Enzo Fernandez has helped force two Premier League manager sackings this year, although Mauricio Pochettino might argue that it is actually three.

The following is a rundown of the players who scored in a Premier League manager’s last game before losing their job. Sackings, resignations and mutual consents are all considered, provided there was one clear result which proved to be the tipping point. And it had to happen during the season, not in the summer.

On the rare occasion a manager left his post after winning, we will take into account their most recent defeat; we only want results so damaging that the manager in question had to go soon after. To use Frank Lampard’s 2021 Chelsea exit as an example, his final match was an FA Cup win over Luton so the previous game, a 2-0 defeat to Leicester in which Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison were the scorers, will be used. Same for Daniel Farke, who left Norwich after beating Brentford in November of that year, with the Raphinha and Rodrigo-inspired loss to Leeds in his penultimate match cited as key.

A total of 242 different players have induced one manager exit by scoring at least once in their final game. This number includes such names as Celestine Babayaro (Kenny Dalglish, Newcastle), Jon Flanagan (Andre Villas-Boas, Spurs), Vinnie Jones (Ron Atkinson, Aston Villa), Gary O’Neil (Peter Reid, Leeds), Arturo Vidal (Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea), and Nicolas Jackson, who helped put Steve Cooper out of his Leicester misery.

Players who induced two manager exits (39)

Che Adams
Chris Wilder at Sheffield United
Antonio Conte at Spurs

Gabriel Agbonlahor
Brian McDermott at Reading
Gus Poyet at Sunderland (two goals)

Morgan Amalfitano
Paolo Di Canio at Sunderland
Chris Hughton at Norwich

Juan Pablo Angel
Colin Todd at Derby
Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle

Michail Antonio
Bob Bradley at Swansea
Nigel Pearson at Watford

Andre Ayew
Tim Sherwood at Aston Villa
Bob Bradley at Swansea

Joey Barton
Chris Coleman at Fulham
Lawrie Sanchez at Fulham

Christian Benteke
Brian McDermott at Reading
Gus Poyet at Sunderland (two goals)

Luis Boa Morte
Jacques Santini at Spurs
Velimir Zajec at Portsmouth

Nicky Butt
Howard Wilkinson at Leeds
Attilio Lombardo at Crystal Palace

Eric Cantona
Howard Wilkinson at Leeds
Joe Royle at Everton

Carlton Cole
Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle
Martin Jol at Fulham

El Hadji Diouf
Kevin Keegan at Manchester City
Alan Pardew at West Ham

Enzo Fernandez
Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace
Steve Cooper at Leicester

Roberto Firmino
Francesco Guidolin at Swansea
Scott Parker at Bournemouth (two goals)

Eden Hazard
Nigel Adkins at Southampton
Tony Pulis at West Brom (two goals)

Thierry Henry
Jim Smith at Derby (two goals)
Gordon Strachan at Southampton (two goals)

Emile Heskey
Jean Tigana at Fulham
Paul Ince at Blackburn

Harry Kane
Steve Bruce at Newcastle
Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds

Josh King
Steve McClaren at Newcastle
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United

Dejan Kulusevski
Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds
Steve Cooper at Nottingham Forest

Rickie Lambert
Mark Hughes at QPR
Malky Mackay at Cardiff

Oyvind Leonhardsen
Ron Atkinson at Aston Villa
Gerry Francis at Spurs

Romelu Lukaku
Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool
Mark Hughes at Southampton

Gareth McAuley
Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea
Mike Phelan at Hull

James Milner
Martin Jol at Spurs
Francesco Guidolin at Swansea

Peter Odemwingie
Chris Hughton at Newcastle (two goals)
Mick McCarthy at Wolves (three goals)

Michael Owen
Gerry Francis at Spurs
Jean Tigana at Fulham

Kevin Phillips
Ruud Gullit at Newcastle
Glenn Hoddle at Spurs

Niall Quinn
Brian Little at Leicester
Ruud Gullit at Newcastle

Jay Rodriguez
Malky Mackay at Cardiff (two goals)
Paul Heckingbottom at Sheffield United

Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Wigley at Southampton
Nuno Espirito Santo at Spurs

