Nine Championship clubs have changed their manager this season – what happened next?

Of the 24 managers to start the season in charge of a Championship club, only 15 remain.

The relentless and ruthless nature of England’s second tier suggests there will probably be further casualties before the end of the season, too. Over a third of the total sackings (25) across the four divisions in England have been in the Championship, with Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion, Oxford United, Southampton, Swansea City, Norwich City, Watford, and Sheffield United all pulling the plug after experiencing struggles.

A ninth club, Middlesbrough, also changed manager when Rob Edwards left to join the Premier League’s bottom club, Wolverhampton Wanderers. It is perhaps ironic that Wolves and Middlesbrough could end up swapping places in May. The second half of this Championship season is gearing up to be as exciting as it is nerve-wracking with at least half of the league still pushing for promotion, and a similar number of clubs nervously looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone.

Of the eight clubs to move a manager on, seven make up the bottom 11 positions in the Championship, with Watford, who have a managerial recruitment policy as unpredictable as the league itself, the only exception.

So were the clubs who sacked managers right to make a change? Or has it backfired? The revolving door is once again swinging rapidly with as many manager exits in the Championship as both League One and League Two combined. The Athletic assesses what’s happened so far in another chaotic season.

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The outcome of changing managers during the season varies across the league. There are a couple of clubs who have benefited from the change, others who remain largely the same, and in West Bromwich Albion’s case (although it’s very early days), the situation has deteriorated further, which goes against any theory of a new-manager ‘bounce’.

The table below (which you can sort) shows how the 25 managerial changes across the Premier League and Football League have impacted clubs’ points-per-game tallies this season. Note, the figures compare results during the named manager’s period in charge, and then what happened directly after, so for some clubs that includes time with an interim manager in place.

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Sheffield United

The mood at Bramall Lane may still be a little mixed as Sheffield United languish awkwardly in 17th place. But consider this: had the Blades started with Chris Wilder in charge, rather than Ruben Selles, who lost all five of his games in the Championship and another against Birmingham City in the League Cup, the situation for last season’s beaten play-off finalists might have looked a whole lot different.

Wilder, in his third stint in charge, is averaging 1.52 points per game, which, spread over 28 games, would have Sheffield United just two points short of the top six if results were matched over that given period. A win over high-flying Ipswich Town at the weekend was a sign of how good this team can be.

The continued progression of 22-year-old Femi Seriki — thriving in Wilder’s 4-4-2 set-up — and academy graduates Oliver Arblaster (21) and Sydie Peck (21) have helped lift a club still trying to make up for the horrendous start to the season, though.

“All of our supporters would love us to be top of the league but we’ve still got PTSD from our last Premier League season, so the thought of getting back there that isn’t exactly thrilling,” says Sam Perry, a writer at NTT20.com.

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Norwich City

After Monday’s victory over league leaders, Coventry City, supporters inside Carrow Road described the atmosphere as the best since relegation from the Premier League in 2022. The Canaries’ season has been supercharged by the arrival of Philippe Clement, who mixes old-school discipline with a modern approach. He has made a considerable impact at the training ground since he replaced Liam Manning in November, bringing calm to a club in crisis.

When he arrived, Norwich were staring relegation in the face as supporters protested outside the stadium. He couldn’t provide an immediate fix, either, which perhaps gives other teams hope that all is not lost if the first few games fall short.

More recently, Clement has steadied the ship by introducing a style that has made Norwich more organised, tougher to create chances against, and exciting in attack. Anis Ben Slimane had been previously written off but is now excelling at No 10 and even the exclusion of top scorer and key asset Josh Sargent, who wants to move away, hasn’t affected the revival.

Chris Reeve, co-host of the TalkNorwichCity podcast, puts it all down to Clement, saying: “It’s no exaggeration to say that had Clement been in charge from the start of the season, we would be pushing for automatic promotion. He’s a Champions League manager in Norwich City pyjamas.”

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Swansea City

Another man making his mark is Vitor Matos. The appointment of such an inexperienced manager took many supporters by surprise but it didn’t take long for the former Liverpool coach, who worked under Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, to help push his new side up the table.

