NUMBER TWO: Crystal Pard-less merry go-round

Pardew sacking triggers managerial musical chairs - 22/12/16

December is often the time when Premier League chairman begin to reach for the panic button and last season it was Crystal Palace owner Steve Parish who blinked first.

The Eagles were languishing in 17th place, one point above the relegation zone, when they dismissed 55-year-old Alan Pardew just a couple of days before Christmas.

In truth, it was a surprise that Pardew lasted that long, after Palace had recorded just six wins in the whole of 2016.

Parish acted quickly. So quickly in fact, that new manager Sam Allardyce was appointed before Palace’s important trip to Watford on Boxing Day.

That prompted others to act.

Allardyce has an impressive track record when it comes to keeping teams in the top-flight and, under his guidance, it seemed inevitable Palace would improve.

This was a concern for the Premier League’s fellow stragglers, who were also in danger of losing piles of TV money, gained by having a top-flight status.

The next manager to pay the price was Swansea’s Bob Bradley, whose tenure ended after just 11 games when he was sacked on December 28.

A couple of days later, Mike Phelan was axed by Hull, despite having to manage a side with only 13 fit senior players at the start of the campaign.

Ultimately, though, the managerial changes worked.

Allardyce and Paul Clement, who was appointed at Swansea in January, both kept their sides up, while Hull’s Marco Silva took a seemingly relegated club to the brink of safety.

The immediate success of the battlers then led to the biggest casualty of the season – last year’s hero, Leicester’s Claudio Ranieri.

The charismatic Italian was dismissed on February 23, just nine months after spectacularly winning the title with the Foxes.

Leicester were 17th at the time, one point above the relegation zone, and were in real danger of becoming the first Premier League champions to be relegated the following season.

At a time when the cost of Premier League survival is greater than ever, Ranieri’s past achievements were seemingly forgotten as he was sacked following a run of five straight defeats.

Once again, though, the decision paid dividends.

Leicester won their next five games under caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare, who led Midlanders to an unlikely 12th place finish.

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