'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Like Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan to name a few in the era before the Premier League, a few assistant managers have taken up the mantle of a manager and went on to do well.
Steve McClaren, for example, was an assistant manager under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, who did well in Holland winning the league as manager. However, with numerous spells across clubs and a brief spell as England manager, honours were hard to come by for the Englishman.
Here we take a look five men who learned their trade by working their way up as assistant managers and then went on to become successful managers.
#5 Roberto di Matteo
Former Chelsea player and UEFA Champions League winning manager, Roberto Di Matteo, joined Chelsea as an assistant manager under then manager Andre Villas-Boas. After the sacking of the Portuguese, Di Matteo took over and guided Chelsea to their first Champions League title.
Prior to joining Chelsea, he worked for West Bromwich Albion, and was most recently manager of Aston Villa before Steve Bruce took over in 2016.
The 47-year-old also had a stint at Schalke that didn’t go well, but remains a viable candidate for top jobs, given that he has tons of experience as a player and a manager. Roberto di Matteo is surely one of best managers out of a job and it won’t be long before he gets snapped up.
Di Matteo has played in various countries and knows multiple languages, making a possible candidate for clubs in many countries. With clubs firing managers at will, these days, Matteo could be in line for a job very soon, as the Italian will be eager to succeed after the failings in his last two outings.
#4 Aime Jacquet
Retired French World Cup winning manager, Aime Jacquet was initially appointed as assistant manager in 1992 under then French national manager Gerard Houllier. Jacquet oversaw a couple of big wins post-France's dismal World Cup qualification run and was appointed the manager in 1994.
An astute tactician, Jacquet won the European Championships in 2000 after his success in the World Cup. An accomplished manager in France as well, Jacquet won honours for Bordeaux during a four-year spell at the club prior to his stint with the national team.
Jacquet worked his way through heaps of criticism for the majority of his spell but will go down in history as the man who guided Les Blues to their greatest triumphs at the end of the 20th century.
#3 Tito Vilanova
“We want to let you know that if you are strong and willing, we will wait for you as long as we have to because your struggle is our strength,”
said Tito Vilanova to Eric Abida,l who fought cancer during in his initial address as new Barcelona manager.
The philosophy of football played by superior teams is described in a nutshell by the former manager at the club Tito Vilanova, who died in April 2014 aged 45 from throat cancer.
A Barcelona football graduate himself, Vilanova never played for his club Barcelona, although returned as a cadet coach in 2002, training the likes of Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas to name a few.
While working in the Barcelona system, Vilanova was an expert on Catalan football as he has worked in every corner of the area with young footballers.
With Pep’s appointment as Barcelona head coach, he required an assistant with a vast knowledge of Catalan football with high morals and Tito Vilanova was the only man for the job.
Working as part of the setup that won every title there is to in world football, Tito Vilanova was then promoted and appointed the manager of Barcelona where he won the La Liga in his first and only season in charge, setting a record tally of 100 points.
A great leader, manager and football man was lost, but Vilanova will be forever remembered as a Catalan great and terrific football manager.
#2 Joachim Low
The former assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann during his spell as German manager, Joachim Low took over after Germany fired Klinsmann after Germany’s third-place finish in the 2006 WC. Low was touted a the perfect replacement according to Klinsmann as he believed Low would continue the work they began together.
Low inherited an experienced squad and guided Germany to another third-place finish in 2010 World Cup. The German board kept faith in Low despite Germany losing the 2012 Euro final to Spain but in the last World Cup, Low took Germany all the as they won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Germany still under Low as manager won the Confederation Cup with an entirely new squad of players giving him a wide array of players to pick from for the upcoming World Cup in Russia.
Germany will go into football's most celebrated tournament as favourites to defend their title boasting a strong squad and an experienced manager with years of tournament experience.
#1 Jose Mourinho
One of the greatest managers in modern football - Jose Mourinho has won honours all across Europe during his 20-year spell as a football manager. However, Mourinho began his career working and learning the trade as an assistant to Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal before taking the step to begin his managerial career.
His second managerial job and first huge post as Porto manager was where his journey began as he won the equivalent of the Europa League in 2003 before winning the UEFA Champions League in 2004 crowning the greatest European upset in modern footballing history.
Spells at Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid followed where Mourinho picked up silverware in each of the three countries also winning his second Champions League with Inter in 2010.
Following a return to Chelsea and another league title to his collection, Mourinho made his dream move to Manchester United, taking over from Louis van Gaal in 2016. He has brought the Manchester club back into the UEFA Champions League as he won automatic qualification winning the UEFA Europa League trophy, beating Ajax 2-0 last season.
