5 former players who currently manage their old club

The managerial merry-go-round of football is one facet that’s seemingly unique to the sport. After all, in what other walks of life could you be fired for doing a bad job, paid off handsomely and then walk into another similar – equally well-paid – job without really proving you’re going to do any better of a job than you did before? And most jobs demand experience – and while some clubs will only ever touch an experienced boss, there are plenty of others that take risks on less experienced managers.

Quite often you’ll find that the prerequisite for becoming a football manager is simply that you were a legendary player at the same club. We’ve seen countless numbers of former players receive a chance in this way – Ryan Giggs at Manchester United for instance, once David Moyes was sacked. And sometimes players become managers elsewhere, only to head back to the club where they made their name later on. Here are five current bosses in charge of teams they once played for.

# Zinedine Zidane – Real Madrid

Although he’s come under pressure this season for a series of bad results – by Real Madrid’s lofty standards, of course – thus far in his managerial career, Zinedine Zidane has almost been as successful from the dugout as he was as a player for Los Blancos. The French legend is of course recognised as not only one of the best players in the history of Real Madrid but one of the best players in the history of the game, period.

During his time at Real as a player, Zidane was massively successful – he starred in the legendary Galactico side and won La Liga in 2002/03, but of course his crowning achievement came a season prior to that, when he scored the winning goal in the Champions League final – a classic volley – to help Real claim their ninth title.

In a way though, Zidane’s Real side flattered to deceive – with players like him, Luis Figo, David Beckham and Roberto Carlos they probably should’ve won far more trophies than they did.

The same can’t be said for Zidane the manager. He took over in January 2016 when Rafael Benitez was sacked after years of behind-the-scenes work after his 2006 retirement, and a short stint as the head coach of Real’s B-team.

His new team won his first game in charge 5-0 and then didn’t look back, winning the Champions League that season and then repeating in Zidane’s first full season in charge – becoming the first team to ever retain the trophy. They also won La Liga that season, meaning after just one and a half seasons in charge, Zidane’s somehow won more trophies at Real as a boss than he did as a player!

#2 Diego Simeon - Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone has done a tremendous job as boss of Atletico Madrid

An Argentine international for over a decade, Diego Simeone played for no less than eight clubs during his storied career, meaning the chances of him ending up in charge of one of them when he moved into management post-retirement were always going to be high.

Indeed, he’s managed two of his former clubs; the first on two occasions and the second his current side, La Liga powerhouses Atletico Madrid.

Simeone started his managerial career at Argentine side Racing Club. They were the team he retired from his playing career with, and he barely lasted six months in charge before leaving.

Stints at Estudiantes, River Plate, San Lorenzo and Catania followed, with Simeone’s reputation growing all the time, and a second term at Racing Club was almost as short as his first, as he then took over at Atletico, the club that he spent three seasons at in the 1990’s. Simeone was successful there – winning a double of La Liga and the Copa del Rey in 1995/96 – but his managerial stint has been even better.

El Cholo took over at Atletico in December 2011 and saw immediate success, winning that season’s UEFA Europa League. 2012/13 saw them win the Copa del Rey, and 2013/14 was even better – despite being in a far weaker financial position to the giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona, Simeone led his Atletico side to win La Liga – becoming the first Atletico side to do that since the 1996 side he’d starred in.

He’s also taken the side to two Champions League finals, although the trophy eluded them on both occasions. Despite being in high demand from the Premier League, Simeone seems committed to the cause, too – he’s recently signed a contract extension to keep him at Atletico until 2020.

#3 Eddie Howe - Bournemouth

Eddie Howe is a club legend at Bournemouth

The Premier League has a reputation for being a playground for both expensive foreign bosses with big reputations and the British “old boys” club – managers like David Moyes, Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew who manage to be recycled over and over despite various failings. On the odd occasion, there’s a manager who bucks that trend, and one of them right now is Bournemouth’s stylish young boss Eddie Howe.

