After 21 months in charge, and just three games into the season, Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked last month. Despite having taken the team to their highest finish in over 30 years, the decision was made after an uncertain couple of weeks, following a public declaration that his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis had deteriorated.

Since writing this article, he (Nuno) is back in employment at West Ham as the merry go round continues following the sacking of Graham Potter and Nuno has been replaced at Forest by recently sacked Spurs Manager, Ange Postecoglou.

So, it begs the question: how long do Premier League football managers really last?

Let the numbers do the talking

Okay, first, let’s talk numbers. The average tenure of a football manager is around the two-year mark, meaning Nuno wasn’t too far off. However, in fact, the median tenure is much lower because long-serving managers skew the numbers upwards. In 2022, BBC Sport reported that the average tenure for a top-flight manager was two years and four days, which was almost half compared with ten years prior.

Short and sweet

So, why is it that football managers are announcing their departures before they’ve even really dug their heels in, and what are the contributing factors?

• Financial stakes – Relegation costs £100m+, which can cause boards to panic quickly.
• High expectations – Fans and owners expect instant results after investment.
• Club politics – Disagreements over transfers, style of play or long-term direction.
• Poor early form – Even a short bad run at the start of the season can lead to dismissal.

The past five years

Between 2020 and 2025, clear patterns have emerged within the Premier League. A handful of clubs, such as Manchester City under Pep Guardiola and Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp until 2024, provided rare examples of long-term stability. For most clubs, managerial turnover has become the norm. Teams like Watford, Chelsea, and Tottenham have each gone through multiple managers in quick succession, often changing almost every season.

Short-lived reigns are now part of the culture, with some managers gone after just a few months. Nuno’s three-game dismissal is extreme, but it reflects the broader impatience across the league. As well as serving as a reminder that Premier League management is one of the toughest jobs in sport.

The clock is ticking...so who will be next?  It would seem Ange's short stay at Nottingham Forest is being questioned.  No wins in his first 7 games.