Clubs with most managers in a Premier League season: Nottingham Forest set for dubious record after Sean Dyche sacked
Given how the Premier League has built itself into a financial behemoth, clubs have become increasingly desperate to avoid relegation and guarantee themselves a maximum cut of the huge windfall each year.
When teams find themselves embroiled in a battle to beat the drop, it can often cost the manager his job, and that is often more true in the Premier League than any other European domestic competition.
Hiring three managers in a season has become somewhat excusable for clubs floundering at the bottom of the table: the manager at the start of the campaign is sacked as adverse results pile up, their replacement fails to turn things around, and one last desperate change is made before acceptance sets in towards the final few matchdays.
Yet four is unheard of, as it requires the ownership group to pay buyouts to three previous managers in a desperate attempt to change the course of the season. The continued upheaval is considered detrimental to the squad as the players suffer repeated turnover in leadership.
Yet here are Nottingham Forest once again under mercurial owner Evangelos Marinakis, following the dismissal of Sean Dyche in mid-February. The Sporting News explains where Forest reside in the annals of Premier League history with yet another managerial change.
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Clubs with most managers in a Premier League season
Nottingham Forest will soon set the record for most permanent managers over the course of a Premier League season after the dismissal of Sean Dyche put them on track to seek their fourth of 2025/26.
They will become the first side to hit the mark after eight different clubs had employed three during previous seasons. Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Vitor Pereira is expected to be the fourth man in charge.
| Managers | Club | Season | Names | Result |
| 4 | Nottingham Forest | 2025/26 | Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche, TBD | ?? |
| 3 | Southampton | 2022/23 | Ralph Hassenhuttl, Nathan Jones, Ruben Selles | 20th (Relegated) |
| 3 | Leeds United | 2022/23 | Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia, Sam Allardyce | 19th (Relegated) |
| 3 | Watford | 2021/22 | Xisco Munoz, Claudio Ranieri, Roy Hodgson | 19th (Relegated) |
| 3 | Swansea | 2016/17 | Francesco Guidolin, Bob Bradley, Paul Clement | 15th |
| 3 | Fulham | 2013/14 | Martin Jol, Rene Meulensteen, Felix Magath | 19th (Relegated) |
| 3 | Portsmouth | 2008/09 | Harry Redknapp, Tony Adams, Paul Hart | 14th |
| 3 | Charlton Athletic | 2006/07 | Ian Dowie, Les Reed, Alan Pardew | 19th (Relegated) |
| 3 | Sunderland | 2002/03 | Peter Reid, Howard Wilkinson, Mick McCarthy | 20th (Relegated) |
Does changing manager so often in a single season ever work?
Of the eight clubs to have employed three permanent managers in a single season, six of them suffered relegation at the end of the campaign.
However, there is hope for Nottingham Forest, as Portsmouth and Swansea City proved it’s possible to remain safe for the short-term future in the Premier League after such managerial upheaval.
Unfortunately, history has proven that even if they remain safe from relegation at the end of the season, it doesn’t last long. Just one season after finishing 14th in the 2008/09 Premier League, Portsmouth finished 20th and dropped out of the top flight. Swansea suffered the same fate, as they were relegated just one year after their near miss in 2016/17, sent down with an 18th-place finish the very next season.
