It's been a good month for...
Carlos Carvalhal
Carlos Carvalhal has had a great start to life as Swansea City manager. At the time of writing he has guided the Welsh club out of the relegation zone after a great run of form; they had been rock bottom of the Premier League at the time of his appointment. Carvalhal has already won the same number of league games as predecessor Paul Clement managed in the first half of the campaign (3) and picked up two of those in January, against Liverpool and Arsenal no less. Both of those victories came at the Liberty Stadium, 1-0 against the Reds and 3-1 against the Gunners, and if the Swans can keep up that sort of form at home and pick up the occasional away result they should be playing top-flight football again next season.
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Jordon Ibe
The Bournemouth winger may finally be proving why Eddie Howe spent £15 million on him in 2016. Ibe had a cracking January, finally registering his first Cherries goal with the winner in a 2-1 home victory over Arsenal. Ibe also supplied an assist in a 2-2 draw at Brighton earlier in the month, and more recently in an astonishing 3-0 victory at Chelsea. Ibe will be hoping to continue in this vein for the remainder of the season in order to finally fulfill his undoubted potential.
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Manchester United
Jose Mourinho's men have been quietly going about their business, and also did fantastically well to bring in Alexis Sanchez in January under the noses of rivals City. United took nine points from a possible twelve and were disappointing only in a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham. That aside, they've been playing some decent football and picked up good wins away at both Everton and Burnley, which are traditionally tough places to go and play. In any other season United would be right up there, but it looks as though they are still on course for a second-placed finish.
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But a bad one for...
Mark Hughes
The Welshman was dismissed as manager of Stoke City on the 6th January, following a run of five defeats in seven Premier League games. It marked the end of four-and-a-half years in charge of the Potters, with Paul Lambert the man chosen to take over at the helm. Hughes left with Stoke sitting inside the drop zone, which is unfamiliar territory for them. An ageing squad and a lack of goals were problems for Hughes, but the clincher was that they had the worst defensive record at the time of his sacking. Hughes had a decent spell at the Bet365 Stadium, however, and I'm sure it won't be long until he's back in management.
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Huddersfield
The Terriers lost all four league games in January, by a combined score of 12-1. A 3-0 home loss to Liverpool is understandable, but if you want to stay in the Premier League you need to be winning matches against the likes of Leicester, West Ham and Stoke and David Wagner's men just didn't turn up. They don't look as solid as they have done in previous months and have also found goals hard to come by. They bought in Alex Pritchard from Norwich during the transfer window, and Wagner will be hoping that he can provide some much needed creativity.
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Marco Silva
The Portuguese manager lost his job at Vicarage Road, having won just one of eleven Premier League matches. Watford's chiefs blamed Everton for the demise of the gaffer, with the Toffees declaring public interest in Silva following Ronald Koeman's dismissal in October. Silva appeared to have made his interest in the job known, having refused to declare his long-term future to the Hornets, and they have struggled ever since. In the long run I think that Watford will suffer more than Silva, and maybe he will get his chance at Goodison Park in the summer.
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