Which football managers have been sacked this season?

FT Desk

• 9 Feb 2026 12:01 CST
• 9 min read

Nieuws

Being a football manager is arguably the worst career choice possible if you want job security.

Indeed, soccer coaches are sacked on a regular basis as clubs across the world make changes in order to try and achieve success.

Across Europe's top leagues and beyond, head coaches are either sacked or choose to resign frequently throughout the season, with the length of a manager's stint getting shorter and shorter with each passing year.

In fact, the next manager to be sacked is a vital part of football transfer news, as the impact of a managerial change can often make a huge difference both on and off the pitch. Furthermore, patience with managers grows ever thinner with each defeat a team suffers.

The 2025-26 European season has now entered its second half, and numerous managers have been sacked across the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

Sacked/departed Premier League managers in 2025-26

Nuno Espirito Santo became the first Premier League manager to lose their job during the 2025-26 campaign when he was fired by Nottingham Forest in early September. This came after speaking out against the club’s owner in public.

Ange Postecoglou was hired as his replacement, but the Australian only lasted 39 days after becoming the first head coach in club history not to win any of his first eight games in charge. He now holds the record for the shortest permanent reign in Premier League history. Sean Dyche was hired as Forest's third manager of the season on October 21.

West Ham United boss Graham Potter became the second manager to lose his job in September as West Ham sacked him. The former Chelsea manager had won just one of the Hammers' first six matches of the season.

Potter was replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo, who didn't have to wait long to find a new job following his Forest sacking. Potter was then appointed as Sweden's new manager in October.

Vitor Pereira was the next to be sacked on 2 November with Wolves bottom of the Premier League. Rob Edwards replaced him.

January started with a bang, with Enzo Maresca leaving Chelsea by mutual consent on New Year's Day after a fallout behind the scenes. He was replaced by Liam Rosenior.

Four days later, Manchester United sacked Ruben Amorim after 14 months in charge following a fiery post-match press conference versus Leeds United in which he took aim at the club's hierarchy. Michael Carrick was named interim coach until the end of the season on 13 January.

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has announced that he will not extend his expiring contract at Selhurst Park. He is one of the favourites to become the new permanent Man Utd head coach in the summer.

Nuno Espirito Santo at West Ham and Thomas Frank at Tottenham are under pressure amid poor form.

In 2024-25, seven Premier League managers were sacked, including Erik ten Hag, Russell Martin, Julen Lopetegui and Sean Dyche. Ange Postecoglou was then fired by Tottenham Hotspur following the conclusion of the season.

Sacked/departed La Liga managers in 2025-26

Real Oviedo's Veljko Paunovic became the first manager in La Liga to be sacked this season on 9 October. He was replaced by Luis Carrion, but he only lasted until 14 December before being replaced by Guillermo Almada on 14 December.

Julian Callero was the next manager to be dismissed by Levante with the club in 19th position. Luis Castro succeeded him.

Real Sociedad sacked Sergio Francisco on 14 December, with the club failing to recover from the departures of long-time head coach Imanol Alguacil and director Roberto Olabe in the summer.

Francisco was replaced by former Stuttgart and Hoffenheim boss Pellegrino Matarazzo.

Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso parted company on 12 January after losing the Spanish Super Cup final to Barcelona. It came after months of dressing room tension with key players, chiefly Vinicius Jr. Alonso was replaced by his former teammate Alvaro Arbeloa.

In 2024-25, six La Liga managers were sacked during the season, while a further four were fired following the end of the campaign, including Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti.

Sacked/departed Serie A managers in 2025-26

Juventus' Igor Tudor became the first Serie A manager sacked in the 2025-26 season after going eight games without a win - the worst run of form by the Bianconeri in 16 years. Juventus appointed former Italy and Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti as Tudor's replacement.

Patrick Vieira was the second Serie A coach to be sacked in 2025-26 as Genoa dismissed him on November 1 before matchday 10 with the club bottom of the table. He was replaced by Daniele De Rossi.

Stefano Pioli was sacked by Fiorentina on November 4 after a disastrous start to his reign saw the Viola fail to win any of their first 10 Serie A games of the season. Pioli was succeeded by Paolo Vanoli.

