After just 44 days in the job, Igor Tudor has left Tottenham Hotspur by mutual consent. His reigns was amongst the shortest managerial stints in Premier League history – but which was the shortest?
Today, we’ll be looking at the five briefest managerial runs in the history of the Premier League. We’ll be looking at former Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Charlton Athletic bosses in this lost – can you guess who they are?
Javi Gracia (Leeds United)
Many of Javi Gracia’s managerial roles have been brief – only six of his 14 stints as head coach have last for more than a year. However, none of them were cut quite so short as his ill-fated tenure in charge of Leeds United.
Lasting just 69 days at Elland Road, Gracia won a total of three Premier League games from a possible 12 during his time with Leeds.
In the end, the Whites decided to bin Gracia in a desperate, final bid to avoid relegation – we’ll get to the Spaniard’s successor soon enough.
Igor Tudor (Tottenham Hotspur)
We don’t wish to join the media pile-on that has transpired over the past few weeks – instead, we’d like to wish Igor Tudor all the best, following the tragic passing of his father. Few managerial stints have ended on such a sobering note.
With that being said, his reign in charge of Tottenham Hotspur was little more than an unmitigated disaster. Brought in to generate instant results and pull Spurs out of the fire, they’re now outside of the relegation zone by only a single point.
Tudor spent just 44 days in charge of Tottenham. It is unclear who his successor will be – but whoever it is, the future of Spurs lays directly in their hands.
Les Reed (Charlton Athletic)
Les Reed spent such a short time in charge of Charlton Athletic, Imago didn’t have enough time to find a photograph of him (well, we couldn’t find one anyway).
This was Reed’s only head coach role – over the course of eight games, the Londoner conjured up just a single win, drawing one and losing six. Following this, he was given the sack on Christmas Eve after 40 days in the job.
Reed has been much more comfortable in backstage roles in the years that have followed – most recently, he was appointed football strategy advisor at Wrexham in 2021.
Ange Postecoglou (Nottingham Forest)
Ange Postecoglou will always be a divisive figure in football. Some find his brash personaility unsavoury and his tactics nonsensical, while others find his mask-off candour to be refreshing in the modern, sanitised game.
Nevertheless, ‘Big Ange’ was a very, very square peg in a very, very round hole at Nottingham Forest. Forest needed a manager who could grind out results – not someone who wanted to play vibrant, attacking football.
All in all, the blame must lay with the Forest board with this one. Postecoglou certainly isn’t a bad coach – he was just the wrong man at the wrong time. In total, the Greek-Australian spent 39 days as Forest boss.
Sam Allardyce (Leeds United)
In 2023, Leeds United replaced the aforementioned Javi Gracia with Sam Allardyce – few managerial appointments have generated such whiplash. Brought in to save the Whites from relegation, Allardyce was unsuccessful in his attempts.
It was a strange appointment for a number of reasons. Allardyce simply didn’t have the time to implement his style of play, given the major differences between his approach and that of his predecessors . Nonetheless, his reputation as a firefighting manager will always preceed him.
Sadly, with four games left in the season, the former West Ham United boss could only conjure up one point from a possible 12 – marking Leeds’ relegation and an unceremonious end to Allardyce’s managerial career.