IT’S amazing how much publicity some Premier League managers have received in the last fortnight, considering there have been no games.

Take Tim Sherwood for example. He has had a terrible start to the season, with Aston Villa taking only four points from their first eight games.

Apparently Villa’s senior staff were whizzed off to America for talks with the owner and he decided not to go... Everyone now knows he has to start picking up points as soon as possible.

Newcastle and Sunderland have also had terrible starts and it will be interesting to see if Big Sam Allardyce can turn things around at the Stadium of Light.

The north east is a completely different world when it comes to football. There is a real passion from the terraces. In Sam’s favour is the fact he played for Sunderland and has managed long enough not to have to prove anything to anyone.

Sam will give them more chance than any other manager around of getting them out of that bottom three.

But his appointment will have put even more pressure on his opposite number over the bridge at Newcastle, where Steve McLaren is still trying to convince everyone that, while he was an excellent number two at Manchester United, he can still be a top manager.

Time of course is what managers are getting less of than ever. The Premiership would not normally see many changes after only eight games.

But with so much money at stake and many of the foreign owners being very business-minded, managers have to achieve immediately.

Brendan Rodgers left Anfield with little sympathy when he was pictured flying off to Marbella in a private jet as it was revealed his sacking cost Liverpool £10m.

His replacement, Jurgen Klopp, was all smiles during one of the best press conferences by a new manager. He gave one of the best answers when asked if he was the ‘Special One’. Call me ’The Normal One’, he said.

Maybe the Special One should now be known as Moaning Mourinho. After losing at home to Saints he famously gave a seven-minute answer – another record for his CV – but his criticism of the officials was foolish.

Chelsea might have had a penalty but he overlooked the fact that Southampton should have had two. Instead of taking the punishment from the FA quietly he’s since come out with even more criticism, trying to say he’s been singled out. If he looks back on his many interviews he might realise why.

Mourinho could also benefit from watching the recent documentary on Sir Alex Ferguson, Secrets of Success.

Sir Alex told me some time ago that he had been appointed as a lecturer at Harvard University (I offered to be his interpreter which went over his head).

The TV programme showed him with students, interspersed with comments from ex-players like Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand as well as top people in their professions such as an army general and ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Alex’s comments on management included things all of us were brought up on like discipline, attention to detail, finding out which players need a cuddle and which need a kick up the backside etc.

Blair said he once asked Alex what he would do with a bad apple. “Get rid of him,” was the answer. To which Blair of course said “what happens if every day you see him sitting in the dressing room?”.

The point being for me that it’s all right if, like Beckham, Ronaldo, Jaap Stam, Paul Ince and Roy Keane, they are top-class internationals and there is a queue of clubs wanting them.

But what if a player past his best who no-one really wants is still on contract and around the place? I think Mourinho may have this sort of situation at present. You regularly see managers being sacked but never a player.

• ON A lighter note, with The Apprentice back on our screens, it struck me that with all the troubles at FIFA, why not clear them out and bring in Sir Alan Sugar.

It’s not so daft as it sounds. A chairman of Tottenham for ten years, he would certainly be able to say ‘You’re Fired’ if he moved in now.

• SOME things often make you realise you’re getting older. I felt this when Doncaster Rovers, one of my old clubs, appointed Darren Ferguson, son of Alex, and Gavin Strachan, 36 year-old son of Gordon, as their new management team.

• THERE has been a lot of good news for Southampton during the two-week international break.

It was revealed that the club made a profit during the last financial year and Steve Davis made it into the all-star Euro 2016 team, alongside Gareth Bale, after scoring the goals against Greece that secured Northern Ireland’s qualification.

But for me the best news of all was that Ronald Koeman, who I think would only have to pick the phone up to get the Holland job, said that he is under contract for another season after this and expects to see it out. Very good news.