5 Biggest Premier League Manager Falls From Grace

Being a football manager is one of the cruelest jobs in all of sports. One minute, you can be heralded as a genius – the next, you’re just landfill. 

Today, we’ll look at five of the most dramatic falls from grace in Premier League managerial history. We’ll be examining former Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle United coaches for this list – do you agree with our picks?

Claudio Ranieri

When Claudio Ranieri joined Leicester City in 2015, a collective sense of indifference washed over the Foxes’ fanbase. 12 months later, the Italian was lauded as one of the greatest managers of all time when he led Leicester to the unlikeliest of Premier League titles at the end of the season.

Sadly, Ranieri could not replicate his success in the following season and was sacked in early 2017. On top of this, he also failed at both Fulham and Watford in the years that followed.

Ranieri raised his stock a little bit last season after a decent campaign with Roma, but he will never reach the heights of 2016 again. Prior to this, he had also spent a season at Chelsea, but failed to win a major honour.

Steve McClaren

The main crux of Steve McClaren’s downfall didn’t take place in the Premier League – but the ‘Wally with the Brolly’ saga is such an infamous cornerstone of English football that we had to include him in this list.

Prior to his appoinment as England manager, McClaren enjoyed an excellent spell in charge of Middlesbrough, during which he won the League Cup and led them to the final of the Europa League in 2006. Of course, we all know what happened next – McClaren failed to qualify for the 2008 Euros as England boss and was promptly sacked.

This wasn’t the end of McClaren’s Premier League adventure, though. He was named Newcastle United manager in 2015, to disastrous results – the Magpies were relegated after his first and only season in charge at St. James’ Park.

Manuel Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini’s time in charge of Manchester City perhaps wasn’t as fruitful as it could’ve been – nonetheless, the Chilean walked away from the post in 2016 with one Premier League title and two League Cups under his belt.

After this, Pellegrini’s Premier League career entered a swift and dramatic tailspin. He spent just under a year and a half at West Ham United before he was sacked in December of 2019.

Despite spending £155 million during his time at the club, Pellegrini was unable to conjure up any sort of success. Currently, he is the manager of Real Betis, having been in place at the club since 2020.

Roberto Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo’s time at Chelsea was brief, but undeniably successful, as he led the Blues to their first Champions League trophy in 2012. When he was sacked before the end of the year, many saw the move as unfair and unwarranted.

However, upon his return to English football at Aston Villa in 2016, it began to seem as though Chelsea may have been right to let him go.

Di Matteo’s time at Villa Park can only be described as an abject failure. He won just one of his 12 games in charge at the club, before being sacked in October – and this was in the Championship, not the Premier League. Di Matteo has not managed a senior team since this.

Jose Mourinho

Once upon a time, Jose Mourinho was regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time. His legacy is still largely intact, but the Portuguese icon certainly isn’t the coach he once was.

Mourinho’s two stints in charge at Chelsea were both legendary. His spell with Manchester United is often criticised, but he still managed to win the League Cup and the Europa League.

At Tottenham, however, the wheels fell off. Mourinho was unable to to get a true grip on his squad as the Lilywhites treaded water for his entire duration in charge – after a year and a half of failing to win a trophy, he was sacked. Given Mourinho’s previous record of winning trophies, this was unthinkable a few years prior.