Reuters Soccer Blog

Nervous managers lack Christmas cheer after Allardyce axe

The festive season is upon us but, just like turkeys, Premier League managers will be getting a bit twitchy after two of their brotherhood fell to the axe in the past week.

The fact that both victims were ruthlessly dispatched with their sides doing reasonably well will only add to the sense of trepidation.

First Chris Hughton was sacked by Newcastle United despite winning promotion last term and steering the Magpies into the top half of the table.

Then on Monday Sam Allardyce was booted out by Blackburn Rovers despite winning four of his previous seven league matches — a decision Alex Ferguson described as “absolutely ridiculous.”