The bosses in a 'really brutal' Championship

New Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes (left) and Southampton boss Will Still (right) will look to hit the ground running at their new sides, while Portsmouth's John Mousinho (centre) is a standalone in the division

The number speaks for itself.

Of the 18 teams that played in the Championship last season and will do so again this time around, only one has the same manager as they did in August 2024.

ONE.

The last man standing, Portsmouth boss John Mousinho, told BBC Sport: "I don't know if it means I'm next or what.

"It's a really brutal league from every aspect.

"If you get something wrong you get punished. If you don't get a press right [and] you give the ball away, you tend to get punished - and on the flip side that happens with head coaches as well."

How does that figure compare to the other top four leagues? Well, not well.

In the Premier League, 11 of the 17 teams who started last season in the top flight still have the same manager as they did in August last year. It is seven of 17 for League One and a positively healthy 10 of 18 for League Two.

As the Championship season gets under way on Friday with a clash between promoted Birmingham City and relegated Ipswich Town, BBC Sport is here to help remind you of who is where.

New faces

So, since the end of last season in May, 11 of the teams in this season's Championship have got a new man at the helm but, of those, only six have gone for someone with no previous managerial experience in the second tier.

Hull City sacked Ruben Selles (more on him later) after six months in charge in May after they avoided relegation to League One on goal difference, and they've brought in Bosnian Sergej Jakirovic as his replacement.

QPR ended last season with Marti Cifuentes (more on him later too) on gardening leave, and they have appointed former Rennes manager Julien Stephan for his first spell managing outside his native France.

Troubled Sheffield Wednesday parted company with Danny Rohl by mutual consent. His former assistant Henrik Pedersen has stepped up in his stead, but the Dane's task looks daunting amid the club's financial problems.

Relegated Southampton have brought in highly rated 32-year-old Will Still after stints with Reims and Lens in France, while Watford named Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano as Tom Cleverley's replacement.

Finally, West Bromwich Albion have given Ryan Mason, 34, a first shot at being the main man after a couple of spells as caretaker boss at Tottenham Hotspur.

Meanwhile, Chris Davies' first season in management could scarcely have gone better as he led Birmingham City to a record-breaking 111 points as they won the League One title. Will he find the Championship quite so straightforward?

A managerial merry-go-round

The aforementioned Selles and Cifuentes were not out of the Championship managerial game for very long at all.

Sheffield United, who finished third last season before losing to Sunderland in the play-off final, parted company with Chris Wilder in June and have turned to Selles to try to get them back to the Premier League at the second attempt.

Fellow Spaniard Cifuentes has also been charged with trying to lead a team to promotion after battling relegation with QPR. He signed a three-year deal after relegated Leicester City sacked Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Liam Manning led Bristol City to a play-off finish in the second tier for the first time since 2008 last season, but chose to join hometown team Norwich City rather than carry on at Ashton Gate. The Robins have appointed former Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber as his replacement.

Middlesbrough sacked Michael Carrick after falling short of a top-six berth for two seasons running, and Rob Edwards - who led Luton Town to promotion to the Premier League two years ago - has come in.

'If you're worried about job security you shouldn't do it'

Paul Heckingbottom took over at Preston North End last August after predecessor Ryan Lowe left just one game into the season

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom is one of three managers in the league to have previously won promotion out of it.

After spells at this level with Barnsley and Leeds United, he led the Blades up in 2023 and is realistic about the demands and expectations on bosses.

"It's how it is. If you're worried about job security or the fact the buck stops with you, then you shouldn't do it," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"For me, it's arguably the best thing about it. It's crazy.

"I don't know all of the guys who have gone personally, or the politics and environments in their clubs, but I bet a lot of money they weren't the worst performing person in their organisation when they got sacked. It's just the way it is."

Valerien Ismael endured a tough start to life at Blackburn Rovers after taking over in February, but they almost gatecrashed the top six after a late-season run of good form and will look to pick up from where they left off.

Also aiming to do that will be Nathan Jones at Charlton Athletic, after the former Luton boss led the Addicks back to the second tier after five seasons away with victory in the League One play-off final.

Frank Lampard guided Coventry City to a fifth-placed finish last season after taking over from the long-serving Mark Robins in November - and will hope to have the Sky Blues challenging again. John Eustace led Derby County away from trouble after swapping Ewood Park for Pride Park in February.

Kieran McKenna's three full seasons as Ipswich Town manager have been action-packed. The Northern Irishman led the Blues to successive promotions from League One before suffering relegation from the Premier League in May.

The men in charge of Millwall and Oxford United have seen just about everything this division has to offer. Lions boss Alex Neil is on his fifth team at this level, having won promotion to the Premier League as Norwich boss a decade ago, while U's counterpart Gary Rowett (who himself had four years as Lions manager) is also on his fifth Championship side.

Robins, like so many before him, found life tough going after being appointed as Stoke City's third boss of the season in December. He will be looking to be the first person to lead them to a top-half finish at this level since their Premier League relegation in 2018.

Alan Sheehan starts his first full season as Swansea City boss after an encouraging spell in caretaker charge resulted in him being given the role full time.

And Wrexham have kept faith with Phil Parkinson after back-to-back-to-back promotions from National League to this level. He has managed at this level before with Hull City, Charlton and Bolton Wanderers, but this is his first time back in the second tier since 2019.

The 57-year-old is the division's longest-serving manager, having taken over at the Welsh club in July 2021.

Mousinho 'grateful' for rare show of patience

Pompey boss Mousinho could quite easily have been another of the managers to have lost his job last season.

He led the Fratton Park side back to the Championship in some style in the 2023-24 season but it took them until 19 October to register a first win on their return.

However, they improved as the season wore on and comfortably avoided relegation with a five-match winning run to see out the campaign.

Mousinho, 39, is in his first job in management and credited the board with not panicking last season.

"I feel very proud to be the head coach of this football club, and when I first came in two and a half years ago it was very much as a long-term appointment. We were trying to do things a different way," he told BBC Sport.

"Of course you've got to get results to back that up, but there were definitely times last season where the club could have made a change, so I'm very grateful that they didn't.

"It's always been part of the plan not to panic, to build, to get better year on year, and I think it's about making sure we show progress. It's good to have a club that's unique in the Championship."

Additional reporting by Dan George and Andy Bayes.