You don't know what you're doing! The impact of managerial change on club performance in the English Premier League

Abstract

It is widely regarded that the role of the football manager is one of chronic insecurity. The pressure on the modern day football manager for consistently high club performance is intense, particularly due to the continuing rise in revenues available to clubs competing in elite leagues. Managerial change often occurs when a clubs’ form declines. However, whether managerial change is beneficial for a club remains unclear. This study addresses this area of examination by analysing data on managerial changes within the last decade (2003/2004 to 2012/2013) in the English Premier League. The main findings of this study were that managerial changes led to an increase in points per match but did not necessarily lead to an improvement in final league position. Further analysis revealed that when considering final league position, clubs in the bottom half of the table improved their final league position, while clubs in the top half did not.