New campaigns bring hope but sometimes clubs act swiftly when early results or boardroom disputes threaten momentum. The following cases record the earliest managerial departures in Premier League history, ranked by games played at the opening of a season.

Watford, 2018–19 — Games lasted: 4, Date sacked: September 4
Gracia began 2018–19 with four wins from four and a third-place position. The side finished the season in 11th after being seventh as late as Gameweek 34 and suffered a joint-biggest FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City. The club dismissed him four games into the next season after Watford had taken just one point. Still, he lasted longer than most.

Bournemouth, 2021–22 — Games lasted: 4, Date sacked: August 30
Parker had secured promotion to the Premier League three times as a manager but struggled to establish a top-flight methodology. His tenure ended after a 9–0 defeat at Anfield, the joint-heaviest loss in Premier League history.

Newcastle United, 2004–05 — Games lasted: 4, Date sacked: August 30
Sir Bobby Robson was dismissed 16 days into the season amid reported player discontent. Former chairman Freddy Shepherd likened sacking Robson to “shooting Bambi.”

Manchester City, 1993–94 — Games lasted: 4, Date sacked: August 26
Player-manager Reid was dismissed 12 days into the campaign after City earned a single point from their first four fixtures, and the fast start by champions Manchester United across town convinced the club to act.

Nottingham Forest, 2025–26 — Games lasted: 4, Date sacked: September 9
Nuno, who returned European football to the City Ground for the first time in almost 30 years and led Forest to a seventh-place finish in 2024–25, left after a summer of unrest following Evangelos Marinakis’s appointment of Edu Gaspar as Global Head of Football. The manager and the new executive reportedly fell out and were not on speaking terms. The club went on to appoint Ange Postecoglou.

Earlier and shorter spells include Tottenham Hotspur in 1998–99, Newcastle United in 2008–09 and 1997–98, and West Ham United in 2008–09, where managers left within the first three games of those campaigns. “And even Christian Gross…”, the draft of that era summed up the uncertainty in north London.

Alexander Isak has said that not everyone knows “the whole picture” surrounding his summer move to Liverpool, a transfer that generated heated reaction and accusations. Newcastle offered a heated response just hours later and the saga deepened after his £125 million ($169.2 million) switch when Isak was accused of intentionally dropping his performance levels in the hope of sabotaging Newcastle’s Champions League aspirations.

The striker, who has since tried to calm tensions with Newcastle, made his first appearance of the season on Monday as he came off the bench for the final 20 minutes of Sweden’s surprise defeat to Kosovo. Speaking after the game, Isak addressed the transfer controversy for the first time.

“It’s great that things were cleared up before international duty and that I could focus on playing football again,” he told local media. “It’s been a fairly new situation for me, but you always learn and develop mentally off the pitch too.

“It is what it is. It’s clear that not everyone has the whole picture, but that’s something for another day. Right now, the disappointment is about this match and how it went. But at the same time, I have a positive feeling about the club team part that is coming.

“[Fan anger] is part of football. I can’t control everything that is said or written. But I’m glad I became a Liverpool player. That’s what I wanted and I’m happy about that.

“There is a lot to discuss, and it can be discussed for a long time. It has been educational, and I’m happy with the final result. I’m happy and proud to be a Liverpool player. I don’t want to go into details or talk about that situation too much. It is a closed chapter, but I have never had any problems.”

Liverpool supporters are awaiting his club debut, but Sweden boss Jon Dahl Tomasson warned that Isak is not yet ready for prolonged minutes after a long layoff. “This was the maximum number of minutes I could give him,” Tomasson told Viaplay. “We have talked in recent days about what risks there are and what is not a risk. It is extremely difficult to take a risk.

“I want to play him every minute. You can see right away that he is dangerous and creates things. But we also need him next month, the month after that, and next year.”

An agent involved in the negotiations surrounding Hugo Ekitiké says the striker was set to join Newcastle United before Liverpool intervened.

Ali Barat, who says he worked on behalf of Eintracht Frankfurt, described a process he considered complete until a late contact from Liverpool changed the outcome. “I was working on behalf of Eintracht Frankfurt to bring him to Newcastle ,” Barat told Tuttosport . “I stayed in Germany for 10 days. We agreed everything with the German club and the player, then Liverpool called him and he chose Anfield.” Barat added that the Reds were only hours away from missing out on the French forward, and that Isak would ultimately end up at Anfield as well.

The Ekitiké story was not isolated. Florian Wirtz rejected an expected move to Bayern Munich and instead completed a £116 million ($156.6 million) transfer to Anfield, according to the report. Bayern honorary president Uli Hoeneß spoke on Doppelpass about his club’s business and took aim at rivals over several signings.

Hoeneß referenced Newcastle’s spending on Nick Woltemade, accusing them of using “Monopoly money” to secure that signature, and then turned his attention to the Wirtz deal. “We’re very satisfied at FC Bayern,”” Hoeneß began. “We are the real winners of the summer transfer window. We have a strong team and didn’t need to strengthen it much.

“Of course, we would have liked to have Florian Wirtz, but we’d never have bought him for €150 million.”

The account from Barat reinforces how quickly transfer situations can change when multiple clubs engage late in negotiations. In this case, what Barat describes as an almost-finalised agreement with Eintracht and Newcastle was overturned when Liverpool made a late approach and the player opted for Anfield.