Eight rubbish footballers that went on to win great things as managers.
Following on from Monday’s list of 11 Great Players Who Failed As Managers we have decided to take a look at those that went in the opposite direction and became great managers after less than distinguished playing careers.
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8. Andre Villas-Boas
So crap he didn’t even play! However, he did start managing at the age of 21 when he took over the reigns of the British Virgin Islands. His stint there was short lived but he soon returned to his native Portugal with Porto and won everything from the league title to the Europa League. Things may not have worked out for him at Chelsea, or Spurs, but he’s going a good job of rebuilding his career in Russia with Zenit.
7. Sven-Göran Eriksson
After a distinguished, yet unsuccessful playing career in his homeland he went on to become one of the most successful managers of his generation by winning no less than 19 titles with the likes of Benfica, Roma, Lazio, Sampdoria and Goteborg. This eventually led him to being named as England manager, where he stayed for five years before unsuccessful spells in charge of the likes of Manchester and the Ivory Coast, amongst others.
6. Marcelo Bielsa
The 59-year-old only made 65 appearances during his playing career, but he has made up for that by going on to become one of the most sought-after managers in the game today. Already well known in South America thanks to time with the likes of Velez Sarsfield and Club America, he excelled as national team boss of Argentina, whom he led to Olympic gold in 2004. He then followed that up by winning a Copa Del Rey with Athletic Bilbao, as well as leading them to a Europa League final, and now Marseille, where he is looking to make a meaningful challenge on PSG’s stronghold of Ligue 1.
5. Roy Hodgson
The 67-year-old had endured a flat playing career spent mostly in non-league, but that didn’t stop him from going around the world as a manager. Having won ten titles in Scandinavia with three different clubs, he then went on a world wide tour with Switzerland, whom he took to the World Cup, and then Inter Milan. Upon his return to England he made Fulham a European force before taking over at Albion and Liverpool to mixed results. Now the England manager.
4. Rudi Garcia
The Roma chief led an uninspiring playing career with Lille during the 80s, but it wasn’t until he took them over as manager that he really began to excel. Winning a league and cup double in 2010/11, he got handed the reigns in Rome to help challenge Juventus to Serie A supremacy as well as establishing the club as European regulars once again.
3. Brendan Rodgers
There was a time when the 41-year-old was just as well known for his Lacrosse playing as he was his football, but he remained a true student of the game and continued his education under the likes of Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Felipe Scoalri. He worked his way up from Watford, via Reading, to Swansea, guiding them into the Premier League before taking over at Liverpool where he narrowly missed out an bringing the Premier League title to Anfield.
2. Arsene Wenger
Wenger spent most of his playing career in his native corner of France before embarking on success whislt in charge of Monaco and Grampus Eight in Japan. In 1996 he arrived in north London and transformed Arsenal into a talented yet shambolic club into an all-conquering force that revolutionised how the game was played in England. He has won almost everything there is to win and has built himself a dynasty that was only matched by that of Sir Alex Ferguson until he retired in 2013.
1. Jose Mourinho
The Chelsea boss remains one of the world’s most successful coaches, and started out as Sir Bobby Robson’s translator at Barcelona. Whilst there he learned under and alongside some of the game’s brightest pupils and duly took his chance for success whilst at the helm of Porto, where he won the Champions League. Since then he has won everything in sight with Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. Now back at Stamford Bridge with a whopping 20 titles to his name, and he’s looking for more.