5 Managers who have only this year to save their jobs

Pep and Pellegrini are walking on fine lines this seasonSlow and steady will get you there, but who has the time? Fast and consistent; that’s what wins the races in the new age. We want our food, our cars and successes in life to be fast and our downloads to be even faster. That’s human nature.When it comes to the footballing world, the owners want a return on their investment. They don’t want to meander through the city traffic to reach the highway of success. They just want to jet away. Sometimes when you see the amounts laid out by them, you might even they have a right to demand to.So to whom do every owner’s eyes turn to? It’s the managers, the directors of their grand scheme of things. It’s their job to bring about the best in the players and at the end of the end, bring home the results. They are the real men behind the scenes that provides the rudder to the ship and guide them where they want to go.However, at the slightest hint of dysfunction, the managers are always the first to go. The manager is both the club’s biggest asset as well as the biggest liability. This asset, however indispensable, becomes the easiest to be expended. Always.Sportskeeda today looks at five such faces, who might face the axe if they don’t quite deliver by the end of the season.

#1 Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich)

The name Pep Guardiola itself wouldn’t warrant a review in most places. Two years, five titles including two Bundesliga titles on the trot. That’s what the Spaniard has been able to deliver at the helm of Bayern Munich. Such incomings of silverware normally doesn’t give away to second thoughts anytime soon. However, in the Bavarian nation, they set the bar a little higher.

They not only want success but demand it. And success for them mean not only winning stuff but winning them all. Bundesliga these days has been a long foregone conclusion with Munich monopolising any debate in their neck of the woods. What they are after, is the big crown. Not happy just to sit atop Deutschland but the whole of continental Europe.

Any addition to the five trophies or a record fourth successive Bundesliga title will not matter for the man that was brought to the Allianz for one sole purpose only; rule Europe and rule in style. If this year produces heartaches alike, the previous couple of painful semi-final exits in the Champions League, Guardiola’s head, as well as his dignity might well be on the choppig board.

#2 Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool)

This is the season that Brendan Rodgers needs to prove; prove that his team’s agonisingly runner-up finish a couple of seasons ago was no fluke, prove that he is bigger than the players that surround him, prove that Liverpool have new things to look forward post Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard.

Last season was supposed to be a continuation; another steady rise in the development graph at Merseyside. There was no Luis Suarez for sure, but the owners didn’t leave the Irishman high and dry. Every penny from the deal was re-invested to put Liverpool once and for all firmly in the top tier of clubs.

But what followed, left a bad taste in the mouth of the Kop. In spite of investing heavily in the transfer market, Rodgers never really was able to fill the void left by Luis Suarez’s departure to Barcelona. The likes of Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren and Adam Lallana were never able to hit the ground running at Anfield. Whilst the signing of Rickie Lambert and the enigmatic Mario Balotelli turned out to be aberrations for reasons altogether different. Raheem Sterling, a star of the previous campaign never quite stepped up to the plate.

What resulted was a serious jolt of the dreams and aspiration of the Kop, which had just begun to take flight. A sixth place finish, eight points off the final Champions League place had the Pool fans collecting the shattered pieces of their dreams once again. There were calls for Rodgers’ head from a small portion of the Liverpool faithful towards the end of the season but that would have been foolhardy.

Rodgers finally needs to step up to the plate and deliver this season if he is to finally put the ghost of last season to bed. Two wins in the first two games surely helps, anything but a top four finish might jeopardise his place at Anfield.

#3 Manuel Pelegrini (Manchester City)

With great powers come great responsibilities When you have the power to beat anyone to your targets because of the deep pockets of your owners, you must also up to the owner’s unquenchable thirst for success and trophies year in year out. That’s the situation Manuel Pellegrini finds himself in.

The season of 2013-14 saw the blue-half of Manchester again reach the pinnacle of England under the tutelage of the Chilean, winning the Premier League and the League Cup, to gift their fans a domestic double. The PFA Manager of the year award was just the icing on the cake.

If that season was a stroll through Hyde Park in the morning, last season became a struggle through the Sahara. After setting the bar high for himself with such accolades in his first year in his first year in charge at The Etihad, Pellegrini failed to reach the same level in his second. His side was always there and there about when it came to the Championship race, but never really hit the stride.

Fourth round exits in the domestic cups and even more importantly failure to yet again stamp any sort of authority in Europe finally laid out the final verdict of the season to be an utter failure. With City, investing heavily once again, the South American won’t surely be given any more chance if slips up once again.

#4 Rafa Benitez (Real Madrid)

Real Madrid deal in trophies and if you are not able to deliver them you shouldn’t be there. They keep it very simple at the Bernabeu: deliver silverware and you are a hero. If you don’t, well, there is always another man who can.

Rafa Benitez is the latest installment in Real Madrid’s managerial carousel. This was an appointment that wasn’t met with much fanfare. Rafa now has the task of not only winning games but also winning them in style to get the fans back on his side; something he did quite well during his short spell at Chelsea.

Rafa’s opening days have already marred with reports of disagreements with Real's star forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Many have even suggested that Ronaldo has been failing to buy into Rafa’s plans for the side. While all these might be rumours what will transpire at the Spanish capital over the next twelve months will surely be something to keep an eye on.

The former Liverpool and Napoli manager is already walking a tightrope with the fans and for some, also with his players. The only thing to keep him falling is success. Aah! success; nothing succeeds like it.

#5 Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham)

Tottenham won’t care if they win a trophy this season as long as they qualify for the Champions League next season. Whether it be through finishing in the top four in the Premier League or by winning the Europa League. A domestic trophy would surely be a bonus, but that’s no longer at the forefront of matters at White Hart Lane.

You might love or hate David Levy, but one thing that everyone has to admire about the guy is that he puts his money where his mouth is. He has supported every one of his managers and brought in players (sometimes paying over the top) to build a new identity for the North Londoners.

Even Andres Vilas-Boas cannot complain his firing on a lack of willingness to spend on the club’s behalf. The Portuguese was afforded with all the cash that they received from the Gareth Bale sale to rebuild Tottenham on his own accord. And that trend has continued.

Even after big changes last summer, Spurs finished six points off a Champions League spot. The club has again gone out to strengthen the side (however, still a little thin upfront) and it would be very unlikely to see the Argentine still in the dugout for Tottenham next season if he fails to match Levy’s resolve in the transfer market and take them to the Champions League.

Edited by Staff Editor