P TIMES PG 1 Southampton 42 2 West Ham United 41 3 Cardiff City 35 4 Middlesbrough 32 5 Leeds
United 31 6 Leicester City 29 7 Brighton & Hove Albion 29 8 Blackpool 27 9 Reading 27 10 Crystal
Palace 27 11 Birmingham City 26 12 Hull City 25 13 Derby County 25 14 Burnley 24 15 Barnsley 24 16
Peterborough United 22 17 Millwall 22 18 Portsmouth 21 19 Watford 21 20 Bristol City 20 21
Nottingham Forest 20 22 Ipswich Town 18 23 Coventry City 13 24 Doncaster Rovers 13
As one wag put it on Twitter last night, "Steve Kean is so incompetent that he can't even win
the sack race". It was, however, another Steve who did manage to stumble over this unwanted
finishing line ahead of the perpetually embattled Blackburn Rovers manager. Steve Bruce became the
first Premier League manager to lose his job for this season following his departure from
Sunderland late yesterday afternoon, and recent events meant that this was no great
surprise.
