“On Monday, Andre Villas-Boas became the fifth Premier League manager to be sacked this season when he was dismissed by Tottenham. Just two days earlier, Steve Clarke was shown the door by West Brom. It represents a big leap from the last four seasons when clubs seemed to be prepared to play a slightly longer game. By the end of December 2012 only two managers had gone – Mark Hughes at Queens Park Rangers and Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea. The year before, Steve Bruce’s departure from Sunderland was the only casualty at Christmas.” BBC