Ranking the 7 EFL League One managers most likely to be sacked by Christmas | OneFootball

The managerial merry go round is always chaotic in the EFL - which League One managers will be in the most danger?

The upcoming League One season is geared up to be a fascinating one, with so many different storylines poised to play out over the course of nine months.

For the second straight campaign, there is a team that has dropped from the Premier League to the third tier in two successive years, as Leicester City follow on from Luton in completing the unwanted feat, in what is far more of a shock than what the Hatters did given they won England's top prize 10 years ago.

There is also the new era being fully brought in at Sheffield Wednesday, with Arise Capital Partnership's takeover bringing big changes both on and off the field at Hillsborough - and we can't forget about some of the ambitious sides coming up from League Two as well, with MK Dons likely to be big spenders once more.

Naturally though, there is the fear for managers that their jobs could be on the line from very early on in the season - no fewer than six clubs had changed their personnel in the dugout by the end of 2025 when it came to last season, and that could potentially happen again this coming season.

Who are the likely favourites to be under pressure and potentially lose their jobs though before Christmas 2026 comes? FLW takes a look at seven names that may be under-fire...

7 ? ? Jim McNulty - Stockport County

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A new era is set to begin at Stockport County, with long-serving manager Dave Challinor deciding to walk away after their play-off final defeat to Bolton Wanderers at Wembley.

The Hatters went one better than the previous year when being dumped out in the semi-finals by Leyton Orient in a penalty shootout, but after a mutual agreement between himself and the board, Challinor decided to end his time in the Edgeley Park dugout after nearly five years at the helm, which included two promotions.

It's not just Challinor that has left though - CEO Simon Wilson, who was previously director of football, also departed, having since taken on a sporting director role at Sheffield Wednesday, and that loss of stability both in and away from the dugout could mean big changes at County.

Arriving from National League play-off winners as new manager is Jim McNulty, who has a big task on his hands to succeed Challinor, especially when the likes of Callum Connolly and Odin Bailey have left, and loanees like Louie Barry and Tanto Oloafe have also gone.

A number of County's summer signings so far have been from League Two or non-league, and it represents perhaps a different recruitment model to recent years - and with the step up being quite big for McNulty as a manager, there's every chance that he cannot live up to Challinor's success, and he could not last very long if he doesn't get off to a good start.

6 ? ? Russell Martin - Leicester City

Leicester City are still dealing with the shock of back-to-back relegations, and apart from players on large expiring contracts, there hasn't been too many significant exits yet for cash at the King Power Stadium.

One of their most important first steps for the rebuild was to get a new head coach in place, and they've done that with the appointment of Russell Martin, whose last stint as a manager at Rangers in 2025 didn't last too long at all.

Looking to get over his Ibrox failings though, Martin will look to bring his possession-based style of football to the Foxes and have them challenging for League One promotion instantly.

The expectation however is going to be enormous on Martin to get City back to the Championship at the first time of asking, and having been sacked very early at Rangers, could the same happen again at Leicester?

There's no indication of what his squad makeup is going to look like come the end of the summer transfer window, but if Martin's Leicester don't get off to a hot start then he could end up having another short managerial stint.

5 ? ? Michael Duff - Wycombe Wanderers

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In any normal season, Wycombe Wanderers finishing 11th in League One would be seen as a decent achievement, especially as they've only ever spent one year at Championship level in their entire history.

But the Chairboys hierarchy are far more ambitious now under the ownership of Georgian billionaire Mikheil Lomtadze, who is worth an estimated $6 billion, and deals last season to bring players like Andre Vidigal, Aaron Morley and Connor Taylor, among others, felt pretty significant at the time.

The Wanderers board though aren't afraid to make difficult decisions, as showed when sacking Michael Dodds early on last season in September, and if Michael Duff doesn't get off to a decent start to the 2026-27 campaign, there's every chance that he could suffer the same fate.

Duff has a 44.4 per cent win record since taking over at Adams Park, which is fairly decent, but Wycombe need to show that they are at least play-off contenders in the first few months of the season - if not, his job could be in danger.

4 ? ? Ian Evatt - Blackpool

Blackpool may have enjoyed an impressive end to the previous campaign by winning seven of their remaining nine matches to accelerate away from a relegation dogfight towards a 13th-placed finish, but that doesn't completely eliminate long-term question marks over Evatt.

The ex-Tangerines defender has been in charge at Bloomfield Road since October of last year, having previously earned his stripes at this level with Bolton Wanderers, though his time leading the Trotters was ultimately underlined by numerous failed promotion attempts.

