Sunsport, which is the very original name for the sports section of The Sun newspaper, has conducted an exclusive poll. This must mean that they were the only ones who thought it had any relevance and, on that basis, nobody would be really interested in the findings.
Wrong! As greedy gobblers of anything football related, particularly when it’s about the Premier League and, even more particularly, when it’s an oasis in the desert of an international injury window, we at WSA thought it was quite interesting reading.
The poll was to decide which of the Premier League managers had increased their popularity rating with the fans and which hadn’t, thereby heading in the opposite direction.
Going down the pan quicker than pancake batter is Manuel Pellegrini. He started the season with a fan’s approval rating of 94%. Having spent around £100 million on players such as Felipe Anderson, Andry Yarmolenko and others followed by losing his first four games, he has seen his popularity plummet to 56%.
There is still no need to panic as the Chilean still retains the support of more than half of those polled and is a former Premier League winner. Also, four games is actually not that many considering the amount of new players introduced and he will benefit from being given time to get things right which he undoubtedly will.
Although it may not seem like it at present, West Ham could not be in better hands.
Rafa the Gaffer is experiencing a dip in his popularity for the first time on Tyneside
Rafa Benitez is another who has seen his kudos with the Toon Army drop. His has gone from 93% to 69%. This is more likely due to the style of football he has had Newcastle playing recently, rather than any wish to see him sacked as again, like West Ham, the team would struggle to find anybody better.
Unai Emery has also experienced a downward trend in the popularity stakes. He has seen his percentage drop from 81% to 63%. Again, he is trying to impose his own style on the players and this will take time. His first games in charge have seen him win two and lose two and in fairness , his two losses against Manchester City and Chelsea, were hardly shock results.
Patience is required.
José Mourinho also finds himself down in the doldrums. His approval rating is only 40% and this despite fans staying behind to cheer him on at both home and away games. The false positive that this display of loyalty flags up is that most of the fans have actually gone home before the end of the game but the publicity, as usual, is given to the few not the many.
So who is doing well?
Jürgen Klopp is loving life at Liverpool and the way he is doing things has his rating at 97%. This is proof, if any were needed, that scousers are happy with fourth place in the Premier League and being losing finalists whenever they reach that stage of a cup competition.
Maurizio Sarri is highly thought of at Chelsea. He arrived with 70% of fans thinking he was the right man for the job and this has now risen to 87% after his perfect start to the season. Let’s see how this number is affected when he loses a couple of games against better teams than those he has played to date.
The Premier League’s main man at present, but for how long?
Javi Gracia, unsurprisingly, is the highest climber having seen his team record four straight victories including a comeback win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Last season Watford finished 14th and this led to only 58% of fans being confident he was the right choice for this season. After his start to the season however, this figure has risen to 94%.
Again, let’s see how this looks after ten or fifteen games before the plaudits are handed out.
So those are the ratings of some of the Premier League’s managers and, if things stay the way they are currently, there could very well be a surprise on the scale of Leicester City at the end of the season.
Things do not, generally, stay the way they are.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 