Wayne Rooney
Steve Wigley at Southampton
Paul Clement at Swansea

Mo Salah
Slaven Bilic at West Ham (two goals)
Slavisa Jokanovic at Fulham

Paul Scholes
Attilio Lombardo at Crystal Palace
Steve Wigley at Southampton

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Joe Royle at Everton
David Pleat at Sheffield Wednesday (two goals)

Heung-min Son
Steve Bruce at Newcastle
Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds

Jamie Vardy
Jose Mourinho at Chelsea
Marco Silva at Watford

Yakubu
Peter Reid at Leeds
Les Reed at Charlton

Players who induced three manager exits (eight)

Jarrod Bowen
Bruno Lage at Wolves
Frank Lampard at Everton (two goals)
Erik ten Hag at Manchester United

Salomon Kalou
Sam Allardyce at Bolton
Sammy Lee at Bolton
Billy Davies at Derby

Riyad Mahrez
Garry Monk at Swansea (three goals)
Jose Mourinho at Chelsea
Marco Silva at Watford

Sadio Mane
Neil Warnock at Crystal Palace
Jose Mourinho at Manchester United
Marco Silva at Everton

Xherdan Shaqiri
Slavisa Jokanovic at Fulham
Jose Mourinho at Manchester United (two goals)
Marco Silva at Everton

Gylfi Sigurdsson
Tim Sherwood at Aston Villa
Paul Clement at Swansea
Jose Mourinho at Spurs (two goals)

Darius Vassell
Colin Todd at Derby
Graeme Souness at Newcastle
Chris Coleman at Fulham

Chris Wood
Frank de Boer at Crystal Palace
Alan Pardew at West Brom
Ralph Hasenhuttl at Southampton

Players who induced four manager exits (one)

James Ward-Prowse
Claudio Ranieri at Fulham
Quique Sanchez Flores at Watford
Chris Wilder at Sheffield United
Antonio Conte at Spurs

Players who induced five manager exits (one)

Andy Cole
David Pleat at Sheffield Wednesday
Attilio Lombardo at Crystal Palace
Jacques Santini at Spurs
Velimir Zajec at Portsmouth
Graeme Souness at Newcastle

Players who induced their own manager’s exit with own goals

Nigel Martyn – Howard Wilkinson at Leeds

Tim Sherwood – Ray Harford at Blackburn

Des Lyttle – Frank Clark at Nottingham Forest

Jon Newsome – David Pleat at Sheffield Wednesday

Jussi Jaaskelainen – Sam Allardyce at Bolton

Anton Ferdinand – Mark Hughes at QPR

Titus Bramble – Martin O’Neill at Sunderland

Steve Taylor – Steve McClaren at Newcastle

Michael Keane – Rafael Benitez at Everton

Juraj Kucka – Claudio Ranieri at Watford

Chris Mepham – Scott Parker at Bournemouth

Tyrone Mings – Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa

Jan Bednarek – Nathan Jones at Southampton

Daniel Iversen – Brendan Rodgers at Leicester

Players who induced consecutive manager exits

Jonatan Johansson – Chris Hutchings at Bradford (sacked in November 2000) and Peter Taylor at Leicester (sacked in October 2001)

Players who induced consecutive manager exits in the same season

Riyad Mahrez (2016/17) – Garry Monk at Swansea (sacked in December 2015) and Jose Mourinho at Chelsea (sacked in December 2015)

Players who induced multiple manager exits in the same season

Eric Cantona (1996/97) – Howard Wilkinson at Leeds (sacked in September) and Joe Royle at Everton (resigned in March)

Andy Cole (1997/98) – David Pleat at Sheffield Wednesday (sacked in November) and Attilio Lombardo at Crystal Palace (resigned in April)

Luis Boa Morte (2004/05) – Jacques Santini at Spurs (resigned in November) and Velimir Zajec at Portsmouth (resigned in April)

Andy Cole (2004/05) – Jacques Santini at Spurs (resigned in November) and Velimir Zajec at Portsmouth (resigned in April)

Morgan Amalfitano (2013/14) – Paolo Di Canio at Sunderland (sacked in September) and Chris Hughton at Norwich (sacked in April)

