Manager of the Month curse? Every Prem award winner since start of last season and what happened next

Is there a Manager of the Month curse? Every winner last season had a dip, with six out of eight dropping points instantly. Big Ange swerved the curse in August…
Here’s every winner of the Premier League Manager of the Month award since the start of the 2022/23 season and what happened after…
August 2023: Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham)
August record: P3 W2 D1 L0 Pts 7 PPG: 2.33
September record: P4 W3 D1 L0 Pts 10 PPG: 2.5
The new Spurs boss become only the second Aussie to win a Premier League monthly gong after Mark Schwarzer’s Player of the Month award back in February 2010. Postecoglou beat off competition from Arteta, Klopp, Guardiola and David Moyes by winning two of his first three games in charge while bringing the joy back to White Hart Lane.
Spurs were still full of it a month later when they finished September with three wins out of four, beating Burnley, Sheffield United and Liverpool while drawing the north London derby away at Arsenal. That saw Big Ange pick up another monthly award for September. A clean sweep might be too much to ask but Spurs are definitely maybe going to win the title.
Back-to-back @BarclaysFooty Manager of the Month awards for Ange Postecoglou 👏#PLAwards pic.twitter.com/8ucxWU4Kar
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 13, 2023
April 2023: Unai Emery (Aston Villa)
April record: P7 W5 D1 L1 Pts 16 PPG: 2.28
May record: P3 W1 D1 L1 Pts 4 PPG: 1.33
Emery’s side would have gone through April unbeaten had they not lost to Manchester United on the final day of the month to halt a 10-match unbeaten run. That was a rare off-day during a month in which they beat Fulham, Forest, Leicester and Chelsea in addition to battering Newcastle at Villa Park.
That left Villa in seventh place and still in possession of a European spot which they retained through the final three games of the season: a defeat at Wolves immediately after Emery’s award; a win over Spurs; and a draw on the final day at Liverpool.
March 2023: Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
March record: P4 W4 D0 L0 Pts 12 PPG: 3
May record: P5 W1 D3 L1 Pts 6 PPG: 1.2
Arteta claimed his fourth award of the 2022-23 season, leaving him one short for the record after a perfect March which saw Everton, Bournemouth, Fulham and Palace defeated and left Arsenal eight points clear at the summit ahead of Manchester City.
But the wheels came off in April. It started just fine, with a 4-1 win over Leeds on the first day of the month. Then the Gunners drew three games in succession, against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton before being splattered 4-1 by City to leave the destiny of the title in Pep Guardiola’s hands.
February 2023: Erik ten Hag (Manchester United)
February record: P4 W3 D1 L0 Pts 7 PPG: 1.75
March record: P2 W0 D1 L1 Pts 1 PPG: 0.5
United played only three Premier League games amid a February run of eight fixtures in all competitions in which Ten Hag’s men went unbeaten. They won the Carabao Cup and knocked Barcelona out of the Europa League. But the Manager of the Month award is judged on Premier League exploits. United beat Palace and Leicester either side of a double header with Leeds that earned the Red Devils four points.
They played even fewer Premier League games in March and it is hard to think how it could have gone much worse. First they were tw*tted all over Anfield before drawing with rock-bottom Southampton while losing their most important player for four more matches.
January 2023: Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
January record: P3 W2 D1 L0 Pts 7 PPG: 2.33
February record: P5 W2 D1 L2 Pts 8 PPG: 1.6
Arsenal’s biggest wobble of the season followed Arteta’s third Manager of the Month award. Defeats to Everton and Manchester City, which sandwiched a draw with Brentford, saw the Gunners temporarily relinquish top spot but they regained their composure to win at Villa and Leicester before the end of February.
November/December 2022: Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
November/December record: P4 W4 D0 L0 Pts 12 PPG: 3
January record: P3 W2 D1 L0 Pts 7 PPG: 2.33
Arsenal went perfect through four games, a couple either side of the World Cup. The Gunners won away at Chelsea, Wolves and Brighton while also beating West Ham at the Emirates. All of which saw Arteta’s side take a seven-point lead at the summit into 2023.
Again, Arsenal dropped points in the first game of the following month, drawing 0-0 at home to Newcastle before huge wins over Tottenham and Manchester United.
October 2022: Eddie Howe (Newcastle)
October record: P6 W5 D1 L0 Pts 16 PPG: 2.66
November/December record: P4 W3 D1 L0 Pts 10 PPG: 2.5
The Newcastle boss secured his fifth Manager of the Month award after taking the Magpies to fourth place having earned more points and scored more goals than any other club in October.
Howe swerved any curse, with Newcastle going unbeaten through four games either side of the World Cup, beating Southampton, Chelsea and Leicester.
September 2022: Erik ten Hag (Manchester United)
September record: P2 W2 D0 L0 Pts 6 PPG: 3
October record: P6 W3 D2 L1 Pts 11 PPG: 1.83
Around the death of the queen, Manchester United only played two games in September, both in the first four days of the month. The first was a 1-0 win at Leicester before Arsenal’s 100 per cent record came to a halt at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag’s first game as Manager of the Month: Man City 6-3 Man Utd. After that defeat, they drew twice with Newcastle and Chelsea amid wins over Everton, Tottenham and West Ham.
August 2022: Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
August record: P5 W5 D0 L0 Pts 15 PPG: 3
September record: P2 W1 D0 L1 Pts 4 PPG: 2
Arsenal’s perfect start last season saw Arteta win his third Manager of the Month award. His other successes: September 2021 and March 2022.
The Gunners’ first defeat of the season followed immediately after Arteta was named as August’s winner, with his side going down 3-1 at Manchester United. They played only one other Premier League game in September: a 3-0 win at Brentford.