SO it looks like the old guard of managers are back in the Premier League after a brief hiatus. This predominantly British band of managers are now the go-to option when teams are in the relegation zone and need “firefighters”.

David Moyes in West Ham , Alan Pardew in West Bromwich Albion and Sam Allardyce in Everton are now back on your TV screens in time for their magic show in Christmas.

David Moyes in West Ham is a strange one, as his recent CV has shown that he has failed miserably since he left Everton and even relegated a club like Sunderland. It begs belief on why they would choose him but it would have probably been because no one else wanted the job.

I mean, how many Premier League jobs has Moyes actually said no to? He starts his tenure by saying he is there only for seven months and then says he would love a 11-year stay at the Hammers. To be beaten that comprehensively by Everton also doesn’t say much of his new manager bounce and I seriously think they will be going down this season.

Alan Pardew at West Brom was another safe option and has been itching to get back in management ever since he was sacked at Crystal Palace about 11 months ago.

Palace  were in the relegation zone when Pardew was appointed in January 2015 and West Brom’s position is almost as precarious. Pardew said his “immediate concern is to halt this run and get some points on the board”, yet he also promised to set his side up to play in a way that feels far removed from Pulis’s approach.

Pardew had an impressive initial impact at Palace before results tailed off and it was put to him his time at Selhurst Park is representative of how he his perceived by some – namely a manager who can engender a reaction from players in the short term but not sustain those sort of positive results over a longer period.

Big Sam at Everton is the ultimate “firefighter” and after famously saying he would not take another Premier League job after Crystal Palace he is now back again and at Goodison Park. Everton, having initially pursued Watford’s Marco Silva, were desperate to make an appointment given that more than five weeks have passed since Ronald Koeman was sacked.

Allardyce’s team held tentative talks nearly three weeks ago before he publicly distanced himself from the post because of “indecision”, having been offered the job only until the end of the season. That put the ball firmly in Farhad Moshiri’s court and when Watford refused to budge on Silva, Everton’s majority shareholder decided to take the more experienced option as the team continued to struggle under the temporary guidance of the caretaker manager David Unsworth.

Between Moyes, Pardew, Big Sam and even Roy Hodgson they have been handed 18 jobs in the Premier League and won absolutely no English trophies, also Moyes and Pardew have suffered relegation from the Premier League. The safe option will be always be the go to of chairmens gripped by fear and not in a position to take a gamble . We will judge in May. – December 2, 2017.

* Gogulan Dorairajoo is manager of KL Galaxy FC and an all-round football pundit with a passion for the world’s greatest sport. He also happens to be a long suffering fan of Aston Villa FC.