Chris Wood (2017/18) – Frank de Boer at Crystal Palace (sacked in September) and Alan Pardew at West Brom (mutual consented in April)

Xherdan Shaqiri (2018/19) – Slavisa Jokanovic at Fulham (sacked in November) and Jose Mourinho at Manchester United (sacked in December)

Harry Kane (2021/22) – Steve Bruce at Newcastle (mutual consented in October) and Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds (sacked in February)

Heung-min Son (2021/22) – Steve Bruce at Newcastle (mutual consented in October) and Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds (sacked in February)

Jarrod Bowen (2022/23) – Bruno Lage at Wolves (sacked in October) and Frank Lampard at Everton (sacked in January)

Players who induced manager exits by scoring two goals in their last game

Bradley Allen – Bobby Gould at Coventry

Peter Beardsley – John Deehan at Norwich

Stan Collymore – Frank Clark at Nottingham Forest

Freddie Kanoute – Stuart Gray at Southampton

Thierry Henry – Jim Smith at Derby and Gordon Strachan at Southampton

Nwankwo Kanu – Peter Reid at Sunderland

James Beattie – Glenn Hoddle at Spurs

Gary O’Neil – Peter Reid at Leeds

Georgios Samaras – Mick McCarthy at Sunderland

Kevin Davies – Alan Pardew at West Ham

Robin van Persie – Kevin Keegan at Newcastle

Johan Elmander – Roy Keane at Sunderland

Niko Kranjcar – Mark Hughes at Manchester City

Stephen Hunt – Gary Megson at Bolton

Peter Odemwingie – Chris Hughton at Newcastle

Benjani Mwaruwari – Roy Hodgson at Liverpool

Charles N’Zogbia – Avram Grant at West Ham

Luis Suarez – Andre Villas-Boas at Spurs

Jay Rodriguez – Malky Mackay at Cardiff

Kevin Nolan – Michael Laudrup at Swansea

Mame Biram Diouf – Alan Irvine at West Brom

Christian Benteke – Gus Poyet at Sunderland

Gabriel Agbonlahor – Gus Poyet at Sunderland

Mo Salah – Slaven Bilic at West Ham

Eden Hazard – Tony Pulis at West Brom

Kenedy – Mauricio Pellegrini at Southampton

Xherdan Shaqiri – Jose Mourinho at Manchester United

Wilfried Zaha – Claude Puel at Leicester

Daichi Kamada – Unai Emery at Arsenal

Divock Origi – Marco Silva at Everton

Gylfi Sigurdsson – Jose Mourinho at Spurs

Luis Diaz – Scott Parker at Bournemouth

Roberto Firmino – Scott Parker at Bournemouth

Jarrod Bowen – Frank Lampard at Everton

Jacob Murphy – Cristian Stellini at Spurs

Alexander Isak – Cristian Stellini at Spurs

Jefferson Lerma – Javi Gracia at Leeds

Conor Gallagher – Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace

Players who induced manager exits by scoring a hat-trick in their last game

Carlos Tevez – Roberto Di Matteo at West Brom

Peter Odemwingie – Mick McCarthy at Wolves

Jon Walters – Harry Redknapp at QPR

Riyad Mahrez – Garry Monk at Swansea

READ MORE: Which managers and clubs force the most the Premier League sackings?

Former Man City defender Micah Richards doubts Man Utd will buy the players Ruben Amorim wants in the January transfer window.

The Red Devils made a disappointing start to life under new boss Amorim after Man Utd appointed the Portuguese coach to take over from Erik ten Hag at the beginning of this month.

His first match in charge on Sunday ended in a 1-1 draw against relegation-battlers Ipswich Town with Amorim’s side moving up to 12th in the Premier League table with the point.

Marcus Rashford scored inside the first two minutes to give Amorim’s side a perfect start but Omari Hutchinson’s long-range strike just before half-time fave the Tractor Boys a share of the spoils against Man Utd.

Man Utd spent around £180m to give Ten Hag five players to improve his team in the summer and there are now doubts as to whether Amorim will be given funds in January as the Red Devils are close to their PSR threshold.

Former Man City defender Richards thought Man Utd were “a bit disappointing” in Amorim’s first match and doubts they will bring in many new players in January.