The next to go was Ivan Juric, who was sacked on November 10 by Atalanta after winning only two of their first 11 games of the season. Raffaele Palladino was appointed as his replacement.

Relegation-battlers Pisa and Hellas Verona sacked their respective coaches, Alberto Gilardino and Paolo Zanetti, less than 24 hours apart at the start of February, with the teams languishing in 19th and 20th. Former Genoa midfielder Oscar Hiljemark replaced Gilardino at Pisa.

In 2024-25, nine Serie A managers were sacked, including Daniele De Rossi, Ivan Juric, Paulo Fonseca and Thiago Motta.

Sacked/departed Bundesliga managers in 2025-26

Erik ten Hag became the first Bundesliga manager to be sacked during the 2025-26 season after he was fired by Bayer Leverkusen after just 62 days in charge of the club.

The Dutchman was hired as Xabi Alonso’s replacement at the BayArena, but the club failed to win any of their opening three league matches, while Ten Hag was accused of failing to create a positive atmosphere in the dressing room.

In the process, he broke a new record for the fastest sacking in Bundesliga history. Ten Hag was replaced by Kasper Hjulmand.

Gerardo Seoane became the second Bundesliga coach to get the axe. Borussia Monchengladbach fired the Swiss on 15 September after a 4-0 home loss to Werder Bremen had extended their winless league run, which started the previous season, to 10 games.

Paul Simonis was the next manager to go as Wolfsburg sacked him on November 9, with the club in 14th place. U19 coach Daniel Bauer permanently replaced him after a successful interim period.

Sandro Wagner was sacked by Augsburg on December 1 after winning just four of his 14 matches in charge. He ill-advisedly claimed in August that there was not much of a difference in quality between his squad and Bayern Munich.

Mainz boss Bo Henriksen was amicably relieved of his duties on 3 December. Having saved the club from almost certain relegation and then led them into Europe, he was reluctantly sacked by Mainz after a dreadful start to the 2025/26 season left them bottom of the Bundesliga.

The Dane was replaced by former Union Berlin boss Urs Fischer.

Dino Toppmoller became the sixth Bundesliga manager to be sacked in 2025/26. Having led Frankfurt into the Champions League the season prior, he was sacked after a string of poor results and calamitous defensive performances on 18 January.

Former Liverpool star Albert Riera succeeded Toppmoller following an impressive stint at NK Celje in Slovenia.

After Ten Hag, Simonis and Wagner, Horst Steffen became the fourth manager to lose his job mere months after being appointed. Werder Bremen sacked the 56-year-old on 1 February after 10 games without a win. Daniel Thioune, formerly in charge of rivals HSV, replaced Steffen.

In 2024-25, six Bundesliga managers were sacked, including Nuri Sahin, Marco Rose and Ralph Hasenhuttl. A further four managers departed after the end of the season, including Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso.

Sacked/departed Ligue 1 managers in 2025-26

Adi Hutter became the first manager in Ligue 1 to be sacked in 2025-26 as he was dismissed on October 9 despite the club sitting just three points off the top of the table. He was replaced by Sebastien Pocognoli.

Two months after Hutter, Luis Castro lost his job when Nantes made the unsurprising decision to relieve him of his duties. He was unable to build on his impressive work at second-tier USL Dunkerque and only won two Ligue 1 matches at Nantes.

Former assistant coach Ahmed Kantari returned to the Breton club after just six months to replace Castro.

Highly-rated Liam Rosenior left Strasbourg on 6 January to replace Enzo Maresca at BlueCo sister club Strasbourg. Former Wolves boss Gary O'Neil took over his compatriot's position in Alsace.

Stephane Le Mignan achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 with Metz in 2024/25, but that didn't save him from the sack on 20 January, with the club bottom of the league after losing 12 of their first 18 games of the season. Benoit Tavenot was appointed in his stead.

Habib Beye's tumultuous relationship with Stade Rennais ended on 9 February. He was close to losing his job after a disappointing start to the season, but managed to turn things around in late 2025 and got Rennes to challenge for Europe. However, after four winless games and with his relationship with key players strained, Beye lost his job.

In 2024-25, seven Ligue 1 managers were sacked, while Antoine Kombouare (Nantes) and Will Still (RC Lens) departed after the end of the campaign.

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