Management is the toughest off-field job in football. The manager of a club is responsible for everything at the club, on and off the field, and is answerable to everyone in the media for all of this. In addition to these duties, he also needs to have long-term plans and concrete visions for every aspect of the club, in order to achieve even moderate success at his job. It is a thankless job, and only the very best in the business are well-known to fans of other clubs.
The bigger the budget of the club and the more attention it receives from the media, the tougher the job gets for a manager. There are some managers who relish the biggest stages, both on and off the field, and are renowned for getting the job done wherever they go. Not everyone who manages big clubs is capable enough to balance everything and get results on the pitch.
These are 5 managers who failed to live up to the clubs’ reputations and were shown the door.
#1 Rafael Benitez at Real Madrid – 2015/16
Rafael Benitez was received with some misgivings by many Real fans, who preferred Carlo Ancelotti and who lambasted Perez for sacking the manager who brought them La Decima. He promptly got into the business end of things by signing Mateo Kovacic to bolster the midfield with another dynamic player in the ranks.
The start of the season was good for Real, as they kept a tight scoreline in most games and kept up with Barca at the top of the league table, despite a 3-2 setback at Villareal. They were even able to see off Paris St. Germain without conceding a goal in 2 games and finished on top of their Champions League group.
The problems began, however, with the El Clasico, as Real were hammered 4-0 at home by a rampant Barca, who proceeded to open up a wider lead at the top of the La Liga table in the coming month. After a 2-2 draw away at Valencia, Real lost patience with Benitez and drafted in Zinedine Zidane as his replacement for the rest of the season.
#2 Roy Hodgson at Liverpool – 2010/11
Roy Hodgson was approached by Liverpool after the departure of Rafa Benitez from the club after 6 relatively quiet seasons in the club’s history, and he promptly accepted the responsibilities of the post.
Right from the start, though, there were really apparent problems in his mindset, as he allowed players like Javier Mascherano and Alberto Aquilani to move elsewhere. Most of the players he signed in the summer transfer window were not top-quality talents, and the impact on the squad morale began to show.
By mid-October, Liverpool was still mired in the early-season relegation battle. They had patchy runs of form and suffered reverses to Tottenham and Stoke after beating Bolton and Chelsea. Roy Hodgson was sacked in mid-January, and Kenny Dalglish was brought in as the interim manager.
#3 Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea – 2008/09
After the departure of Avram Grant from the club following heartbreaks in the previous season, Luiz Felipe Scolari was drafted in from the Portuguese national team setup as Chelsea’s new head coach. With a big reputation behind him due to his work with the Portuguese and Brazilian national teams, he was received quite favourably by fans and the media alike.
While Chelsea kicked off their season with great aplomb, including big victories at Portsmouth and Middlesbrough, they slowed down to a halt following a 3-0 loss to Manchester United. After a few more defeats, their momentum was even more adversely affected.
The straw on the camel’s back was Chelsea’s 2-0 loss to Liverpool, which was followed by a 0-0 draw at home to Hull City. Scolari’s short-lived reign brought a vibrant, attacking style of football to Stamford Bridge, but left them with too many leaks at the back.
#4 Luigi Delneri at Juventus – 2010/11
Delneri left his job at Sampdoria to sign for Juventus in May 2010, with the idea to establish a team with a defined identity and style of play. His time at Juventus was tumultuous, with the team going through a number of different phases of form through the course of the 2010-11 season.
They began with a poor run of results at the start of the season in the Serie A, before recovering by the end of the winter break to 3rd in the league table. There came another run of poor results, however, as Juve lost 7 of its first 11 games in the new year.
Delneri finished 50 games in the season for Juventus with a win rate of 40%, winning only 20 of his games and drawing 19 – this was the worst output of any manager lasting a full season with Juventus in the decade. He was duly sacked at the end of the season, as Antonio Conte replaced him at the helm.
#5 David Moyes at Manchester United – 2013/14
It would be difficult for even the best managers of the world to step into Sir Alex's shoes and not show the pressure. David Moyes, who was trusted to be able to handle the mantle and transition the squad smoothly, was an unfortunate managerial casualty in this novel situation.
Manchester United won the league title on a canter in the 2012-13 season, despite the fact that their seniormost players in defence were reaching the fag end of their top form: Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, and Evra were all over 30, while Rafael was just too inconsistent to be considered a permanent starting option for United in the future.
Their problems magnified in the new season when injuries to Robin van Persie meant that United were shorn of their biggest goalscoring threat for huge swathes of the season. United posted what was to be the worst defence of the Premier League title, finishing 7th at the end of the season. David Moyes was sacked after mathematical confirmation that United would be unable to keep their Champions League participation alive in the 2014-15 season.
