Eye-popping $99m payout figure to grow as heads roll

Ten managers have been dismissed over the course of the 2025-26 Premier League season, and there has been widespread debate around who will be next to fall.

More than $99 million AUD has been paid in compensation for the managers dismissed since August last year. Roughly $30m of that was paid by the league's most ruthless club, Nottingham Forest, as per English media reports. Ange Postecoglou was one of the managers to be dismissed by Forest.

But there is another group of other managers who have faced noise about their results this season, including the title race leaders Arsenal. And at season's end in a few weeks, there's no doubt the axe will swing again.

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Three clubs still haven't locked in a manager for next season, while one major club is waiting to learn if their veteran leader will call it quits and finish up while still contracted. 

Scroll below as Wide World of Sports scrutinises the managers that are under a cloud heading into the off-season.

Managers in line to face the axe

Arne Slot

The Liverpool boss may have won a title in his first season at Anfield, but the Dutch manager has lost the support of the fans in recent months. 

A significantly calmer and more demure personality than his beloved predecessor Jurgen Klopp, Slot has never been as warmly embraced as the German who engineered 'heavy metal football'.

Club great and respected pundit Jamie Carragher fears there is no clear sense of identity under Slot's leadership, leaving fans to reminisce about the Klopp era.

"We can't be a club who continue for the next five or 10 years saying, 'Oh, we want Jurgen Klopp football'," the Liverpool great added on Sky Sports.

"The fella is a genius. He does football better than anybody. So whatever manager is going to come in, he's going to play his football."

Slot has been respected for his ability to win the Premier League and secure some major signings for the club. On the flipside he's overseen an early Champions League exit, an injury crisis and the inability to provide the framework for some of the league's highest paid stars to perform.

Xabi Alonso, former manager at Real Madrid, was a favourite to take over the job at Liverpool if it were to arise, but he has since been linked to the vacant job at Chelsea.

While it appears as though club owners are standing with Slot for the time being, only time will tell if external noise will push them to their breaking point. 

Eddie Howe

A Carabao Cup win last season seemingly relieved some of the pressure on Eddie Howe's job at Newcastle United, but the club has since floundered and has almost been been dragged into the relegation dogfight.

Sitting 13th on the table with three games to go, serious questions have been raised and the club's board have met to discuss what the Magpies future looks like with Howe.

The 48-year-old inked contract extensions in both 2022 and 2023 but no specific end dates were revealed in the announcements made by the club. 

Recruitment has been a significant issue for Newcastle this season, with the club notably tangled up in the messy departure of Alexander Isak to Liverpool.

Howe has conceded that changes need to be made in the off-season to ensure improvements for next year, but he is confident his long-term plan and leadership will still be in place. 

"I have to retain that confidence (that I will be in the dugout)," he told reporters prior to Newcastle's 3-1 win over Brighton on Sunday (AEST).

"I don't think it serves anybody to not have that long-term vision.

"It's interesting how you do the job, because you pretty much look at it day to day – how can we prepare for Brighton with one eye on next week, and one eye on the summer, and then one eye on next season?"https://omny.fm/shows/added-time/the-race-for-the-title-twists-again/embed?media=Audio&size=Wide

Managers with uncertain futures

Michael Carrick

The Man U legend is still to be informed what his future looks like at the club he has dug out of a hole in a superb stint as interim boss.

Having got their managerial appointments wrong on multiple recent occasions, United are keen to explore all available options for a long-term replacement. With every passing day Carrick looks more and more the leading contender,

The 44-year-old has delivered a strong case as to why he should stay in charge of the team, with United securing their first Champions League qualification in two years. Yet some Premier League greats fear he may not have what it takes to build on his early success, just as some fear Slot is not the right man for Liverpool.

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United great Gary Neville is one doubter. He believes that while Carrick has proven he can handle the Premier League, he may not thrive at the helm of the club when it comes time to compete on more than one front.

"Next year he will have 55-60 games including the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup ... which is a different level of management and brings a different level of scrutiny," Neville said on Sky Sports.

"It is a lot more challenging. It is then (we will question) if he has the experience or the body of work behind him to rely upon.

"If a world-class manager became available that has won titles, United should probably pursue that route because the last five managers have not had that super club experience. Michael would be another who hasn't quite got that.

"They need some stability. They haven't had a lot of that over the last few years."

Calum McFarlane

"After Enzo Maresca, (Chelsea) has just collapsed."

Mark Bosnich summed up the feeling at Chelsea on Stan Sport's Added Time perfectly.

Chaos is stealing the headlines at Chelsea, with fans beginning to protest the ownership of their club after a horror run of results.

BlueCo has developed a strategy to invest in the next generation of talent to ensure that Chelsea will become one of the best clubs in Europe, but that may not bear fruit for years and there is still an expectation that the first team competes for trophies.

Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior have both been shown the door this year, with Calum McFarlane having stepped into an interim role for the second time this season.

McFarlane's experience to remain in the job has been questioned, as he had only started working as the club's under-21s manager last July.

As it stands, it is likely Chelsea will look in the direction of Andoni Iraola, Marco Silva or Xabi Alonso. Iraola is the favourite to be appointed.

Pep Guardiola

He may still have one year left on his contract, but there has been rampant speculation that arguably one of the greatest manager's of all-time could in the coming weeks depart the club he has led to great success for the best part of a decade. 

Guardiola insists he still has "incredible energy" to be Manchester City's manager in the future, despite six months ago warning the club to "be prepared" for his future departure.

"There have been rumours in the last years many, many times but I want to stay here," he told reporters about his future in December, "at the end of the season, we'll see."

English media later reported that City had started the process of identifying potential successors for the Spaniard in case he were to call time.

Guardiola's future is clearly in his own hands and a decision will likely be announced at season's end.

Marco Silva

Silva has been offered an extension by Fulham, the club he has led through the past four Premier League campaigns, but the manager is yet to put pen to paper.

The 48-year-old's contract is set to expire on June 30, along with a handful of the club's experienced starting line-up players.

Silva has made clear to reporters that European qualification will not influence his decision, despite some reports suggesting otherwise.

Other reports by English media have suggested he is assessing all options on the market before making the call on the contract he's been offered by Fulham. 

If he were to depart, many pundits believe he will stay in the Premier League. Chelsea or Crystal Palace could potentially be his next destination.