Is sacking the manager really the answer?

Paul Clement became the sixth Premier League manager sacked this season when bottom club Swansea City ended his one-year tenure on Wednesday but any upswing in results the Swans enjoy will be largely down to luck, according to a leading analyst.

The so-called “new manager bounce” often accompanies a club parting ways with a manager and hiring a new one as demonstrated this month with West Ham’s resurgence under David Moyes after he replaced Slaven Bilic.

But research by the 21st Club suggests the phenomenon is over-rated.