OCT 31 — In the last few weeks I’ve focused on the goings-on at the bigger clubs in the Premier League, so let’s take a change in direction and head towards the foot of the table.

After all, the winners of the Premier League title race won’t be decided for another six months, so we’ve got plenty of time to return to that subject. But the victor of an altogether less prestigious crown will be revealed a whole lot sooner: the annual managerial sack race.

These late-autumn/early-winter days are dangerous times for managers. At this time of year, chairmen of underachieving clubs start to believe they are deep enough into the season to form a judgment on their team’s prospects, yet with sufficient games remaining to rectify the situation by making a swift managerial change. October is perceived as just a little too early to sack your manager; January is far too late. (What do you think: is it too soon to sack managers or have they had enough time?)

Portsmouth’s Paul Hart is one obvious candidate for the dreaded summons to the chairman’s office but, despite his bottom-placed team’s woeful start to the campaign (just one win to date), Hart has been reprieved by the shambolic ownership manoeuvrings that have dominated the Fratton Park boardroom since the summer.

If the finer details of Portsmouth’s interminable ownership saga have escaped your attention, here’s a brief précis: they started the season with Alexander Gaydamak in charge, but in August Sulaiman Al Fahim took over. Just six weeks later, Al Fahim sold the club to Ali Al Faraj, keeping 10 per cent of the shares and staying on as “non-executive chairman”. Having told a Saudi newspaper that he’s “no billionaire”, Al Faraj is now attempting to prise further investment out of Israeli mogul Levi Kushnir and Hong Kong-based Balram Chainrai, which would help clear the debt that this week resulted in a ban on all transfer activity.

Against that chaotic backdrop, it’s no surprise Hart has been allowed to stay in his position as he tries to make sense of the maelstrom that surrounds him. The various stakeholders have probably been too busy trying to work out who owns the club to get around to debating whether the manager should be sacked!

So we need to look elsewhere for the identity of the season’s first sacking. Speculative media stories offer little guidance — the tabloids’ thirst for a scoop, irrespective of its truth value, sees virtually every top flight boss fall under the microscope at some time or another. Last week, it was Rafa Benitez after Liverpool’s run of four straight defeats (strangely, the Spaniard’s job security hasn’t been questioned this week...). Two weeks ago, Harry Redknapp was supposedly on the verge of quitting Spurs in order to buy Portsmouth, which would have been another amusing twist to their sorry tale but turned out to be completely untrue. And the week before that, it was Hart’s turn to be “on the brink” of losing his job before reality unfolded.

But there does seem to be real cause for concern for the man currently regarded as the favourite to go: Hull City’s Phil Brown.

A year ago, Brown was widely regarded as one of the country’s most rapidly emerging managerial talents after leading Hull to promotion and then securing six victories in their first nine Premier League games, including away wins at Arsenal and Tottenham. Then the tide turned on the Tigers, who won just two more games out of their remaining 29 and escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth on the last day of the season. That has been followed by six defeats in the new campaign’s opening 10 games, leaving Brown to discover that reputations are hard to earn but easy to lose — he’s now perceived as a man out of his depth and living on borrowed time.

He’s certainly an interesting character: flamboyant and outspoken, his most notorious moment — and one that illustrates his quirky approach to management — came midway through last season, just when Hull’s slump really started to take effect. Having watched his team fall to a 4-0 half-time deficit at Manchester City, Brown vented his fury on his players; he refused to allow them into the changing rooms during the interval, instead forcing them to sit cross-legged on the pitch like naughty schoolboys while he ranted in their general direction, in full view of the highly amused Manchester public. Such unorthodox methods are great when you’re winning; you can look like an inspirational genius. But when you’re losing, you just look a bit silly — and quickly lose the respect of your players.

Brown’s fate could well be sealed after Saturday’s trip to recently-promoted Burnley. At the end of a week when the club’s accountants delivered a bleak report into the likely ramifications of relegation, leading to the resignation of chairman (and Brown’s closest ally) Paul Duffen, the fixture at Turf Moor will be regarded as exactly the kind of game that Hull need to win if they’re to retain their status. If they lose, they may not retain the services of Brown and the annual sack race will have its winner.

Aside from Brown’s possible demise, the stand-out game on this weekend’s calendar is the early kick-off north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium.

Both teams suffered disappointment last weekend — Arsenal surrendering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at West Ham, Tottenham losing at home to Stoke — but the feeling persists that Arsenal’s young squad could be on the verge of something special while Tottenham have over-achieved in the opening weeks of the season. If they can keep their heads in the feisty derby atmosphere, Arsenal should win it by a couple.

Premier League fixtures

Today (11pm kick off unless stated)

Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur (8.45pm)

Bolton Wanderers vs Chelsea

Burnley vs Hull City

Everton vs Aston Villa

Fulham vs Liverpool

Manchester United vs Blackburn Rovers (1.30am, Sunday)

Portsmouth vs Wigan Athletic

Stoke City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Sunderland vs West Ham United

Tomorrow

Birmingham City vs Manchester City (midnight, Monday morning)