Pressure on those at the sharp end of the game is relentless and now, perhaps more than ever before, consistency in performance and results over an extended period are imperative for a manager to keep hold of their jobs.
Knee-jerk board reactions now more common
Even the shortest spell of poor results appears to result in knee-jerk reactions from boards of directors or owners that should really know better.
It's impossible for managers to be parachuted into jobs and then be expected to turn a corner in a matter of weeks or months.
In order to really turn clubs that are failing on the pitch around, at least three to four transfer windows are needed.
An 18 month to two-year period should be enough for any new incumbent to bring in their own players and have the squad adopting their style of play to a tee.
How Liverpool went about their business when bringing Jurgen Klopp to the club is a prime example of how to get it right. Short-term pain for long-term gain.
Not hiring and firing for the sake of it.
Clearlake Capital hiring and firing at Chelsea
Chelsea under Clearlake Capital have been the polar opposite to the Reds when it comes to managerial appointments.
Thomas Tuchel was soon ousted from Stamford Bridge to be replaced by Potter, who lasted a little under eight months, winning 12 of his 31 games in charge, during which the Blues scored just 33 goals and conceded 31.
Frank Lampard returned to the club for an ill-fated caretaker spell in which he won just one of the 11 games he took charge of.
Mauricio Pochettino was then brought in and, despite having one of the best win percentages (51%), a mutual agreement for him to move on was executed 10 months later.
That decision saw Enzo Maresca leave Leicester City, who the Italian had just helped get promoted to the English top-flight, and become the fourth Chelsea first-team manager in the three years of Clearlake's ownership.
Fast forward 15 months and history is repeating itself once more, as strong rumours now suggest that even he may be surplus to requirements just a few months after overseeing a Club World Cup win which gave the Blues the accolade of being 'world champions.'
Maresca on the brink?
Nine games into this season and the West Londoners find themselves down in ninth position and some eight points behind leaders Arsenal.
Evidently, four wins, two draws and three losses, including a last-minute defeat at Stamford Bridge to newly promoted Sunderland, has seen the collective trigger fingers in the boardroom start to get a little twitchy.
That's despite Maresca's 63.2% overall win percentage, the best of the Clearlake era so far, which translates to 48 of 76 games being won, 11 being drawn and just 17 being lost - with 164 goals scored.
That's the same amount of goals as Tuchel managed in his 97 game tenure across the Abramovich and Clearlake ownerships.
Iraola being targeted by Blues
According to reports, Bournemouth's brilliant Andoni Iraola is now the object of Clearlake's desire, the Basque having guided the Cherries to second place in the table and having only lost one game in 25/26.
What makes Bournemouth's rise even more remarkable is that the club lost three of their back four and a goalkeeper during the summer.
When Iraola took over the club in 2023, he didn't actually win a game in his first nine attempts. What did the Cherries board do? They backed their man. Didn't send him packing with his P45. There's a lesson to be learned for the Blues right there.
Iraola then oversaw a run of six wins in the next seven matches and he was up and running at the Vitality Stadium.
Performances were good. Solid defensively, creative in midfield and often devastating up front. Pretty much the same as presently actually.
Bournemouth solid if unspectacular
If one takes a look at his overall Bournemouth record to date, Iraola has been in charge for 97 games and has overseen 39 wins, 24 draws and 34 losses, scoring 151 and conceding 138 for a reasonable 40.2% win percentage.
It's a solid if unspectacular set of stats but one must appreciate the size of Bournemouth as a club, with respect, and then remind themselves of the style of football that his teams play, which has really caught the eye.
Football is, after all, still an entertainment business.
Players are allowed to express themselves and be inventive, and there's a certain amount of freedom within the structure of the team.
By allowing that growth, the Basque has struck gold in terms of the buy-in from his playing staff, and by having players such as Antoine Semenyo at the top of his game is of obvious benefit too.
Does Iraola really need the hassle?
A disciple of Marcelo Bielsa, who Iraola played under at Athletic Club, it's easy to see the correlation.
Aggressive pressing, wing-backs that get forward as often as possible and open up the pitch, and direct runners in central areas to feed the forwards... it's a recipe for success that's taken two years of refinement to get to where Bournemouth are now.
With a contract that runs out at the end of the season, if the Cherries want to ensure Iraola continues that good work on the South Coast then it would seem that they need to move quickly.
The question for the man himself is whether he really wants to be the next in line on the Chelsea conveyer belt. Where immediate success is demanded at the expense of allowing good managers time to meld a team together that could rival the 'Kings of the King's Road' swashbuckling Blues side of the 1970s.
