The Briefing: Are managers trying to get sacked? Why are fans so angry? How good were Man Utd?

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday The Athletic discusses three of the biggest questions posed by the weekend’s Premier League action.

This was the round when Declan Rice was a little bit miffed about Arsenal only stretching their lead at the top of the table by a point, Aston Villa missed the chance to close that gap against Everton, Liverpool banged their heads against a Burnley brick wall, Chelsea beat a profligate Brentford, Leeds kept marching on together and Wolves continued their quest to overhaul Derby County’s record low points tally.

But here we will discuss the latest attempt by a manager to sack themselves, ask you all to lighten up a bit and give Manchester United our Premier League players-of-the-week award. It’s nice when the lesser lights get it, isn’t it?

Why are managers talking themselves out of jobs?

Should we be shocked at Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner’s attempted self-immolation? After all, the uber-intense Austrian has done exactly the same thing, at almost the same point, in his last two jobs. Fail to match his ambitions at your peril, employers.

Should we be cross at him for distracting the team with his all-about-me antics on Friday, refusing to use substitutes on Saturday in what looked like an attempt to make a point about the club’s recruitment efforts, before claiming to feel “abandoned” by the club in his post-match interviews? Or, indeed, at failing to prepare his side properly for Macclesfield’s challenge? There were certainly some Palace fans who felt that way at the final whistle in Sunderland on Saturday.

Or should we, like a parent reading a poor school report, be more disappointed than angry? Far be it from this column to tell Palace watchers how to feel, but that seems like the more rational response to something that looks, to this neutral, like a massive shame. Not shame in the sense that anyone has done anything wrong, as such; instead, it just feels a pity it is ending this way, given it was only in May that Glasner helped to deliver the greatest day in Palace’s history, that FA Cup triumph over Manchester City.

Parish seems to be willing to put his foot on the ball and take a breath. It seems unlikely that any manager could survive another week after the things Glasner said, let alone another four months, but maybe the board will decide to let him see out his contract, knowing they will have a much deeper pool of potential replacements in the summer. Maybe.

The question this briefing wants to address now, though, is why so many managers have decided to dare their bosses to sack them this season?

We were only a month into it when Nuno Espirito Santo, another in the “shame it had to end this way” camp, took on Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis and came second, and then we had the one-two punch (in their own faces) of Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca and Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim pulling their ejector seat handles.

OK, the individual circumstances of these bust-ups were different but they all have something in common: they were protests at the unfairness of it all.

For Nuno and Glasner, it was frustration over recruitment decisions that they were held accountable for but felt they had limited control over. For Maresca, it was being told by thousands of fans that he did not know what he was doing when he was forced to substitute players on playing-time limits set by physios. And for Amorim, it was being asked to change the tactical approach that had made his name and got him the job in the first place.

Now, some of you will be thinking “diddums” for these divas. Why could they not be more flexible, grateful and professional? Don’t we all have to make the best of our situations? And you would be right but this writer has a little more sympathy for the dying breed that is the classic English football manager.

The real issue here is the gap between the power we think a Premier League manager wields and the power most of them actually have. There are still a few old-school bosses out there but they are in the minority now and even they have to at least pretend to consult with higher-ups and guys with laptops.

This is the era of analytics experts, sports scientists, recruitment committees and squad-cost specialists, which is absolutely fine but those guys do not have to speak to the press at the training ground every week, do post-match interviews or stand in the technical area while fans loudly critique their organisations’ work

There is an accountability gap and managers are fed up with having to straddle it.

Can fans just chill out?

Being fed up, though, is hardly unusual these days. Like the post-apocalyptic Britain depicted in the 2002 film 28 Days Later, it seems we have all been infected by rage.

If it is not the Gallup Global Emotion Survey pointing out how much angrier and stressed we all are, it is the Oxford University Press making “rage bait” its word of the year. The signs are everywhere: we’re in a bad mood.

This is not the place to debate why that is the case but we can perhaps make a polite request that football fans just chill out a bit. After all, it is just a game and it is meant to be fun.

