Has sacking managers worked this season?

Kit Symons has settled the Craven Cottage ship

Alex Johnson looks at some of the clubs who have changed managers so far this season to see if the changes have been good ones so far.

Every manager fears the old adage 'the buck stops with me', when results go wrong it is the man in the dugout that faces the music.

In the high stakes world of the modern game, patience is not a virtue many football club chairmen are blessed with.

With incessant media attention and supporter unrest, a poor run of results often sees pressure build to sack the manager in a bid to achieve the quick fix.

Does it work though? As sure as night follows day, a new manager will find the press speculating that his squad are 'certain to lift their performance levels' to impress the new boss.

One third of clubs in the Championship have replaced their manager already this season - some of them on more than one occasion - and we have not even reached December.

The pressure in England's second tier is intense as clubs seek a share of the pot of gold that awaits in the Premier League. Promotion is the be all and end all. With such a turnover of managers already this season - no Premier League manager has lost his job since the season started - we take a look at some of the Championship clubs that have already gone through change and ask, has sacking managers worked this season?

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Bolton Wanderers

Bolton parted ways with Dougie Freedman in September having won just one of ten Championship games. The Trotters were second from bottom in the table.

The former Crystal Palace boss missed out on the play-offs on goal difference in his first season but the club laboured to 14th spot in his second year in charge.

On October 12, former Celtic manager Neil Lennon was appointed at the Macron Stadium.

The Northern Irishman enjoyed tremendous success in Scotland and in Europe with the Glasgow giants and had been keen to try his luck down south.

His first game resulted in a 1-0 win away Birmingham and since then they have picked up three wins and a draw in five outings. Crucially, under Lennon, Bolton have maintained a 100 per cent winning record at home.

Having climbed out of the relegation zone last weekend Bolton are now seeing the results of Lennon's work.

Goalkeeper Andy Lonergan recently hailed the 'winning mentality' the new manger has brought to everything that happens within the club.

After a shocking start, Bolton are on the rise and the club as a whole appears to have bought into Lennon's leadership.

Leeds United

Emmerdale faces some stiff competition as the number one soap opera in Yorkshire given how things are run by Elland Road supremo Massimo Cellino.

The Italian has dispensed with both Dave Hockaday and Darko Milanic this season already.

Hockaday began the season in charge and was removed after six games to be replaced by former Sturm Graz boss Milanic. His reign ended after just 32 days.

Having been caretaker boss previously, Leeds academy manager Neil Redfearn took the post as first-team manager - although he ensured a clause in his contract would allow him return to his previous role should things fail to work out.

Cellino is the personification of a trigger-happy owner, routinely sacking managers at former club Cagliari.

Needless to say the lack of stability has taken its toll on Leeds, who have won back-to-back games just once this season - during Redfearn's four-game unbeaten spell as caretaker boss in September.

It has been a different tale since taking permanent charge in late October for Redfearn with only one win from four - against basement club Blackpool.

The constant threat of the sack hangs over any Leeds boss right now and that is sure to transmit to the players.

Cellino is living proof of how one rich man can seemingly wreak havoc in a once great football club.

Leeds are surely condemned to mid-table this season and, indeed, until a suitable medium to long term strategy is developed.

Fulham

Felix Magath was unable to save Fulham from dropping out of the Premier League last season and the German made a horrendous start to life in the Championship, earning just one point from seven games.

Craven Cottage chairman Shahid Khan described the removal of Magath as 'an unfortunate but necessary change' and it is hard to disagree in retrospect.

Having never managed outside his native land before, Magath in the Championship battle ground always represented a risk.

Fulham acted relatively quickly and have received dividends under new boss Kit Symons.

The Welshman won five of nine games as caretaker boss before being appointed on a permanent basis in October.

As a former Fulham player, Symons' emotional attachment to the club was a positive and he described the role to be 'a job I've always really wanted to do'.

As with Cellino at Elland Road, Fulham require some form of stability. Symons is the fourth permanent manager since Khan bought the club from Mohamed Al Fayed in summer 2013.

Currently on a run of just one defeat in seven games - a stoppage time loss at London rivals Brentford on Friday last - Fulham are looking up the table instead of down.

The gruelling Championship season has 24 games still to play and with only eleven points between Symons and the playoff places, the Fulham manager will not have given up hope of a top-six spot.

Birmingham City

An 8-0 home defeat to Bournemouth in October was enough for Birmingham to call time on Lee Clark's two-and-a-quarter-year stint at St Andrew's.

The former Huddersfield boss had only narrowly escaped relegation in his second season in charge and he was replaced by former Blues defender Gary Rowett, who left his post as manager at Burton Albion in League Two to accept the job.

After slipping to a club-record home defeat it was no surprise to see Clark removed from the dugout, although the financially-challenged club will not be able to wave a magic wand come the January transfer window.

Rowett, at 40 years old, represents a young up-and-coming boss with excellent philosophies on how the game ought to be played and he has already achieved a significant turnaround in fortunes.

Unbeaten in four games, Blues defeated high-flying Watford and drew at Wolves while last weekend's win over Rotherham hoisted them out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.

So far, so good for the new Birmingham boss.

Verdict:

From the four clubs we have looked at, three appear to be on an upward trajectory under their new managers.

Bolton, Fulham and Birmingham and are steadily distancing themselves from the clutches of a relegation battle - the minimum requirement for clubs of their stature.

Leeds on the other hand appear to be meandering with no clear destination in sight. A new manager can invigorate a club but constant and repeated change for change's sake is to the detriment of all concerned.

For Lennon and Symons, time is a friend right now. The positions they inherited ensure that finishing mid-table will not reflect badly while a push towards a playoff spot would look like an excellent return.

The real challenge will come next summer when rebuilding towards a genuine target of promotion takes place.

Financial constraints at Birmingham could hinder such lofty ambitions in the short term.

Replacing the manager may sometimes be the easiest option for decision makers at football clubs when pressure mounts but that in itself does not guarantee an upturn in fortunes.

Repeatedly hitting the panic butting tends only to make a mockery of the club's reputation. When appointing a manager, it is important to remember that patience is a virtue.