CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe has described as “quite disturbing” the turnover of managers in the Championship this season.

And while Howe says he “feels comfortable” with his working relationship with owner Maxim Demin, he also knows it could be tested should results suffer.

Howe was speaking ahead of Cherries’ visit to Birmingham where Lee Clark this week became the ninth manager in the Championship to leave this season.

Clark was sacked following the Blues’ poor start to the campaign with Huddersfield’s Mark Robins, Dave Hockaday at Leeds and Fulham’s Felix Magath also axed this season.

The other managers to have left their posts are Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia and Billy McKinlay at Watford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Cardiff and Bolton’s Dougie Freedman.

Howe said: “I think it is quite disturbing when you look at the figures and how many people have lost their jobs. I believe I am the second longest-serving manager in the Championship and that is ridiculous. You do fear, you fear for yourself because you think ‘what’s round the corner?’ “But all you can do is concentrate day to day to try to stay in a job.”

Asked whether he felt managers in the Championship were under more pressure, Howe replied: “I think it is a difficult league to manage in because every team wants to go up. It doesn’t matter what their budget and resources are, everyone wants to get in the Premier League.

“Clearly, nobody wants to go down because it is a huge league to get relegated out of. There is a lot of pressure on chairmen from supporters and everything that goes with it.

“There is huge pressure in whichever league you are in. I felt the same in League One and League Two. In League Two, you have the threat of the Conference and, in League One, there is a lot of pressure to get promoted to the Championship. You just wish people were given more time but you understand the difficult position everyone else is in.”

Discussing his working relationship with Demin, Howe told the Daily Echo: “I think it is the most important relationship at a football club because you need to have trust on both sides. You need to be a team because we all know teams work better than individuals.

“I certainly have been backed by him and feel comfortable with our working relationship and, hopefully, he feels happy with the job I have done so far. The relationship will always be tested by results.

“I am not naive enough to think that if things didn’t go well, that relationship would continue to be as smooth as it is now. You need to continually work and, from my perspective, to continually get positive results because that is what we are asked to do and it is part of the job description.”