Expert Premier League predictions from Mark Langdon: New bosses need fast start

Three Premier League clubs will have new managers in the dugout for the first time this weekend and all will need to hit the ground running given they are in the bottom five.

There is no time to for any of the trio to ease into their new role given ten gameweeks will be played between now and the New Year fixtures, when the transfer window re-opens.

Steven Gerrard is by far the most interesting of those chosen to lead their new clubs given he has seemingly been earmarked for the Liverpool job ever since he announced his retirement from playing.

His first crack at Rangers went well - an unbeaten league campaign last season ended Celtic's domestic dominance and a couple of decent Europa League campaigns also hinted at more to come.

However, it would be wrong to assume this is a particularly safe appointment from Aston Villa.

What if Gerrard's title triumph owed more to the disarray at Parkhead? How does managing a club, albeit with huge expectations in Glasgow, transfer across to tackling the Villa job given Rangers are long odds-on to win most matches they play?

It's a fascinating appointment but the fact is Villa without Jack Grealish have shown relegation form.

Grealish failed to start two league matches in 2019-20 and Villa lost them both while they collected 13 points in 16 games without him last term.

Add those figures to ten points in 11 fixtures since he was sold to Manchester City and Villa's return is 23 points in 29 matches - an average just shy of 0.80 points per game which over a season equates to 30 points.

Which brings us on to sacked Villa boss Dean Smith, who quickly found himself back in employment at rock-bottom Norwich, and if you hadn't checked recently is currently the 5-1 favourite to become England's next manager.

There are bits of Smith's work which suggests he is a good coach, most notably at Walsall and Brentford before he took Villa up to the Premier League.

The structure at Norwich is much more like the one he had at Brentford and in my opinion this appointment suggests, as the song goes, City are on the ball.

However, the caveat is how much of Villa's rise was down to Smith rather than Grealish? Or do we give him credit for being able to get the best out of Grealish, who has since gone on to become Britain's most expensive player.

Eddie Howe's attention to detail stood out for those who worked with him at Bournemouth and they were a joy to watch with some brave football along the way.

However, Bournemouth got worse the more Howe spent, which begs the question of whether he can be trusted to use the vast fortune available to help Newcastle get out of the relegation mire?

Verona sacked their coach just four matches into this season, replacing Eusebio Di Francesco with Igor Tudor, and it seems to have worked a treat.

Tudor's team have beaten Roma, Lazio and Juventus, drawn at leaders Napoli and were harshly beaten at San Siro by Milan, letting slip a 2-0 lead in part due to a dodgy penalty and an own goal.

Giovanni Simeone, son of Diego, has been on the rampage.

Simeone scored in Naples last time out, hit a double against Juve and bagged all four against Lazio too which should be form too hot for Empoli on Monday.

Best bet

Verona to beat Empoli 5.30pm Monday
1pt 8-11 general

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