Which managers have spent the fewest days in charge of a Premier League club before leaving? We look at the shortest managerial spells in the competition’s history.
After just 39 days in charge at Nottingham Forest, Ange Postecoglou was sacked following an eight-game winless reign at the City Ground.
After taking over from Nuno Espírito Santo on 9 September 2025, he lasted just over a month, and his tenure was ended after a damaging 3-0 defeat to Chelsea on 18 October.
He is just the 10th permanent managers to last less than 100 days in charge of a Premier League club since the competition began in 1992? But where does his rank in the shortest reigns in Premier League history?
Top 10 Shortest Managerial Reigns in Premier League History
30 days – Sam Allardyce at Leeds United (3 May 2023 to 2 June 2023)
39 days – Ange Postecoglou at Nottingham Forest (9 September 2025 to 18 October 2025)
40 days – Les Reed at Charlton Athletic (14 November 2006 to 24 December 2006)
69 days – Javi Gracia at Leeds United (22 February 2023 to 2 May 2023)
75 days – Rene Meulensteen at Fulham (1 December 2013 to 14 February 2014)
77 days – Frank de Boer at Crystal Palace (26 June 2017 to 11 September 2017)
85 days – Quique Sánchez Flores at Watford (7 September 2019 to 1 December 2019)
85 days – Bob Bradley at Swansea City (3 October 2016 to 27 December 2017)
94 days – Nathan Jones at Southampton (10 November 2022 to 12 February 2023)
98 days – Colin Todd at Derby County (8 October 2001 to 14 January 2002)
Sam Allardyce at Leeds United – 30 Days
Sam Allardyce extended a Premier League record by managing an eighth different club in the competition when he took on the Leeds United job with just four games left to play in the 2022-23 season.
The former England manager was brought to Elland Road as a last-ditch attempt to keep Leeds up following a dismal period under Javi Gracia (more on him later).
The West Yorkshire club were 17th in the table and above the relegation zone on goal difference when Allardyce was named boss on a short-term contract, but he failed to keep the club up, suffering his second relegation from the Premier League after going down with West Brom in 2020-21.
Defeat in his first game away at Manchester City was followed by a draw at home to Newcastle United and further losses to West Ham and Tottenham. With one point collected from four games, Leeds were relegated to the Championship, five points adrift of safety. Only Bournemouth (0) won fewer points than Leeds across their final four matches of 2022-23.
Allardyce’s contract ran out on 2 June 2023, and he therefore left the club without actually being sacked, but his reign in charge of Leeds United remains the shortest of any Premier League manager who wasn’t deemed a caretaker or interim boss.
Ange Postecoglou at Nottingham Forest – 39 Days
Former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was brought in at Nottingham Forest to replace Nuno Espírito Santo after his relationship with chairman Evangelos Marinakis had broken down.
Postecoglou’s possession-based brand of football was a complete contrast with the reactive, direct game with which Nuno had had so much success at the City Ground, and there were plenty of raised eyebrows when the Australian’s appointment was first announced.
Many believed he was doomed to fail from the beginning because he was tasked with changing the team’s style of play so dramatically. And those people were proved right when, on 18 October 2025, 39 days on from his arrival, Postecoglou was sacked just 20 minutes after watching Forest lose 3-0 at home to Chelsea.
That result meant Postecoglou had overseen eight games at Forest and had failed to win a single one. His reign is the shortest by any manager who left his role mid-season, as Allarydce departed once 2022-23 was over.
Les Reed at Charlton Athletic – 40 Days
Les Reed was appointed as Charlton Athletic manager in November 2006 despite never having previously managed a professional team.
He’d previously spent time at the club as Alan Curbishley’s assistant, before coming back to assist Iain Dowie in the summer of 2006. Following Dowie’s sacking on 14 November, Reed was announced as the Addicks’ new boss, but his 40-day spell was dire.
Four points from seven Premier League games in charge and an embarrassing League Cup exit at the hands of fourth-tier side Wycombe Wanderers was enough for the Charlton board to dismiss him just 40 days after taking over from Dowie.
Despite Alan Pardew’s best efforts after replacing Reed, Charlton were relegated from the Premier League at the end of 2006-07 and haven’t been back since.
Javi Gracia at Leeds United – 69 Days
Javi Gracia lasted just 69 days in charge of Leeds United in 2022-23, though it wasn’t even the shortest managerial reign by a Leeds boss that season – his replacement, Sam Allardyce, managed just four games and left after 30 days in charge of the club.
Spanish manager Gracia was brought to the club following the sacking of Jesse Marsch, officially taking over on 22 February 2023. He managed just 12 games in all competitions, winning three and losing over half (7) before the club somewhat panicked, replacing him with Allardyce.
In Gracia’s defence, Leeds were 19th and two points from safety when he was appointed; they were 17th and out of the relegation zone at the time of his dismissal. Leeds won 11 points across his 11 Premier League games in charge of the club, more than six other teams in the division over the same period.
Rene Meulensteen at Fulham – 75 Days
Fulham appointed Rene Meulensteen to replace outgoing manager Martin Jol in December 2013, just weeks after he came in to assist his fellow Dutchman.
Meulensteen oversaw 13 Premier League games as Fulham boss, winning just 10 points – only West Brom and Cardiff (9) won fewer during his spell in charge at Craven Cottage.
Just 75 days after taking over from Jol, Meulensteen briefly stepped back into a coaching role under new manager Felix Magath, therefore ending his reign in charge on 14 February 2014 before leaving the club entirely four days later.
Magath couldn’t stop Fulham’s slide into the Championship and they were relegated in 19th place.
Frank de Boer at Crystal Palace – 77 Days
Hopes were high when Frank de Boer was named as Crystal Palace manager in the summer of 2017. The Dutch boss replaced Sam Allardyce following the English manager’s decision to step down at the end of 2016-17.
De Boer had left Internazionale a season earlier following an uninspiring spell at the Italian giants that lasted just 14 competitive games.
Palace wouldn’t have expected his spell in South London to have been even briefer, but after only four games of the 2017-18 Premier League season, they sacked him – no permanent manager has ever spent fewer games in charge of a club in the competition.
Palace lost their first four league matches of the season without scoring a single goal – the first team in 93 years to have begun a top-flight campaign in such a way – before he was replaced by the experienced Roy Hodgson in the Eagles’ dugout.
Premier League Stats Opta
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