⚽️ EPL Managers Already on the Hot Seat

Good morning. We don’t like this first international break of the EPL season any more than you do. You wait all summer for the Premier League to come back. A month later, the league goes dark for two weeks. It’s lunacy, but it’s also reality.

In the email today:

Each team begins every new season with a clean slate. Hopes are always high. Four weeks later, though, several EPL teams have been reminded that hope is not a plan. And now many of their managers are hearing warning shots. 

• Everton manager Sean Dyche is now the favorite to be the first Premier League managerial casualty of the season, overtaking Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom.

• Both managers have had winless starts to their league campaigns.

• Though Everton and Sheffield United are tied for 17th place in the current table with one point apiece, Everton’s goal differential is worse.

• The international break will provide a temporary respite, but tough fixtures await both teams in September.

• Rob Edwards, the Luton Town boss, is next in line for the sack, but he is relatively safe since he led the Hatters to promotion last season.

• Historically, the first manager to leave in the Premier League typically happens in October, often during the international break.

Our take: Patience is a virtue, but in a league where each team plays only 38 matches, very bad starts often turn into lost seasons and occasionally relegation to the Championship. Given the amount of money at stake, seeing a manager fired in the next two weeks cannot be ruled out.

2)🇸🇦 Saudi Pro League Announces Its Transfer Window Deadline as Liverpool Holds Firm on Mohamed Salah

The Saudi Pro League’s transfer window will close on Thursday, September 7. As of this writing, we think Mohamed Salah will still be with Liverpool after the window shuts. But reports on X and elsewhere suggest that the Saudi league club pursuing Salah is not giving up easily.

• Liverpool rejected an offer of up to £150 million for Mohamed Salah from Al-Ittihad.

• Liverpool has stated flatly that Salah is not for sale.

• Salah scored in Liverpool's recent match against Aston Villa, and Jurgen Klopp confirmed that he is fully committed to staying at Anfield this season.

• Klopp mentioned that recent meetings with Salah were focused on the future, and added that Salah did not indicate a desire to leave.

• Complicating the issue for Liverpool is that several of Salah's former teammates (Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mané, Fabinho, and Roberto Firmino) have already completed transfers to Saudi clubs this summer.

Our take: Tweets (we still call them that, right?) from the likes of Sky Sports and other outlets maintain that Saudi club Al-Ittihad plans to make an enhanced offer to Liverpool for Salah before the window closes. This is a tough call for Liverpool. They’re off to a nice start in the EPL season and Salah is a big part of their success. But he’ll be 32 in June. At some point, it would actually be bad business to keep him.

3) 🌉 Screenshot of the Day: Demarai Gray Takes Swipe at Manager

Everton star Demarai Gray took a swipe at his manager on Instagram:

What were the odds of Sean Dyche being fired again?

Ah, there they are:

4) 📊 Poll: Who do you think should be the first manager to go?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 🪓 If you haven’t had enough speculation around managers and sackings already, here’s a ranking from least likely to most likely.

• 🇨🇲 Manchester United might lose keeper André Onana for a month in 2024 as he reports for national duty in the Africa Cup of Nations.

• ⚖️ Sky Sports pundits Roy Keane and Micah Richards were “involved in an altercation” with a 42-year-old man after Arsenal’s win over Manchester United. The unnamed man was arrested.

• 🇩🇪 Manchester City defender Kyle Walker was “close” to a move to Bayern Munich before renewing his commitment to stay in Manchester.

• 🇺🇸 United States Men’s National Team keeper Matt Turner secured his first EPL clean sheet in Nottingham Forest’s shock win over Chelsea.

• 🇳🇴 You won’t believe this, but City’s Erling Haaland is probably going to win the Golden Boot again.

• 📊The grades on EPL transfer business are in, and Arsenal, Aston Villa and yes, Manchester City are at the top of the class.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil on X @philkeidel.

Thanks for reading!