Ranking all 24 EFL Championship managers by how secure their job is | OneFootball

Football League World has taken a look at how secure each Championship manager is in their job

As a football manager, you can never be comfortable in your job, as sackings are becoming increasingly common as years go by.

Already, six Championship clubs have had to change their managers this season (seven if you count Danny Rohl's departure from Sheffield Wednesday days before the campaign began).

Because of this, though, that means that the majority of the clubs in the second division seem content with their manager going into the new year. However, with the sheer number of games between now and the end of January, that could all change in the space of a few weeks.

Right now, some managers are more secure in their posts than others, and Football League World ranked each Championship boss based on how comfortable they can sit in their chair in their respective dugouts as we wind down in 2025.

The man who seems most 'at-risk' of being sacked at the moment is John Mousinho, despite there being recent history which suggests that sticking with the 39-year-old after a less-than-ideal start works out in the end.

Portsmouth went into 2025 in the bottom three, having won just four games in 22 last season, and had a strong second half of the campaign to finish comfortably in 16th.

This year, they'll be going into the second half of the 2025/26 season with more wins and likely with more points too, but the Portsmouth squad this year is arguably stronger, having adapted to the Championship over the past year, so this season, there have been a few more alarm bells.

Not to say that Michael Eisner and the rest of the higher-ups at Fratton Park should, or will, pull the plug on Mousinho, but out of all the current managers, he's the one closer to the trap door.

23 ? ? Ryan Mason

Similar to Portsmouth, there's little doubt that Ryan Mason will be dismissed unless something drastic happens and the Baggies do end up in an unlikely relegation battle.

This season is one of reset for West Brom, as the club gets to grips with life post-parachute payments, and having a young up-and-coming manager is the perfect way to oversee that project.

Baggies fans would love to see that project reach its conclusion as soon as possible, but the reality is that a 10th-12th placed finish will likely be seen as a positive one this season.

But, a poor run of form could see West Brom slip dangerously close to that bottom three due to the competitiveness of the division, so Mason remains on a tighter leash than most of his peers.

22 ? ? Henrik Pedersen

Right now, the focus at Sheffield Wednesday is on who will be the new owner. The performances on the field have taken a back seat in terms of importance, and a depleted, tired squad paired with points deductions have meant that the Owls have all but conceded to relegation.

However, that's not to say that the results throughout the start of the season have shown promise, and new owners may look elsewhere for a new manager as and when they come in.

Nobody can hold it against Pedersen, but this one may be out of his control.

21 ? ? Valerien Ismael

The campaign so far has been marred by off-field issues for Valerien Ismael. With multiple key names leaving the club over the summer, to a waterlogged pitch at Ewood Park disrupting two would-be wins, it's not been the easiest of jobs to navigate for the Frenchman.

Now, there's a real danger of Blackburn Rovers sliding into some dangerous territory in the Championship currently, having dropped points against Oxford United and Portsmouth recently, and a poor transfer window could see them being overtaken by their relegation rivals.

The 50-year-old does have all the skills to stop Blackburn from sliding into the bottom three, but if that does happen, then the Venkys may look to change him.

20 ? ? Javi Gracia

Javi Gracia is the Watford manager, and as is the case with Watford managers, you can't be truly certain whether their job is safe or not.

No one has managed to manage more games than Gracia did in his last stint at Vicarage Road seven years ago, and the Spaniard will be hoping that he can beat his 66-game spell this time round.

The Hornets play good football, but there may be too many draws there for Gino Pozzo's liking. Gracia should be safe, but with Watford, you just never know.

19 ? ? Phil Parkinson

Phil Parkinson has done an admirable job in taking Wrexham from the National League to the Championship in consecutive years, and for someone whose winning record in the second tier didn't read too attractively before this season, too, he's doing very well this year, also.

It's clear that Parkinson has admirers in co-owners Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, but there has to come a time when the Wrexham board will be a bit more ruthless in finishing off the job and securing that Premier League promotion, and a difficult decision may have to be made.

The 58-year-old will always be heralded as a legend in North Wales, and he'll be afforded as much time as possible to take the Red Dragons to the top flight. But once he hits his ceiling, he may be forced to step down.

18 ? ? Gary Rowett

Oxford United are once again embroiled in a battle to avoid Championship relegation. Last season, they turned to Gary Rowett to help them stay up, and you'd expect that he'd be afforded the time to help do the same again this year.

That being said, there's always the potential for the Yellows to be dragged under the dreaded dotted relegation line for a sustained period, and Oxford may sacrifice the manager to bring in someone new for that desired "new manager bounce," which could provide the points necessary to stay up.

You'd expect that the higher-ups wouldn't make such a knee-jerk decision, but the possibility of that being there is enough to put Rowett towards the bottom of the security list.

17 ? ? Marti Cifuentes

There were calls for Marti Cifuentes to be sacked earlier in the campaign, and despite his Leicester City side responding with some resounding wins against Derby County and Ipswich Town, plus a 2-2 draw where they led 2-0 away at Bristol City, there's still a feeling that things need to be better at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes have some of the most talented players in the division, and to be potentially sat outside the top six going into Boxing Day would be quite disappointing for Marti Cifuentes' side.

There's still plenty of uncertainty surrounding a potential points deduction, and if the Foxes come out of that verdict with a deduction that puts them incredibly close to the bottom three, Cifuentes may pay the price for an average start to the campaign by their standards.

Chris Davies is doing a solid job at Birmingham City from the perspective of the fact that he's managing a former League One side, keeping them strong at home, and they are not a million miles off making a run at the top six.

However, this Birmingham side isn't your average third-tier Champions. They want to get into the Premier League at the first time of asking, and have a squad many feel capable of doing just that.

Therefore, despite how promising a manager the 40-year-old is, if he can't keep up with the Blues' lofty aspirations, he may be forced out.

That being said, he does have the potential to fulfil what Tom Wagner and co want from the side, so his place is a little more tenable than some.

15 ? ? Julien Stephan

There are a lot of managers in the Championship currently whose jobs are seen as safe. QPR manager Julien Stephan ranks in the bottom half of this list, but that doesn't mean that he'll be looking over his shoulder anytime soon.

With the Hoops finishing in the top half just three times in the 10 seasons since they returned to the second tier, if Stephan can deliver that, or perhaps even make a run to the top six, then he'd be on the right track to making his stay at Loftus Road last a long time.

However, the Frenchman has often started well at clubs, before the form dips below standard either towards the end of the first season or in the second year.