Taking charge of a new club and matching the expectations of the fans or surpassing the achievements of the previous manager is not an easy job. Many managers face the music every season when the performance of the club is not good enough or when the club’s ambitions grow and in such scenarios, the job of the incoming manager is a herculean one.
However, there are some managers who can come into a team and make it seem like they’ve been at the club for ages. This impression is developed when the team punches above its weight and surpasses all expectations. Such was the case with some managers this season and here are eight managers who had an instant impact at their clubs this season.
Claudio Ranieri – Leicester City
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Claudio Ranieri is the author of the most romantic story in football. When the Italian was announced as the manager of Leicester City, many pundits were of the opinion that the Foxes would be relegated.
Ranieri’s job was not an easy one by any means as he was replacing Nigel Pearson, a man who oversaw the rise of Leicester from League One to Premier League and then managed to keep them in the English top tier. However, the story that unfolded at Leicester this season under the veteran manager is one that football fans will remember forever.
Leicester defied all odds and rose to the top of the Premier League table early on in the season. Many expected them to slowly come down, but the resilient foxes stayed put and won the league with two games to spare and in the end they had a 10 point lead at the top of the table!
Leicester scored 68 goals, which is the third highest in the league and only three goals less than Manchester City on top of the scoring charts. Defensively they were equally adept and conceded just 36 goals which is just one short of the best defence in the league. They also won a league highest 23 games and lost just three games which is also the best in the league. In fact, only two teams, Arsenal and Liverpool, were able to take all three points from them in a league game with Arsenal doing a double.
Ranieri’s attitude and positivity throughout the season won him many admirers and even the notorious British press adored him. His impact at the club is easily the best of the season and probably also one of the best in the history of the game.
Slaven Bilic – West Ham United
When West Ham decided not to extend the contract of Sam Allardyce at the end of last season, they were aiming to make the transition from a lower half team to a top half team. For this purpose, they appointed their former player, Slaven Bilic, as their manager.
Bilic’s start with West Ham was a torrid one as they struggled to get past Maltese club Birkirkara in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League and then got knocked out by Romanian club Astra Giurgiu in the next round.
However, once the league season started, West Ham were a different team. They won away to Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool in their opening six games and people quickly started to take notice of the Hammers.
Despite the injury problems to many of the team’s key players including Dimitri Payet, West Ham finished the season in sixth place with 62 points and just 4 points short of a Champions League spot. They finished the season five places and 15 points better than their previous season. On top of that, the Hammers can still qualify for Europa League if Manchester United win the FA Cup.
It was some of the transfers West Ham made under Bilic that changed the club’s fortunes this season as signings like Dimitri Payet, Angelo Ogbonna, Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio were crucial to West Ham’s success.
Andre Schubert – Borussia Monchengladbach
Borussia Monchengladbach’s former manager, Lucien Favre, took the club from relegation battlers to a Champions League club in his first full season. He is credited for raising the game of German internationals Marco Reus, Marc Andre ter Stegen and Christoph Kramer among many others. So when Favre resigned after losing the first five league games of the season, the incoming manager. Andre Schubert, had big shoes to fill in.
At the start of Schubert’s tenure, Gladbach were at the bottom of the league table and a midtable finish would have been deemed as a good season then, but Schubert’s side exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Monchengladbach went on to claim 26 points from Schubert’s first 10 games in charge without losing a single game and this run includes an emphatic 3-1 win over Bayern Munich. At this point, they played 15 games and went from rock bottom to third in the league table.
Gladbach’s second half of the season saw them lose some games, but despite this, they were able to land a Champions League place at the end of the season thanks to some crucial wins over Hertha BSC and Bayer Leverkusen.
Sam Allardyce - Sunderland
When Dick Advocaat resigned as Sunderland’s manager early on in the season, Sunderland were staring at the barrel of relegation. They were 19th in the league table with 3 draws and 5 defeats in 8 games.
Incoming manager, Sam Allardyce, was famous for surviving relegation battles, but the Sunderland job was extremely challenging even for his ability. However, he won the backing of the fans in the best possible way by claiming their first win of the season in just his second game in charge against local rivals Newcastle with a 3-0 scoreline.
Even then, the squad at his disposal was not up to mark as Sunderland won 3 and lost 8 games before New Year. Big Sam used the January transfer window to make some shrewd signings in Wahbi Khazri, Jan Kirchhoff and Lamine Kone, and these players played a huge role in turning the club’s fortunes around.
In the second half of the season, the Black Cats lost just four games. Sunderland’s rejuvenated form in the second half saw them pull off two great home wins against Manchester United and Chelsea. In the end, they once again pulled off a great escape and this time at the cost of their arch rivals Newcastle United.
