Premier League sack race

LONDON

Tony Pulis became the fifth Premier League managerial casualty of the season on Monday with the number of top-flight sackings already at a five-season high even before the Welshman's exit.

Here are the other bosses who have lost their jobs this season:

Frank de Boer (Crystal Palace)

Dutchman Frank de Boer was the first managerial casualty of the season, dismissed in September after losing all four of his league games without a single goal.

De Boer was at Selhurst Park for only 77 days after succeeding Sam Allardyce, and while that is longer than the shortest term for any Premier League manager — Les Reed's 40 days at Charlton — he oversaw two fewer games.

Craig Shakespeare (Leicester City)

Former Premier League champions Leicester City parted company with Craig Shakespeare just four months after handing him a permanent contract.

At the time of the Englishman's dismissal the 2015-16 champions were third from bottom of the table with a single league win.

Ronald Koeman (Everton)

The Everton boss became the third Premier League managerial casualty of the season last month when he was sacked.

The Dutchman, who guided the club to seventh in his first season in charge last term, paid the price for a string of poor results despite spending heavily in the transfer window.

Slaven Bilic (West Ham)

Croatian Slaven Bilic was dismissed with West Ham in the relegation zone.

At the time of his departure in early November, West Ham had just two wins from 11 Premier League games, leaving them languishing above just bottom club Crystal Palace and Swansea.

Tony Pulis (West Brom)

Tony Pulis boasts a proud record of never having been relegated as a manager in a long career.

But that was not enough to save him from the axe following a poor run of form that has left West Bromwich Albion hovering just above the relegation zone.