We're at a time in footballing history where managers have been more and more responsibility and have been made more and more the scapegoat for when things hit the roof. Yet without a manager capable of understanding a team and how they play best, the club are stuck in a position that's detrimental to all investors – including fans.
And when managers have an emotional connect to fans of a certain club either because they've managed that club or played for them, it makes the journey of a footballing season that much more enjoyable.
We've seen Zinedine Zidane come back to Real Madrid as a manager and has taken the club to the top of the league with a high possibility of staying there till the end of the season. When these men are capable of doing so much for a club they owe their heart to, not much can go wrong.
Here's looking at five managers who should go back to their former clubs for their sake:
#1 Diego Simeone to Inter Milan
Atletico Madrid were no doubt on the up before the appointment of Argentine and former favourite Diego Simeone. The 49-year-old transformed the club from also-rans to champions of La Liga while also taking them to the finals of the UEFA Champions League on two separate occasions.
It's safe to say that the La Liga is now a three-horse race with the way the “other” Madrid club has risen as Simeone's insistence on focusing on a defensive approach has paid great dividends.
But the Argentine has been linked with a move to Inter Milan, another one of his former clubs. The Milanese giants are 6th in the Serie A table – not the kind of place they're expected to be given the expenditure on players last summer. And should Simeone consider switching the La Liga for the Serie A, it'll make the Italian competition a lot more watchable and competitive.
#2 Frank de Boer to AFC Ajax
While the Eredivisie was always a league that brought to fore some incredible young talents from across Europe, it was always a league – at least in the last decade – that was dominated by Amsterdam's AFC Ajax.
And that's partly down to their former manager, Frank de Boer. The Dutchman spent 12 years with the club as a player and then 6 years at the club as the first-team manager winning four consecutive titles as well as a domestic cup. His influence on the youth coming through the ranks was unmatched and you can ask the likes of Cristian Eriksen and Daley Blind of just how good a manager Frank de Boer was.
Having joined Inter Milan at the beginning of the current season and then having subsequently been fired, De Boer is currently without a job. But given Ajax's struggles in the Eredivisie this season – they're second, a place they're not comfortable with – they could use De Boer's influence once again.
Side note: Frank de Boer also played for Barcelona – a club looking out for a new manager come the end of the season. Food for thought.
#3 Nigel Pearson to Leicester City
The way Leicester City treated Nigel Pearson on the back of their first season back in the Premier League was abysmal. The management and the owners then followed up the heinous act by sacking Claudio Ranieri earlier this season – the man who brought them their first ever top level English title.
And now with the club seemingly in disarray, fans and players would love to have the iron fist of Nigel Pearson back at the club. The Englishman was a solid manager for the club helping them achieve promotion to the Championship and then to the Premier League in two separate spells with them. His hard training methods and rigorous regimes led the club to rise three tiers only within a few years,
Should Leicester survive in the Premier League this season, they should seriously consider re-appointing Nigel Pearson. He knows this squad like the back of his hand.
#4 Arsene Wenger to AS Monaco
The amount of hatred Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, gets from a section of the fans is disrespectful in the least. Here's a man who guided the club back from a period of bribes and false promises to assembling the Invincibles and challenging the norm of a foreign manager reigning supreme on English shores.
His work for English football is the stuff of legends. It's almost unlikely that the league will ever see someone like him again. He revolutionised the league from rugby players ramming each other to win the ball, to finesse professional stars capable of dazzling opponents with slick passing moves. He brought about the style of football into a country who still adores thugs.
And should he part ways with the club he's spent the last 20 years with, he should return to AS Monaco – the first 'big’ club that gave him the platform to showcase his extraordinary talent. The club from the principality are turning heads both domestically and in Europe and should they deem an upgrade to Leonardo Jardim – however unlikely that may seem – it should be the man who won them their first Ligue 1 title in decades.
#5 Pep Guardiola to FC Barcelona
It feels like only yesterday that Pep Guardiola decided to leave Barcelona and go on a sabbatical. The Catalan manager brought together arguably the greatest Barcelona side the world has ever seen and pushed plenty of talents from the youth system into the first team.
And with Luis Enrique set to leave the club in the summer, what a story it will be to witness the return of the favourite. It's highly unlikely that it could happen given Pep's commitment to the Manchester City project but if there was a glimmer of a chance it could go through, it'll change the scenario both in Spain and in Europe in Barcelona's favour.
With Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique not the young stars they were under Pep anymore, he'll still find a way to make them the world's best again. He's the only one who can do so.
