5 worst Barcelona managers of all time

FC Barcelona sacked Quique Setien earlier this month

#3 Lorenzo Serra Ferrer | May 2000 – April 2001

Lorenzo Ferrer was named Barcelona manager to replace the outgoing Louis van Gaal, who was relieved of his duties after a series of underwhelming results in the 1999-2000 season. The Spaniard made a name for himself at Real Betis, having cemented the club's La Liga status and spearheaded them to a spot in Europe.

Despite his decent track record, Ferrer never stamped his authority at the club and was sacked in the latter part of his first season. He was also involved in a notorious episode with Emmanuel Petit, who had joined Barcelona that summer from Arsenal.

Despite being a big-player for club and country, Petit was relatively unknown to the Barcelona manager. The former Arsenal man opened up on the incident and admitted that he was taken aback by Ferrer's negligence.

"Richard [Dutruel] was translating and he was translating normally when he suddenly stopped and after five minutes he turned to me and I saw 'Mayday, Mayday' flashing in his eyes,"

"He told me, 'The coach wants to know in which position you play.' We'd just finished the Euro. I looked at the coach, looked at Richard, and said, 'Is he joking?' Richard replied, 'He's not joking.'

"So, I said to him, 'I want you to ask him where he has been for the last two years. Has he been kidnapped? Was he in the jungle where there was no TV?'

"The bloke was taking the piss out of me."

As Barcelona endured a dismal league season domestically as well as in Europe, Ferrer was sacked in April 2001 with the Catalan giants a staggering 15 points behind the league leaders at the time.

#2 Louis van Gaal | May 2002 - January 2003

While Louis van Gaal won two La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey and a UEFA Super Cup in his first stint as Barcelona manager, his second spell at the club turned out to be a bit of a disaster.

The Dutchman fell out with Rivaldo and let him leave the club on a free transfer despite the Brazilian having a year left on his contract at the time. Additionally, the players he signed failed to hit the ground running, with Juan Roman Riquelme, in particular, seen as a big-money flop.

Van Gaal's side continued to blow hot and cold in the 2002-03 season, as they struggled to mount a title challenge. Results went from bad to worse since the turn of the year and Barcelona decided to sack the Dutchman for the second time in three years.

At the time of his sacking, the Catalan giants were just three points above the relegation zone and a staggering 20 points behind league leaders Real Sociedad.

#1 Tata Martino | July 2013 - May 2014

After the unexpected departure of Tito Villanova, Barcelona appointed Tata Martino as their new head coach for the 2013-14 season. The Argentine had made a name for himself with Newell's Old Boys in his home country, a club where Lionel Messi played in his formative years.

Barcelona raced off the blocks under their new manager and started the season in stunning fashion, as they put themselves in pole position for the La Liga title.

However, the Catalan giants were pipped by Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid to the title on the last day of the season, as they finished trophyless despite their solid start to the season.

Martino announced his decision to leave the club after a solitary season at the Camp Nou and provided a damning assessment of his stint at Barcelona.

"My Barça was an utter failure. Normally failure means not winning. My view on that is different. If Barça had played their own style but not won the title, it wouldn't have been a failure. But we didn't win and we didn't play well either."

"We suffered a lot from several non-sport related issues that all came at the same time."

"This league title would just have been one more and wouldn't have contributed anything to the club. My decision to leave wouldn't have changed either."

"There was no need to extend something that had been dead for quite some time. I didn't enjoy coaching Barça, but I don't think I would have enjoyed it [that situation] anywhere."

He was eventually replaced by Luis Enrique, who went on to experience success domestically as well as in Europe with Barcelona.

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