Panic. Sheer panic. Panic fuelled by one thing: the fear of being relegated; the fear of losing out on the Premier League money and being saddled with crippling costs. Of not accepting that a club can go down, that someone has to be relegated.

That is why Premier League clubs are reacting more quickly than they have done in recent years in sacking their managers. Just 12 league matches into the season and five have gone. That is a quarter of the league getting rid of the man they felt was good enough to lead them when the campaign began.

After Crystal Palace – sacking Frank de Boer after just four matches – Leicester City, Everton and West Ham United, West Bromwich Albion felt compelled to act. It would be no surprise to see changes made at Swansea City and Southampton.

Not so long ago – 2014-15 – it appeared that a trend was being bucked; that clubs were waiting longer to act with them reasoning that the league had become concertinaed and that as no-one was cut adrift they were not beyond rescue. In the first-half of that season no manager was sacked, in fact, and organisations such as the League Managers Association argued that – maybe – the top-flight clubs were keeping faith and planning better.

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No-one, really, wants to be the first club to sack their manager but when they do it often leads to others following suit. Holding their nerve is no longer an option especially with pressure building from the supporters.

And changing a manager is often all a club owner feels he can do when he feels he has to do something. He does not want to stand accused of fiddling while Rome burns although there is also a tide of statistics and data that shows that the benefit is often only temporary.

But clubs feel the need to act. Sometimes understandably so as some managers make such poor decisions behind the scenes it is a wonder that they last so long – although it also raises questions over the due diligence their employers pursue in hiring them.

November is often the bloodiest month when it comes to a managerial cull.

The January transfer window is looming. It concentrates minds. Will clubs entrust their present manager with funds?

Plus the power and role of the manager has been diminished in recent years. They can come and go more easily without too much upheaval and, certainly, less than being relegated.