. With a lack of transfer funds available, Todd couldn’t reverse their poor form and he was sacked.
6. Terry Connor – Wolves (91 days)
Terry Connor has been an assistant for almost his entire managerial career. In 2012 Connor replaced Mick McCarthy as manager following his sacking from Wolverhampton. In his 13 games in charge he couldn’t steer the club away from Premier League relegation, failing to win any games and grabbing only four points.
The club would hire Ståle Solbakken during the offseason as his replacement. In 2018 Connor served as an assistant to Republic of Ireland manager and close associate Mick McCarthy during theit Euro 2020 campaign which failed following a 4-2 shootout loss to Slovakia in the playoffs.
5. Quique Sanchez Flores – Watford (85 days)
Spanish football manager Quique Sánchez Flores was a former manager of Real Madrid’s youth team before going on to manager Getafe, Valenica, Benfica, Athletico Madrid and spells in UAE. In 2015 he managed Watford as the fifth manager in the space of only one year.
Flores earned himself the Premier League Manager of the Month award in December 2015, earned a mid-table finish and made the finals of the FA Cup before leaving in 2016 for the Espanyol job in Spain. In 2019 he returned to Watford, managed only one win and was sacked after 85 days. During his reign, Watford lost 8-0 to Manchester City, falling behind 5-0 after only 15 minutes.
4. Bob Bradley – Swansea City (84 days)
American Bob Bradley had a very successful spell with the USMNT, winning the 2007 Gold Cup, were runners-up in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and reached the round-of-16 at the 2010 World Cup. In 2016 Bradley became manager of Swansea City becoming the first American to manage in the Premier League.
The Swansea supporters who own a 21% stake in the club, were disappointing that they weren’t consulted with his appointment and rightfully so. In 11 games, Swansea conceded 29 goals and won only two games. After less than 3 months in charge, Bradley was sacked and he was replaced with Paul Clement.
3. Frank de Boer – Crystal Palace (77 days)
Frank de Boer lasted only 77 days, but in terms of games in charge he holds the shortest reign in Premier League history. He joined Crystal Palace from Inter Milan after being sacked by the Italian club after only 85 days.
Hope would have been high for both Inter and Crystal Palace after de Boer had won the Eredivisie four seasons in a row with Ajax. Unfortunately in his first four league games with Palace, they became the first team in 93 years to fail to score a single goal in their first four games. Roy Hodgson would take over and manage the club to an 11th place finish that season and enjoyed four successful seasons at Palace.
2. Rene Meulensteen – Fulham (75 days)
A former professional midfielder, René Meulensteen spent 12 years at Manchester United including managing their youth and reserves teams. In 2007 he became a first team coach at United and was a part of three Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson.
In 2013 Meulensteen took up a position as a head coach at Fulham under Martin Jol. Jol was sacked soon after with Meulensteen taking the managerial role at the club. He managed only four wins in 17 games and was replaced with Felix Magath after only 75 days in charge.
1. Les Reed – Charlton Athletic (41 days)
Les Reed held various roles with the FA before becoming an assistant to Alan Curbishley at Charlton Athletic in 1995. After another stint at the FA he then returned to Charlton as an assistant to manager Iain Dowie in the summer of 2006. Despite being given the most money to spend in Charlton’s history at that point, Dowie was sacked in November with the club in the relegation zone.
Reed took over and was way out of his depth in his six-week stint, dumped out of the League Cup by League Two side Wycombe Wanderers and with a single league win. Reed was sacked after only 41 days in charge and Alan Pardew would take over, unable to avoid relegation at seasons end.
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