Richards said on The Rest is Football podcast: “They looked alive, they looked sharp. All the things you thought (would happen). I was getting excited, and then it just went flat.

“I don’t think he is going to get the players he wants in January but I think in the summer we are going to see five or six players come in now. I just believe that. I was a bit disappointing in the showing. That’s not the manager, he needs time to implement his style.

“It was almost like a fizzy drink. I expected so much, they started so well and then it just fizzled out a bit. On another day Ipswich could have scored four or five.”

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Amorim Watch: New Man Utd manager rubs his nose a lot and we get bored
👉 Mailbox: Ruben Amorim at Man Utd: ‘New Manager Thud anyone?’
👉 Good luck Ruben Amorim; Man Utd are ‘a fat, lazy, bloated corpse of a club’

Despite the draw, Amorim is determined to introduce his new 3-4-3 formation and tactics on the Man Utd players from the get-go: “They are thinking about too much, because things are so different.

“Some details, they used to pass the ball and go forwards and now they have to go back. These types of things, they have to think too much. [Diogo] Dalot used to do it, he would pass the ball and then go inside and play in midfield. Now he has to stick in this position.

“It is hard for the players in three days to try to cope with everything, but we have two ways: we forget about the new idea – and I think that’s why I was brought here in the middle of the season – and we try to cope with what they are used to doing. And next year, at the same stage, we will be here with the same problems.

“Or we start now, we risk a little bit, we suffer a little bit and next year we will be better at this point. So we have to risk it a little bit.”

Ruben Amorim has been ‘spotted’ being animated and also doing nothing as he managed Manchester United. More as we get it.

Animation game
They call it the ‘curiosity gap’; it’s a phrase that’s been used in YouTube and copywriting circles for the last couple of years but it’s now entering the publishing mainstream, with Reach audience director Martin Little defining it as “telling the story as it is but withholding the need-to-know piece of information from that headline so that people still feel the need to go and find out more”.

All content publishers try and operate in this curiosity gap. It’s the reason why the two Manchester United players namechecked by Ruben Amorim are not namechecked by us. We absolutely use those techniques; we absolutely have to use those techniques or we would not survive.

But no publisher is as dedicated nor as shameless with this ambition than Reach, who own the Manchester Evening News along with just about every ‘local newspaper website’ that used to be an actual local newspaper.

Headlines like ‘The Italian restaurant near Greater Manchester named the best in England’ are commonplace (Mediawatch literally clicked on that one yesterday, so a massive tick for you, MEN), and money-saving expert Martin Lewis has been publicly vocal after his attention was drawn to just how much Martin Lewis content exists in the realms of Reach.

Just an average day for news about @MartinSLewis on the Reach network! Today former online editor at OK! @RachelMcGrath writes about why writing ever more stories might not be good for readers (or writers) https://t.co/M892JJ0bOc pic.twitter.com/slZnE75vU6

— Dominic Ponsford (@DomPonsford) October 24, 2024

And it’s presumably lodged in this ‘curiosity gap’ where we will find this latest trend, which we noted a fortnight ago in Mediawatch.

To sum up, a writer notes what we can all observe with our own eyes and then the headline begins ‘I saw/watched/spotted’ as if they have instead borne witness to something extraordinary.

What have they seen? What have they spotted?

You might have thought you watched Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim at Portman Road on Sunday (we did) but you didn’t see what they saw…

I spotted Ruben Amorim copying Pep Guardiola during Manchester United draw vs Ipswich Town

Did he corner an opposition player for passive-aggressive post-match praise? Did he look rather fetching in a polo neck?

Did he balls. This is what the MEN ‘spotted’ from Amorim that was just like Guardiola…

Pep Guardiola is probably the most animated manager in the Premier League but Amorim will give him a run for his money.

And that’s it. He was ‘animated’. Like almost every Premier League manager not called Erik ten Hag.

Over at The Sun, they’re not claiming to have spotted anything themselves because that is the sole preserve of the ‘eagle-eyed fans’. They ‘spotted Ruben Amorim’s ice cold reaction to Marcus Rashford’s opening goal in Ipswich clash’.

Now we think we spotted that too – he basically did nothing (unusual for such an animated man) – but we would never describe ourselves as eagle-eyed; we just watched the telly like everybody else.