Take Saturday’s doom-and-gloom derby between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. Yes, Thomas Frank has clearly failed to get a tune out of the rather randomly assembled squad he has been given, and he may never do so.

Tottenham fans protest at their club’s ownership on Saturday (Luke Walker/Getty Images)

The former — and much-admired — Brentford boss certainly does not look like he is enjoying the experience and defeat against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday might bring the curtain down on his time at Spurs. That might even be the most merciful thing to do at this point.

But does he deserve this much vitriol? Spurs finished 17th last season… maybe the guy picking the team is not the only problem?

We are in danger of making the same point we made in the first item here, so let us stop throwing shade in owner Enic’s direction and wondering why Fabio Paratici is leaving London without anyone suggesting he needs to lick his wounds and rebuild his reputation at a less demanding club.

Let us get back to the point we really want to make. Yes, there is a time for football fans to get organised and angry. But that time is when someone is trying to steal your ground, move the club to another city, change your name and colours, fail to pay staff or the tax bill on time, or treat you like just another item in their portfolio.

It is not, as callers to radio phone-ins seem to think, because Liverpool’s players could only convert one of the 32 shots they had against Burnley on Saturday in what ended up being a 12th game without defeat.

How good were Manchester United?

Right, no more moaning about people moaning. We know how much football costs and that anyone who buys a ticket has the right to boo, cheer, sing, whistle or stay silent. We buy tickets, too, sometimes and we are just suggesting that all this anger is not good for us and we should ration it a bit.

So, let us end on a happier note with one of sport’s best storylines: an unexpected win for a plucky underdog. Well done, Manchester United!

We are joking, of course. Manchester United’s bench cost more than £300million in transfer fees, they were at home and they are now only eight points behind Manchester City. The bookmakers and pundits will tell you their 2-0 win in the Manchester derby was a bit of a surprise but it was not the Miracle on Ice.

The shock, if that is the right word, is that what was once boring — United being really good — does feel out of the ordinary. That is an indictment of a decade of bad decisions, muddled thinking and institutional drift. OK, managers matter a bit, too, so Amorim’s formation can get in the bin, as can picking Manuel Ugarte over Kobie Mainoo.

But this was just one game and you only have 16 left this season. So, enjoy your flowers, Manchester United, and do it again next week until neutrals like me get sick of you once more.

Coming up this week

• Matchweek 22 concludes on Monday with Brighton versus Bournemouth. This is either an attractive fixture between two of the Premier League’s best-run clubs, or an ordeal between a home team with one win in eight league games and an away side with one win in 12. I am tempted to say it is easier to smile than frown but that, sadly, is a myth.
• Cheer up, though, as Tuesday’s fare is far more filling, with round seven in the Champions League’s group phase starting. We have already mentioned Spurs v Borussia Dortmund, aka Frank’s last stand, but the pick of this week’s Euro menu is Arsenal’s visit to Inter, who have a three-point lead in Italy. Manchester City will be hoping to secure their place in the top eight by beating Bodo/Glimt in Norway at teatime. In England’s Championship, meanwhile,  Coventry-Millwall is a tasty clash between the sides currently first and fourth.
• Wednesday sees Liverpool travel to Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille, Chelsea host Cypriot outfit Pafos and Newcastle take on PSV at St James’ Park. The English trio are all sitting between 9th and 24th in the table, which means they are on track to make the play-offs. Wednesday wins would give them a chance to bypass it.
• Thursday brings 18 helpings of Europa League action to devour. Aston Villa are in good shape in Europe and will be aiming to book their place in the last 16 by beating Fenerbahce in Turkey. Nottingham Forest have a tough-looking trip to Portugal’s Braga to navigate. Celtic will need to get over their travel sickness to get something from their visit to Bologna, while Rangers need snookers and a thumping home win over Bulgarian side Ludogorets to have any hope of advancing.
• We all know Monday mornings are tough but, worry not, Friday will be here before you know it and this one features the Bundesliga’s only cross-city derby, St Pauli v Hamburger SV. Bonus hipster points available for watching this one.