ALAN PARDEW is the latest casualty in the managerial sack race. 
Despite taking West Ham into Europe last season, Pardew was axed on Monday to make way for Alan Curbishley. But who will be the next Premiership manager out of the exit door? Christmas is a crucial period that can often decide the fate of teams struggling at the bottom of the table.
Here The Sun assess four other reluctant candidates who face being labelled this year's festive turkey. And Paddy Power have provided the latest odds for the next manager to get the boot.
Les Reed (Charlton) 6/4Reed had to wait until he was 53 to make his managerial debut and about two weeks more before he was being tipped for the heave-ho.
The fact is that Charlton have been a rudderless ship since Curbishley left of his own accord at the end of last season. Iain Dowie's revolutionary methods failed to lift results or morale, leading to his swift exit. But surely Reed has to be given more than a month to calm the storm?
Glenn Roeder (Newcastle) 11/2The most repeated statistic this season has been that Roeder has twice led a team into seventh place, only for the club to be relegated the following term.
Newcastle's seventh-place finish last season and faltering start to this campaign has had the doom merchants predicting that the Geordies will go the same way as Roeder's Watford and West Ham teams before them.
Gareth Southgate (Middlesbrough) 15/2It was a brave gamble by chairman Steve Gibson to appoint the club's captain as the new Boro manager when Steve McClaren stepped up to his role as England coach. Southgate was not only untried as a manager, he still does not hold the necessary coaching qualifications. Should results not improve, Gibson may have to let his head rule his heart and go for a more experienced candidate.
Stuart Pearce (Manchester City) 11/1Pearce's side are kings of their own domain, the City of Manchester stadium, but struggle to produce any sort of meaningful statistics away from home. If away wins came more than once in a blue moon, Pearce's future would not be in doubt.
