Premier League London Manager Specials

As the season looms closer and closer we take a look at Stan James’ First London Manager To Leave His Post This Season market and which men could be in trouble early on in the campaign. The capital now has six clubs competing in the Premier League - following the promotion of West Ham last season - which is nearly a third of the teams in the top flight. At the moment the six managers will be making their final preparations ahead of the new season, which officially kicks off on Saturday 18th August.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce and Fulham's Martin Jol currently top the market with odds of 11/4. The Hammers are in the process of trying to lure Andy Carroll to Upton Park in a bid to bolster their attack and if they manage to persuade the striker then it will be a big boost to both the team and supporters. West Ham started the 2011/12 as one of the host favourites to win the Championship and were eventually promoted via the play-offs. The fans will be hoping that both the style of football and consistency improves under Allardyce this season, who came under pressure at points last year for his one dimensional tactics.

Meanwhile Jol enjoyed a successful debut season at Fulham, quietly going about his business and leading the Cottagers to an impressive 9th place finish. Jol’s men have been dealt a reasonable start to the season, with matches against Norwich, West Ham, West Brom and Wigan within the first month. They were undefeated in their first eight matches in all competitions last season and will be looking for a similar run this time around.

Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo is priced at 10/3 to be the first manager from the capital to leave. The Italian may have conjured up a miracle last season but that will mean absolutely nothing if the Blues get off to a poor start this campaign. We all know that Roman Abramovich is trigger-happy and if Di Matteo isn’t impressing then the owner will not hesitate to make a change. Chelsea arguably have the easiest start of all the London clubs with Wigan, Reading, Newcastle, QPR and Stoke in their first five fixtures.

The new Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas (10/1) will be looking to show the Premier League his true talent following a torrid nine months in charge of Chelsea. The Portuguese manager is highly rated in his home country following his successful stint at Porto but is yet to prove himself in England. Once Luka Modric departs AVB will have money in the bank, which he will look to spend wisely in order to mould together a strong looking squad for the season ahead. He will without doubt be given time to do this but if at Christmas Spurs are struggling, he could once again be on his way out. Mark Hughes is also available at what is looking like a tempting 10/1. QPR have once again been very active in the transfer market but if results don’t go their way Hughes will most certainly come under-fire.

Although it seems like a long shot at 20/1, Arsene Wenger could be the man to pick. Arsenal fans will need no reminding that they have not won a trophy since 2005 and as the start of last season showed Wenger is no longer deemed as unsackable. The pressure mounted and there was a period where his future looked in doubt. With the departure of yet another star player, Robin Van Persie, now looking inevitable, Wenger will need to sign a top class replacement or two in order to keep the fans on his side. The Gunners face Liverpool, defending champions Man City and Chelsea in their opening six games, with the results of these testing fixtures perhaps giving an indicator of how they are matching up to the other top sides early on.