According to The Telegraph, thirty-three Premier League managers were sacked last season, equating to one every six days. So why the dramatic change of heart? As Premier League clubs have not suddenly been plunged into monetary despair, why is choosing to battle on with unsatisfactory managers rather than shell out a few million the latest trend to sweep across Britain’s most elite of football clubs?

There has been an arguably inevitable lack of Premier League managerial sackings since many of the top clubs chose to sign a binding arbitration agreement that awards compensation to managers when a settlement cannot be agreed. The Guardian quoted a source from the Premier League, saying:

“It’s no coincidence there are more sackings at Football League clubs which aren’t signed up to binding arbitration.”

Many clubs would not want to follow in the footsteps of teams who have had to pay out hefty rewards to fallen managers who have used the arbitration system to win their case. Most famously was the well-publicized Kevin Keegan saga, who was rewarded two million pounds “plus interest” after an independent arbitration panel decided he was constructively dismissed by Newcastle in 2008. The ruling has had ramifications in the world of Premier League football ever since, as chairmen and boards look piteously at Newcastle’s sad demise, and not wanting to follow in their footsteps, are treading more carefully in their decisions about hiring and firing managers. Rushing in and giving coaches their P45 is not proving financially fruitful and club owners are becoming increasingly aware of this.

But these highly public, decidedly embarrassing, and lengthy and costly legal battles have not only influenced the powerful members of Britain’s best clubs, but have also spurred the League Managers Association (LMA) into introducing new action to protect the rights of managers. LMA lawyers have written a standardized contract to protect all managers of the Premier League clubs. Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the LMA, says clubs today are under such intense and multiple pressures than ever before. He told The Telegraph:

“Media pressure is greater than ever. The financial pressure of dropping down is greater. Individuals owning clubs demand urgent success.”

It was perhaps these pressures which last season saw the average Premier League manager tenure drop to an all-time low of 1.47 years. This season, however, as pressures grow, it seems to have caused a complete reversal in a manager’s fate, and ultimately given them a longer lifeline.

Clubs do not want to be wrapped up in costly court cases like Keegan’s, which are lapped up with delight by the British media. The financial pressure of “dropping down” will not be helped by a £10 million payout, the apparent sum that would set Liverpool back if they were to let go of Benitez.

Fiscal reasons aside, clubs may be seeing the simple logic and sense of being patient with managers and giving them time to “iron out any wrinkles.” Bevan spoke of this logic in The Telegraph:

“If Roman Abramovich is going to have four managers in 17 months, then you are not going to achieve any success.”

Bevan’s sentiment was proved true by Newcastle last season, which had a string of managers. Given these assertions by the likes of Bevan, and the concrete evidence provided by Newcastle’s abysmal exit from the Premier League, the football elite may be finally taking notice and giving managers a longer chance to prove themselves.

Achieving a continuous level of success is an impossible task for any club and all teams inevitably have their good and bad runs. Britain’s “Big Four” take it in turns to be on top. This time last year, Arsene Wenger’s abilities as a manager were in doubt, but this season Arsenal are the title favorites. Even Sir Alex has not been without his share of threats to his managerial status. Some rash Manchester United fans wanted to see Ferguson sacked when they exited from the Champions League in the 2005/2006 season. The Reds then went on to lift the trophy the following two years. In 1987, Kenny Dalglish lost four games on the trot with Liverpool, soon to be followed by winning 31consecutive games and securing the title.

Rafael Benitez’s case is also ambiguous. The fact that in 2005 they won the European Championship, the most sought-after title in European football, may be what is really saving Benitez’s bacon. It was not only the fact that they won the tournament, but the style in which they did it, which has left Liverpool fans, four years later, still excitedly musing over it in the pub. John Stokes is one such man. The Liverpool supporter told RT in a rapid-fire Liverpudlian accent, with a smirk upon his face:

“We were 3-0 down at half time and we came level within a heaven-sent seven minutes, going onto destroy the Italians 3-2 on penalties. You could not have written a more exiting final. There is no way Benitez should ever deserve the chop after pulling that one out of the bag!”

Kevin Keegan once compared football management to a game of life or death. “It’s like Russian roulette,” he said. “You always have a gun at your head – the only question is whether there is a bullet in the barrel,” (from wikio.co.uk). Long-term contracts guaranteeing generous pay-offs, media-hyped court case fiascos, a string of failing managers followed by a humiliating relegation: the days of macho football club owners randomly hiring and firing managers at their pleasure seem to be numbered in the Premier League. Whether Rafael Benitez will miraculously turn around Liverpool’s race for the Championship League title as he did in 2005 remains unknown. Or will the Spaniard be the first manager to leave the Premier League this season with his tail between his legs?

Gabrielle Pickard for RT