On his arrival from Portuguese second-division side Maritimo in November, Swansea were four points above the relegation zone with four wins from 16 games. Now they’re up to 16th place, seven points above the drop zone and unbeaten at home over the last six games (five wins and a draw).

Finding a manager to play the “Swansea way”, while also protecting the club’s Championship status, was key and Matos appears to have found the perfect blend. The 37-year-old wants to see his team pressing and counter-pressing with purpose and he’s improved the pressing intensity (PPDA — passes per defensive action) figures from the seventh-lowest in the league (10.64) to the fifth-lowest (9.78). Swansea are taking more shots, are more creative at set pieces and now have the Championship’s top goalscorer in Zan Vipotnik (13 goals).

Insiders say Matos has been a breath of fresh air and the decision to bring in former players Joe Allen and Leon Britton has helped. Britton, a club legend who has played for 13 Swansea managers and coached under two, recently told the BBC: “I’ve been highly impressed. His messages are clear.”

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Middlesbrough

With four wins on the spin, 13 goals scored and a decent transfer window almost complete, Middlesbrough are shaping up nicely and could soon become the Championship’s leading force.

Of all the clubs mentioned here, they are the only one that have had to find a new manager because it was forced upon them. Kim Hellberg, the 37-year-old Swedish coach, arrived to replace Rob Edwards who had pushed to join Wolves, the club he used to play for.

Middlesbrough were second when Edwards left and remain there now, albeit with a slightly reduced points-per-game tally, but perhaps more importantly, with the momentum now in their favour.

It’s been a long slog for the club on Teesside, who have spent 16 of the last 17 seasons in the Championship, but this finally looks like a season in which they will be celebrating at the end. The recent moves for Jeremy Sarmiento, Leo Castledine and Finley Munroe may not be as eye-catching as previous signings but they all arrive with a mixture of potential and experience that should help in the promotion push.

Owner Steve Gibson has been through a lot during his long spell in charge at the Riverside Stadium but the smooth nature of this transition from Edwards to Hellberg will be one of the most pleasing moments, especially if a top-two place is secured.

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Southampton

It’s a sad story on the south coast for a club who are underperforming and have as much chance of going down to League One than squeezing into the play-offs following relegation from the Premier League last season.

Southampton aren’t quite as bad as they were under Will Still, but the mini-revival leading up to Christmas is over and the leadership under 32-year-old German Tonda Eckert is now being questioned.

Are they any better off after making a change? “I don’t think so,” says Martin Sanders, who runs the fan channel, FootballMartin. “The fanbase is broken and this has now turned into a season of consolidation with the hope of being better next season.”

Saints invested heavily in the summer, spending in the region of £50million on Finn Azaz, Caspar Jander, Tom Fellows, Leo Scienza, Damion Downs and Joshua Quarshie, but the spending was offset by more than £100m being generated in sales after Tyler Dibling, Mateus Fernandes, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Jan Bednarek, Sam Amo-Ameyaw and Paul Onuachu were sold.

Scienza is the only player to have fully stepped up since, and he’s well-liked at the club for the connection he has with supporters. The lack of firepower has left the team short, though, and another run similar to the form around the festive period would leave the club in big trouble.

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Watford

The managerial merry-go-round would not be complete without a mention of Watford who, under the ownership of Gino Pozzo, have a very clear way of working.

The Italian, whose family also own Serie A club Udinese, are very much in control and make that clear when appointing a head coach and explaining exactly what is required.

Paulo Pezzolano, a name unfamiliar with most supporters when he arrived, lasted just 10 games and was replaced with a man who Watford had previously sacked four games into the 2019-20 Premier League season — without directly telling him. Javi Gracia found out he had the job via his agent when he was picking up his kids from school. That, though, didn’t put him off returning.

Since then, he’s helped establish a strong and positive culture within the club. The atmosphere is noticeably better and Gracia remains well thought of by the supporters after guiding Watford to an 11th-place Premier League finish and the 2019 FA Cup final during his last spell.

