While Frank Lampard torches his Chelsea legacy, we look at 10 other club legends who failed miserably when they went back as managers…
10) Alan Shearer – Newcastle
‘Taking over as 4th manager that season, in the bottom three and only 8 games to go. Hardly comparable,’ was Shearer’s response to a tweet from Times journalist Rory Smith about his fear that Zinedine Zidane could struggle to harmonise the complex and difficult relationships at Real Madrid and ‘be their Alan Shearer’.
However, the insinuation was not that Shearer was or is a terrible manager, but that simply installing a club legend as manager isn’t a magic click of the fingers to tidy up the mess. That’s an entirely fair comment to make.
Shearer was appointed at Newcastle with no managerial experience in order to provide the club with a shot in the arm to fight relegation, and he failed in that task. Having taken over with Newcastle in 18th position, two points from safety, they ended in 18th, one point from safety. Shearer won one of his matches in charge.
‘With the word around Newcastle strongly suggesting Shearer will be in charge next season, providing he gets reasonable backing from owner Mike Ashley, then there may be more where this came from,’ wrote the BBC’s Phil McNulty after that Middlesbrough win. ‘Alan Shearer made a substitution with the Midas Touch as Newcastle United clinched the victory.’ Is there more than one Midas?
Read more: Six of the worst Premier League caretaker managers ever, featuring three Newcastle failures
9) Ossie Ardiles – Tottenham
It would be impossible to accuse Ardiles’ football of being tedious, but there is nothing quite as exciting as winning matches. Unfortunately for Tottenham’s Argentinean manager, he won far too few.
Ardiles was a roaring success in his season in management at Swindon Town, leading the club to their highest-ever league position. That was about his biggest managerial success in England. He endured a dreadful time at Newcastle before eventually ending up at Spurs, the club where he had spent a wonderful decade as a player.
Despite scoring more goals than Arsenal in fourth place, Spurs finished 15th in Ardiles’ first season, his tactical naivety continuously undermining the club’s progress. He was finally sacked in October 1994, with Spurs still in the bottom half despite making a number of big-money foreign signings.
8) Kenny Dalglish – Liverpool
Look, we all know where it went wrong for King…
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