SACKTEMBER
Managerial reigns poised to end this month with De Boer facing axe and Bruce under real pressure
THE sack race is hotting up for nervous bosses before a top-flight game has even been played in September.
Frank de Boer fears his future as Crystal Palace boss is hanging by thread.
The under-pressure Dutchman is expected to have further talks this week after a disastrous start to his reign.
Palace have suffered three straight Premier League defeats – all without scoring a goal – and De Boer is struggling to adapt at Selhurst Park.
There is a growing feeling that he is already a dead man walking and, having survived last week, it looked as if he had weathered the storm.
But Palace chairman Steve Parish remains concerned about whether De Boer is cut out for the job.
De Boer has been frustrated by some of the transfer business and could go before Sunday’s trip to Burnley – which would be even quicker than the 85 days he lasted in charge of Inter Milan last season.
Former England bosses Roy Hodgson (above, top) and Sam Allardyce (second top) have been linked with the job while Fulham’s Slavisa Jokanovic (third top) is on Palace’s radar, having been approached before De Boer was appointed. Steve Bruce is facing similar pressure after being warned by Aston Villa owner Dr Tony Xia that their results must improve this month. Villa are 18th in the Championship with just one win in the first five games. They have only five points despite bringing in several big earners from the Premier League, like John Terry. Villa’s Chinese owner Xia is banking on promotion this term as their parachute payments run out next summer. He replaced Roberto Di Matteo (below, bottom) last October with Bruce after a poor start following relegation from the Premier League. But after finishing 13th last term, Xia expects a big improvement this season. Now he has demanded a much better return from this month’s league games against Brentford, Middlesbrough, Barnsley, Nottingham Forest, Burton and Bolton. Xia, whose company is called Recon, tweeted: “A crucial month. “Time to build real confidence and ‘only results matter’ culture at Villa as RECON always did as firm culture. #Septemberwish.”