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The latest dismissals of Luiz Felipe Scolari of Chelsea and Tony Adams of Portsmouth meant the average managerial tenure has now dipped from 3.12 years at the beginning of the Premier League to an all-time low of 1.47 years.

Of the current managers, who have had more than one job, only five have never been sacked: Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa), David Moyes (Everton), Tony Mowbray (West Bromwich), Mark Hughes (Manchester City) and Simon Grayson (Leeds United). The other worrying statistic is that 49 per cent of first-time managers do not get back into management.

Only four current managers have held the job for more than three years: Rafael Benitez (4 years), David Moyes (7), Arsene Wenger (12) and, of course, Sir Alex Ferguson (22), according to Times online. Since the Premier League was founded nearly 17 years ago, these 20 clubs have had an average of nine managers each.

Not only do the statistics alarm all managers but sometimes the sacking can be tragi-comic too. For example, the sacking of Adams. Pompey chief executive Peter Storrie broke the stunning news while Adams was celebrating his five-year-old son Atticus's birthday.

Rob Burnett of Four Four Two magazine discovered that many managers got the sack in strange and unfortunate circumstances.

Crystal Palace's chairman Simon Jordan insisted he didn't enjoy sacking people despite the fact that he's had eight managers in his nine years at the club. One of his sackings was certainly funny. "Trevor Francis didn't take it very well," Jordan recalled. "He just sat there quietly and said 'But it's my birthday'. I had no idea. What could I do? I said 'Many happy returns, Trev."

Torquay United's owner Mike Bateson brought former Fulham, QPR and West Ham striker Leroy Rosenior back to Plainmoor for a second spell in charge in May 2007 but just 10 minutes after he had been unveiled to the press, Rosenior was told the club had been sold and he was sacked.

The chairman of Barnet FC, Stan Flashman, was hailed as a hero for improving the club. But behind the scenes, all was not well, especially between Flashman and manager Barry Fry.

Fry said last month the most important relationship at any football club is the one between a manager and chairman. And he said he was sacked by Flashman 37 times in nine years!

Martin Jol from Tottenham Hotspur must be one of very few managers to find out during a match that he was being fired. Chairman Daniel Levy and the board had planned to inform Jol about his sacking after a Uefa Cup match against Getafe at White Hart Lane. But the news leaked out and a friend sent a text message to Jol with the bad news midway through the game.

Since the credit crunch is sparing no one in the world, businessmen who have invested billions in football clubs want instant success. The owners as well as football fans have less patience while managers need time to build a team. When the owners and managers are not on the same wavelength, some good men are treated badly as a result.