Football fans may be enjoying the latest round of Premier League fixtures but it’s all going a bit wrong for the UK Government at westminster.
Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced she will resign from the top job at 10 Downing Street after just 44 days in the role, making her the shortest PM in history who didn’t die in office. When the member for for South West Norfolk took over on September 6 the top flight season in English football had just completed its sixth round of fixtures for the 2022/23 season with results such as Man Utd handing Arsenal their only defeat of the campaign so far and Man City being held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa.
While it is obviously an incredibly short time to hold office, it would also be considered drastically minimal by the standards of top flight football managers, jobs that are quite often revolving doors with many clubs happy to pull the trigger on their head coaches without a second thought in the modern game. Using figures gathered by Four Four Two in 2021, we’ve taken a look at the shortest serving managers in the history of the Premier League and how much longer they lasted in their respective jobs than Truss did in Number 10.
Here are the ten shortest serving managers, in order from longest to shortest, in Premier League history:
1. Steve Wigley (Southampton - 107 days)
Much like the current state of the conservative party, things at Southampton were tumultuous while Wigley worked as a coach and caretaker boss before stepping up the main job | Getty Images
2. Claudio Ranieri (Fulham -106 days)
Ranieri’s lasting legacy in English football will be his incredible title win with Leicester City against all the odds. His brief spell at Craven Cottage on the other hand will only be remembered for how short it was | Getty Images
3. Tony Adams (Portsmouth - 106 days)
The Arsenal icon has already lasted four weeks on Strictly Come Dancing and could hold on to his position there longer than Truss did her’s at 10 Downing Street | Getty Images
4. Colin Todd (Derby County - 98 days)
Todd was a legend as a player with the Rams but his time as manager during a difficult time for the club was anything but legendary | Getty Images