Even The Sun acknowledge Amorim was ‘caught on camera having a very muted reaction to taking the early lead’.

They know it doesn’t take ‘eagle-eyed fans’ to spot something repeated several times on screen but that’s the curiosity gap: What did they spot that I didn’t? The answer is usually ‘f*** all’ but by the time that ‘need-to-know information’ is revealed, you have already seen 17 ads.

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Amorim Watch: New Man Utd manager rubs his nose a lot and we get bored
👉 Mailbox: Ruben Amorim at Man Utd: ‘New Manager Thud anyone?’
👉 Good luck Ruben Amorim; Man Utd are ‘a fat, lazy, bloated corpse of a club’

Animation game 2
‘Rúben Amorim isn’t usually this animated – he knows how hard United job is’ is the headline in The Times atop a Martin Samuel column.

Martin, unless you can compare Amorim’s very first game in charge of Sporting with his very first game in charge of Manchester United, you are not comparing apples with apples.

‘Those who know head coach from Sporting days would have been surprised to see his constant gesticulations and irate finger-wagging – he is under no illusions at Old Trafford.’

They’re not his players, fella. He’s been training them for just a few days and they were playing an entirely different system. This is not A Manchester United Thing; it’s a New Manager Thing.

SEVEN
‘Man Utd player ratings: Casemiro struggles throughout as Andre Onana saves his team-mates with immense display’ – The Sun.

And what mark did this ‘immense display’ earn Onana from Charlie Wyett? A massive 7/10.

Maybe sending a Norwich fan to Portman Road wasn’t such a great idea. He was always going to be a grumpy f***er unless United won 6-0.

An Ipswich Town fan has revealed the “truth” he told Man Utd legend Roy Keane to provoke him into an angry confrontation on Sunday.

Marcus Rashford’s second Premier League goal of the season after two minutes put the Red Devils ahead at Portman Road before Omari Hutchinson’s deflected long-range effort found the back of the net before half-time to give Ipswich a share of the spoils.

Keane was part of the Sky Sports punditry team for the match between two of his old clubs with the former Republic of Ireland international spending around 20 months as Ipswich Town manager between 2009 and 2011.

And following the final whistle in the 1-1 draw in East Anglia, the Man Utd legend went over to a group of Ipswich fans – who had been shouting abuse at him – during an advert break to make his own feelings known.

It quickly turned into a heated confrontation with Keane being heard yelling in a recording: “Wait in the car park, we can have a discussion. I’ll wait for you in the car park.”

Man Utd legend Keane had a poor spell in charge of Ipswich with the Tractor Boys getting nowhere near challenging for promotion from the Championship in his time at the club, before being sacked in January 2011.

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Amorim Watch: New Man Utd manager rubs his nose a lot and we get bored
👉 Mailbox: Ruben Amorim at Man Utd: ‘New Manager Thud anyone?’
👉 Good luck Ruben Amorim; Man Utd are ‘a fat, lazy, bloated corpse of a club’

And Neil Finbow has claimed on Facebook to be the fan that Keane told to meet him in the car park with the Ipswich fan describing the incident.

Finbow wrote on the social media site: “New claim to fame. Just been offered out into the car park by Roy Keane after a few choice words.

“Even Jamie Redknapp had to come over to get him away. Just your average Sunday evening out.”

Roy Keane got heated with an Ipswich fan while doing punditry last night 😳

The former Man United captain offered to discuss their argument in the car park 😂 pic.twitter.com/JLidODIMm7

— Dictate Sports (@dictatesport) November 25, 2024

When asked by another user what sparked the altercation on Sunday evening, Finbow added: “I was reminding him that he set us back five years and ruined our football club.

“I also mentioned how he wasn’t fit to step foot anywhere near our ground [Portman Road].

“Oh, and I mentioned about him walking out on a World Cup and breaking Haaland’s leg and putting it in his autobiography. I hate the bloke, and that’s been boiling up since he got sacked all those years ago.”

Finbow continued on Facebook: “The truth hurts. I feel sick when I look at him.

“Few home truths thrown at him, he decided to bite. Very unprofessional. I’m sure he had worse when he was playing.”