Blackpool's aspirations are much more modest, but they will face more pressure than they did last time out and the margin for failure will be lowered. Results under Evatt have not always been consistent and they did struggle during the earlier stages of his reign.

Generally speaking, Evatt tends to cut a divisive figure and while he may be more cut out for Blackpool's stature instead of where Bolton's ambitions were laid before he was dismissed and replaced by the more-successful Steven Schumacher, the Tangerines will be expecting to kick on and establish themselves firmly in the mid-table picture.

If another battle against relegation is in store, there's every chance that Evatt could find himself on borrowed time.

3 ? ? Martin Drury - Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town will be looking to finally achieve promotion back to the Championship at the fourth time of asking following a third successive failure to reach the League One play-offs, and leading that charge will be Martin Drury - but exactly how long for remains open to debate.

The former Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Valencia figure joined Huddersfield's coaching staff in January of this year and would go on to take over from Liam Manning on an initial interm basis before landing the job permanently after his predecessor chose not to return from compassionate leave.

Drury's record so far, however, is hardly convincing, and while the Huddersfield hierarchy looked beyond purely results when deciding to appoint the 40-year-old full-time, he did take just two victories from seven matches as the Terriers finished in ninth place and has no prior senior managerial experience to speak of.

Owner Kevin Nagle has stripped through six permanent managers since purchasing the club three years ago - five with the exclusion of Manning owing to personal circumstances - and Drury could become yet another victim of that turnover if he's unable to take Town into a promotion battle.

Supporters are becoming increasingly impatient towards the state of play at the Accu Stadium, in which Huddersfield routinely make high-profile moves in the transfer market and look to rebuild the squad but lack the consistency and managerial know-how to match expectations, and a strong start will be required to give Drury any real security over his long-term prospects in West Yorkshire.

2 ? ? Richie Wellens - Leyton Orient

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Richie Wellens, by contrast, still has credit in the bank at Leyton Orient, but the cobwebs from a dismal campaign which saw the East Londoners fall from play-off finalists to relegation candidates will need to be dusted off dramatically as a crucial summer of reset and rebuilding awaits all at Brisbane Road if the Mancunian is to keep his job.

The O's made the League One play-off final against Charlton Athletic just over twelve months ago, but after the likes of Jamie Donley, Josh Keeley, Charlie Kelman and Ethan Galbraith all departed, Wellens failed to pick up the pieces and his side sorely struggled in 25/26, only avoiding relegation on the final day.

Wellens was often incensed with the performances of his squad and is looking to hit the reset button this summer, with Orient having either released or transfer-listed ten senior players after retaining their third-tier status for another year.

They have been active so far this summer and the capture of gifted Albanian winger Armando Dobra from Chesterfield could be a real coup, although Dom Ballard's departure feels inevitable following the League One Player of the Season's haul of 23 goals and four assists and replacing the striker's star quality will be a tall order - even if the O's can look forward to a handsome cash windfall for his services.

Navigating the choppy waters of a squad rebuild - however desperately-needed - is easier said than done, and the wholesale change may go either way.

Wellens has the opportunity to turn it all around at Orient, where he has posted an impressive win percentage of 43% across 230 matches, but there's so much pressure on the 46-year-old to get it right and his side cannot afford to spend another season scrapping it out for survival - which is why FLW believes he could be among the more likelier sackings next term.

1 ? ? Leam Richardson - Reading

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Last but not least, Leam Richardson's departure from the Select Car Leasing Stadium is a development that many Reading supporters would welcome at this moment in time and it could just take place in the early stages of the upcoming campaign if the unpopular 46-year-old continues to fall short of winning over those in Berkshire.

Richardson replaced Noel Hunt in October of last year but failed to take Reading into play-off contention, with a disappointing run of just two victories from the last eleven matches consigning the Royals to a 12th-placed finish and a fourth straight season of League One football.

The ex-Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United boss has previous promotion credentials at this level, although whether he can get both the supporters and players onside is the elephant in the room right now and is likely to decide the outcome of his future with the club.

There have been reports of tensions between Richardson and members of the playing squad, and while he has retained Rob Couhig's public backing to date, there is a feeling that Reading need to finally move upwards under the American businessman after his long-awaited takeover last year.

The Royals have made some impressive moves in the window so far by adding the likes of Jacob Brown and Kyrell Lisbie to Richardson's squad, but he needs to make a strong start to proceedings next time out to restore relations, bring the feel-good factor back and ultimately lead his side towards a battle for promotion.