5 European managers who have been sacked the maximum number of times

Managing a football team is no easier than taming a wild bull – one bad hit (defeat) and your journey down the ladder (towards sack) is kicked off. Sacking is no alien thing in soccer world and we have come across countless situations where a manager would have been sacked while walking through the stadium tunnel, while having his Christmas dinner or while watching TV. However unorthodox the sacking environment sounds to us, the result is the same in all the cases.The manager is fired and there’s one black dot in his career to carry along. When you plunge into the manager’s dome, you can find a few successful managers like Guardiola who have never faced the axe, some like Ancelotti who despite being successful have been gifted with a handful of “getting-sacked” experiences in the near past and importantly, a few who have spent their career getting fired like eating marshmallows. As unpredictable as the career as a manager is, the story about their reign never ceases to amuse us.

#5 Roy Hodgson

Roy Hodgson has been largely unsuccessful as a manager.

Roy Hodgson is no different from Rafa Benitez by taking the number of sacks into account. Hodgson’s managerial career has been intercepted with four breaks owing to sacking. The present manager of the England national team started off his managerial career in 1976 as Halmstads SK manager.

Following his stint as Halmstads SK manager, he took over the managerial position at Bristol City. Roy Hodgson was largely unsuccessful as a manager of Bristol City and was sent off just after four months in charge. He was then welcomed into Inter Milan and was decently successful.

From 1995-1997, he guided Milan towards numerous victories. When he quit Inter Milan in 1997, the club was left flying in the third position. However, his success was a big question mark following his departure from Inter Milan. His stint at Blackburn Rovers wasn’t quite pleasing and it ultimately resulted what we know. And the miseries didn’t stop there.

His spell as a Udinese manager was equally bad and his position was soon available for other candidates. Hodgson also tried his hand at managing international teams. His reign as the UAE manager was more than satisfactory. He led the team successfully through 2004 Asian Cup qualification. However, UAE decided to sack him in 2004 and the aftermath of the decision ultimately resulted in the team finishing in the bottom.

#4 Rafa Benitez

The former Real Madrid manager aka “sandwich lover” is the fourth to get featured in the list with four reported sacks altogether. The manager has been sacked very recently by the Real Madrid and was replaced by a retired Real Madrid midfielder Zidane. Real Madrid’s results weren’t up to the mark under Benitez.

The first El Clasico which was played at Santiago Bernabeu saw Madrid lose to their bitter rivals Barcelona with a 4 goal difference (4-0). This created the dent in the hearts of the fans, and it proliferated slowly throughout Real Madrid fandom. Altogether, Benitez’s spell as the Real Madrid manager wasn’t satisfactory and this forced Perez to replace him with Zidane.

Benitez has tasted the bitterness of sack four times, courtesy of Real Valladolid, Osasuna, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

#3 Neil Warnock

The current QPR caretaker manager has had the worst managerial history ever. The manager started out his career by managing Burton Albion for one year and Scarborough for three years starting from 1986. Immediately following his resignation from Scarborough, he took over Notts County and led him in their journey from a team suffering in the third division to a first division club in two consecutive seasons.

Amazing, isn’t it? But, what you are going to hear next isn’t that amazing.

His stint as a first division manager wasn’t as successful as everyone expected and the team got relegated to the second division again, and it was followed by his sack. Following this, he was sacked by Plymouth Argyle in 1997. Well, it all started here.

The manager is not only known for getting his team promoted to higher divisions in his stints but also for a lot of unorthodox sacks. Warnock managed to save Crystal Palace from getting relegated to League One in his reign there (2007-2010) and also won promotion to first division during his spell as Leeds United manager, but quite unfortunately. ended up getting sacked by both the clubs. In addition to this, Queen Park Rangers has also treated the manager with a sack in 2012 after a very poor term.

#2 Claudio Ranieri

Well, we all know this guy as the man behind the “Leicester City phenomenon” in the current Premier League. Leicester City, who were considered as underdogs before the dawn of the Premier League are currently flying in the top with points at par with the Gunners. Ranieri surely does demands standing ovation for his successful stint this year as with each victory, Leicester is inching closer to Premier League title. However, the case is not the same for the man always which makes his name flash in this particular list,

Ranieri has managed many top clubs in the past. His stints as a senior manager didn’t always sport a happy ending as in most cases, he would be sacked or would resign before getting sacked. Though, the manager is talented enough, it happens that misfortune loves him so much that his success is mostly short-lived everywhere.

He has been sacked in the past by Chelsea, Juventus, Monaco, Valencia and Atletico (rumors suggest that he resigned before sack). In addition to these clubs, Ranieri has not been gifted with longevity with international teams as well as Greece ended up sacking him in 2014 after a defeat against Faroe islands in UEFA Euro qualifying round. Unfortunately, the manager who is quite successful in the premier league currently stands second considering the number of sacks.

#1 Zdenk Zeman

Zdenek Zeman is a Czech-Italian football coach.

The point is he has been sacked umpteen number of times. But, letting alone that part and looking at the brighter side of his career, we can observe that the manager has been bestowed with wide and seemingly unconquerable experience gained by managing numerous teams, mostly Italian. He has been reportedly sacked for 7 times which when added with voluntary resignation and other not-really-true mysterious quitting will equal to 21 different teams. The list of prominent teams managed by him include

1. Licata (1983-1986)

2. Foggia (1986-1987, 2010-2011)

3. Parma (1987 )

4. Messina (1988-1989 )

5. Lazio (1994-1997 )

6. Roma (1997-1999, 2012-2013 )

7. Napoli ( 2000 )

8. Fenerbache (1999-2000 )

Reportedly, he is the top contender for the “most sacked” title.

Edited by Staff Editor