Howe has gained a reputation for moulding teams who look to play attractive, attacking football, and due to his success, he’s already been touted as a potential future England boss. Right now, however, he seems intrinsically linked to Bournemouth, and in all honesty, it’d be surprising to see him leave anytime soon. And it makes sense when you consider that during a playing career that lasted for thirteen years, eleven of them were spent at Dean Court.

A strong defender, Howe spent the first eight years of his career with Bournemouth after coming up through their youth system. He became a key part of their side and even played for England’s u-21 team in 1998, and then went on to become Harry Redknapp’s first signing for Portsmouth in 2002.

But he always remained popular at Bournemouth – when Portsmouth loaned him back there in 2004/05 and offered him a permanent move, the Cherries couldn’t afford to sign him until the fans clubbed together and raised £21,000 to fund the move.

Retiring in 2007, Howe took over the reins at Bournemouth in 2008 and managed them for almost three seasons before moving to Burnley. Like his playing moves away from Bournemouth though, it was a brief move, and he was soon back at Dean Court – where he masterminded two promotions in three seasons to put the Cherries into the Premier League for the first time. He’s a true club legend.

#4 Ernesto Valverde - FC Barcelona

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde had a short period as a player at the Nou Camp in the 1980's.

Over the past decade or so, Barcelona have gained a reputation as a club that likes to promote from within when it comes to their bosses. Club legends Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique have both famously had stints in the hot seat at the Nou Camp and were massively successful, both of them winning the Champions League and Guardiola, in particular, is recognised as one of the best coaches in the world. Of course, they’ve never been strangers to putting former players in charge – the legendary Johan Cruyff was one of their most famous players and turned into one of their best managers too.

Currently in charge of Barca is former Athletic Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde, and despite the sale of key striker Neymar in the summer, it looks like he’s going to bring success to the Nou Camp – his side are currently top of La Liga, are five points clear and have yet to lose a game. And they’ve also qualified for the second round of the Champions League without a loss, winning their group at a canter.

When Valverde was appointed in the summer, it raised some eyebrows as he wasn’t a huge name – which is why it may come as a surprise to some that he’s actually a former Barca player!

Indeed, over a fourteen-year playing career – one that saw him gain one cap for Spain and spend the majority of his time at Athletic Bilbao – Valverde had a brief period of time in the famous red and blue shirt of Barcelona. Granted, it was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it job – Valverde signed for Barca for the 1988/89 season and remained there for 1989/90, but over those two seasons he only played in 22 games, although he did win the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Cup-Winners Cup during that time.

He’ll hardly be remembered as a playing legend, but if he can deliver the Champions League, then the same may not be said about his managerial time at the Nou Camp.

#5 Simone Inzaghi - SS Lazio

Simone Inzaghi is rated as one of Europe's best young coaches

Throughout his playing career, despite making over 250 appearances mainly in Italy’s Serie A, Simone Inzaghi was largely in the shadow of his more successful brother Filippo, who won three Serie A titles and two Champions Leagues with Juventus and Milan, and also won the World Cup in 2006 with Italy.

Simone meanwhile played for Rome giants Lazio for a long period of time – between 1999 and 2010 – and while he won the Scudetto with them in the 1999/00 season, he was never really one of their key players despite his long service. Not that there was any shame in that given some of the world-class players – Marcelo Salas, for instance – that they could call upon during his time there. As a manager though, it looks like that may well all change.

Inzaghi was appointed as Lazio’s youth coach upon his retirement in 2010 and remained in that job for six years until late in the 2015/16 season when the club sacked Stefano Pioli. It wasn’t supposed to be a permanent deal, and Marcelo Bielsa was announced as the new boss for 2016/17. The Argentine didn’t even last a week though – the reasons remain unknown – and so Inzaghi stepped back into the hot seat. And he did well, too – leading them to 5th place, an improvement on the previous season’s 8th place finish.

Due to this successful season, his contract was extended until 2020, and he’s now cultivating a reputation as one of Europe’s best younger coaches. Lazio currently sit in 5th place in Serie A and in October they became the first side to beat Juventus in Turin for two years. With phenomenal striker Ciro Immobile leading the line, Inzaghi’s success as a boss at Lazio could enable him to step out of his brother’s shadow for good.