IF ANY manager currently working in the Premier League remains in their job longer than Arsene Wenger, I'll eat my hat. Hang it, I'll throw in a scarf and gloves as well. And perhaps a notebook and pen for good measure.

The climate in English football is such that not even a highly successful, squeaky clean figure such as Eddie Howe could expect to get anywhere near two decades in charge.

Arsenal boss Wenger, who Howe's side will lock horns with at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, has accomplished that incredible feat. Remarkably, the 38-year-old Howe is the next longest-serving manager in the top flight having been at the helm at Dean Court for more than four years.

Wenger has steered the Gunners to nine major trophies, including two league and cup doubles, the latter of which was secured by the Invincibles team containing the likes of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp – two of the greatest players English football has ever seen.

Although the former Monaco boss has detractors – Arsenal went nine years without a trophy before winning the FA Cup in 2014 – he has navigated through some tumultuous times and emerged with his job intact.

This is an achievement which will not be repeated. Expectations are now so inflated in the Premier League that no manager, however talented, can expect to get near it.

If Wenger elects not to extend his stay with Arsenal beyond this campaign, one commodity his eventual successor cannot expect is the sort of patience afforded to the 67-year-old.

Unless, of course, trophies roll in with unseemly regularity. Win the right ones and your job is probably safe for a season.

Gunners legend and Christchurch resident Bob Wilson said this week that Howe would "definitely be in the frame" to succeed Wenger, should the Frenchman decide to call it a day in north London.

But the Cherries boss is much more interested in short-termism. After all, he admitted just last month that he worked in fear of receiving the axe.

“Every manager says that one day you will get the sack. It is just about preventing that for as long as possible which motivates me," said Howe.

There seemed an acceptance of an inevitability in the comment, a reflection of the world which managers now inhabit.

What is certain is that bosses such as Wenger will soon become a thing of the past. The reverence currently given to the five-years-in-charge anniversary will instead be conferred upon the two-year equivalent. Time given to bosses will shorten. The job will get harder.

It is an alarming statistic that only 21 managers in the top four tiers have been employed by their clubs for more than two years.

For every boss, even one as well thought of as Howe, modern-day management is now more about clinging on to a job than setting benchmarks for longevity.