Maurizio Sarri – Napoli
Current Napoli manager, Maurizio Sarri, was responsible for taking Empoli from Serie B to Serie A. After reaching the top level with Empoli, under Sarri’s guidance, Empoli exceeded expectations and finished 15th in the league in 2014/15.
Sarri’s ability was known to football fans, but it remained to be seen how well he could do with a top team like Napoli and he didn’t disappoint. He made some inspired signings like Pepe Reina from Bayern Munich, Allan from Udinese and Elseid Hysaj from his former club Empoli to bolster his squad.
Napoli got off to a flying start in the league and at the end of the matchday 24, they were top of the Serie A table. The club lost its footing for a while and conceded the title to Juventus, but managed to finish strongly in second place with 82 points. In the Europa League, Napoli won all their group stage games by scoring 22 goals and conceding just three.
What’s even more incredible is that he was able to bring the best out of some of the players who were at the club before his tenure like Higuain, Insigne, Hamsik and Koulibaly. Higuain even finished the season with a Serie A record 36 goals and only Luis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have more goals than him in Europe.
With a few more thoughtful additions, Napoli might be able to end the Juventus domination in Serie A.
Francesco Guidolin – Swansea City
Swansea City got off to a great start this season by claiming a draw at the home of defending Champions Chelsea and defeating Manchester United at home. Following their win against Man Utd, they picked up just 6 points from their next 11 games and this led to the sacking of Garry Monk.
Alan Curtis acted as caretaker manager before former Udiense manager, Francesco Guidolin, was appointed as the new manager. At the time of his appointment, Swansea were in 18th position in the league table and were involved in a relegation battle.
Guidolin’s first game in charge was away to Everton and the Swans celebrated it with a 2-1 win. The Welsh club slowly gathered momentum and registered an impressive 2-1 away win at Emirates to slowly drift away from the relegation zone.
Later, they beat Chelsea at home and towards the end of the season, they put a big dent on the Europa League qualification ambitions of Liverpool and West Ham by beating them 3-1 and 4-1 respectively. On the final day of the season, they also managed to salvage a draw against Manchester City and thus finished the season in 12th place behind Everton on goal difference.
Zinedine Zidane – Real Madrid
Real Madrid have always had some world class managers with big reputations, but when they sacked Rafael Benitez midway through the season, the club took a huge gamble by appointing Zidane as the new manager.
When Zidane took over, Real Madrid were third in the table and were well behind Barcelona and Atletico in the title race. However, under Zidane, there was marked improvement in the performance of the team and many individuals. The Frenchman also showed the guts to drop players he deemed not worthy of a starting role and this includes their big money signing James Rodriguez.
Since Zidane was appointed as manager, Real Madrid played 20 games, won 17, drew 2 and lost just 1 game! This meant that he amassed 53 out of the maximum possible 60 points, while scoring 63 goals and conceding just 16. What’s more impressive is that no team has won more points than Real Madrid during the same period and no incoming Real Madrid manager has gained as many points in their first 20 games in charge – or more goals.
Under Zidane, Real Madrid have made their way into the Champions League final and he will face the only team that managed to defeat his Real Madrid side in the League. However, the highlight of his tenure so far was an impressive away win against Barcelona after coming back from behind with just 10 men.
Real Madrid finished the league season strongly with 12 straight wins and this took their tally to 90 points. Despite this, Real couldn’t make up for the initial deficit and lost the league title to Barcelona. But the Los Blancos can still end their season on a high if they can win the Champions League.
Jurgen Klopp – Liverpool
Liverpool’s decision to appoint Jurgen Klopp as their manager is arguably their best decision since signing Luis Suarez. When the German took charge of the club, the club were in 10th position and he had a depleted squad at his disposal due to injuries to players like Sturridge, Firmino, Henderson, Ings, Benteke, Lovren and Gomez.
Klopp had a slow start to his spell with Liverpool, but registered impressive wins away to Chelsea and Manchester City. With those victories, he managed to win more games against previous season’s top 4 sides in less than two months than Rodgers managed in his entire tenure as Liverpool manager.
Liverpool were involved in four different competitions under Klopp and the fixture pile up showed its effect on the team in certain games. However, the reds enjoyed a brilliant cup run and managed to reach the final of the League Cup and the Europa League. Liverpool’s run in the Europa League was very impressive as they overcame Manchester United, Villarreal and tournament favourites Borussia Dortmund along the way.
The charismatic German was also able to improve the performance of players who struggled under Brendan Rodgers and some of them include players like Lallana and Lovren who faced the wrath of the fans for their performance before Klopp’s arrival.
Interestingly, Liverpool have created 492 chances in the league this season and only Spurs with 500 have created more. This is despite the fact that Klopp was not in charge for the first eight league games.
Klopp’s achievements without making any permanent transfers or a pre-season is simply amazing and if he can make some shrewd signings like he did at Dortmund, then Liverpool could be a force to reckon with next season.