There’s a very real possibility of the play-offs, too, with Watford currently a point outside the top six, and increasing their points per game since sacking Pezzolano. Having access to a wide scouting network continues to work to their advantage, and plenty of focus remains on forward Othmane Maamma, who Watford see as potentially becoming their next big star after the likes of Richarlison, Joao Pedro and Yaser Asprilla, who were all moved on for huge transfer fees.

The signing of former Roma and Fiorentina midfielder Edoardo Bove, who was fitted with a cardiac defibrillator after collapsing on the pitch two years ago, is another exciting move, should he be able to reach his potential following the life-threatening setback.

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Oxford United

It’s early days for Oxford, who sacked Gary Rowett just before Christmas with the club in 22nd position and on a run of one win in 10 games.

Rowett worked wonders to keep the club up last season but they’ve been among the relegation favourites since and it would be a surprise to see them escape. If new manager Matt Bloomfield can pull off the unthinkable, he’ll be a contender for manager of the year. He’s unbeaten in three games, which is a bright start, and victory over Leicester City at the weekend saw the Foxes sack their manager Marti Cifuentes as a result.

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West Bromwich Albion

It’s typical of the Championship that Ryan Mason lost his job at the start of the month after watching his side totally dominate a game at Leicester, only to lose 1-0 to a stoppage-time strike.

Mason had the Baggies playing some decent football but he was never going to survive a record-breaking run of 10 away defeats, as well as an alarming slide down the table.

Added to that was a failure to hold onto valuable points, although perhaps the problem is not the head coach, as Eric Ramsay has already found out that the group of players at his disposal are short on both confidence and quality.

One point from his first three games is almost as bad as it gets for a new manager, although the stoppage-time equaliser away at Derby did end the embarrassing run on the road and may kickstart the season, or at least keep the struggling club on track for survival.

West Brom have picked up a few talented players in recent years and in Mikey Johnston have an attacker who is craving for some quality alongside him. But overall the recruitment has been poor and without parachute payments, the squad is continually dropping in quality, especially as top performers like Tom Fellows, Torbjorn Heggem and Alex Palmer have all been sold and not properly replaced. Are there three worse teams in the division? Not at present.

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Leicester City

This was never going to be an easy season for Leicester following the huge changes on the back of Premier League relegation.

But in a weak league, they were expected to be more competitive, and Cifuentes was identified as the man to help pull it all together. He’s the latest manager to have lost his job, after the club held boardroom talks over the weekend and came to the conclusion that it was time for a change.

Leicester’s owner, Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, attended the last game and witnessed the growing level of frustration inside King Power Stadium as supporters turned on those in positions of power at the club.

Leicester also face a points deduction this season for allegedly breaching profit and sustainability rules, and are restricted to signing loan players in this transfer window. If this bad run of form continues, they will also be nervously looking over their shoulder and with other clubs finding a way to pick up points, that’s quickly becoming a concern.

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And what about the others?

Supporters at Birmingham City are in a rush to reach the expected heights set out by ambitious New York-based owners Knighthead and that has put pressure on the manager Chris Davies.

Earlier this month, during a 3-0 defeat at Watford, a section of the supporters chanted “sideways and backwards, everywhere we go”, from the away end in frustration at the playing style, but results have since picked up and those grievances are steadily fading.

Knighthead, led by chairman Tom Wagner, are clearly keen to equip Davies with all the tools to succeed, having spent heavily on five new signings already in this transfer window.

A failure to deliver will only add to the noise, though, especially as Birmingham are now recognised as one of the most exciting projects in the Championship, with promotion to the Premier League considered only a matter of time.

Blackburn Rovers, meanwhile, are a completely different story under the absent ownership of Venky’s, who continue to cut costs, sell their best players, and retain a manager in Valerien Ismael who most likely would have been moved on by a club with ambition.

The story around Sheffield Wednesday is sad and head coach Henrik Pedersen is hardly to blame for their demise, but even under such desperate circumstances (the club has been deducted 18 points for going into administration and breaching payment obligations), one win in 28 games is a humiliating return and it’s no surprise supporters are asking if there’s a better man out there who could pump some life into a team that has been making up the numbers since the start.

This time last season, 10 clubs had changed their manager in the Championship with another four following before the end of the campaign. Strap yourself in, because it’s going to be bumpy.