Arteta 2nd, next Man Utd boss 5th: Ranking all 53 Premier League players turned managers | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta, Gary O'Neil and Frank Lampard have all returned to the Premier League as managers.

There have been a helluva lot of Premier League players who have returned to the top flight as managers (he says without a shred of bitterness at this taking far, far longer than first assumed), and the overwhelming majority have found limited success in swapping their boots for a notepad.

We’ve included their Points Per Game ratios as Premier League managers, but the ranking is entirely opinion based. Our views are correct and final.

53) Remi Garde

Played for: Arsenal Managed: Aston Villa PPG: 0.60

He once told off a young upstart by the name of Jack Grealish to stop smiling and ran the club “like an army base”, according to Gabby Agbonlahor. He won just two of his 20 games in charge.

52) Alan Shearer

Played for: Blackburn, Newcastle Managed: Newcastle PPG: 0.63

“‘That’s a good f****** start!’ I thought,” Shearer said, using the players’ training tardiness as evidence of their poor attitude. One win and four goals in eight games when you have Mark Viduka, Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Shola Ameobi to call on suggests the management wasn’t all that great either, Alan.

51) Slavisa Jokanovic

Played for: Chelsea Managed: Fulham PPG: 0.42

Jokanovic saved Fulham from Championship relegation before getting them promoted the next season. The club then spent £100m in a Football Manager summer of transfers, before sacking him four months into his debut Premier League campaign.

Played for: Arsenal Managed: Portsmouth PPG: 0.67

One of the great Premier League players managed just two wins from his 16 games in charge of Portsmouth. And this is inexplicable…

Why on earth would you go on Soccer AM?

49) Brian Laws

Played for: Nottingham Forest Managed: Burnley PPG: 0.56

14 defeats in 18 Premier League games isn’t great. Conceding 42 goals also isn’t great.

48) Mike Phelan

Played for: Manchester United Managed: Hull City PPG: 0.65

Having crawled out of the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson to win three of 20 games as the main man at Hull, Phelan joined Ole Gunnar Solskjaer back under Sir Alex Ferguson’s shadow.

47) Mauricio Pellegrino

Played for: Liverpool Managed: Southampton PPG: 0.93

Six months as a Premier League player and just two months longer as a manager.

46) Iain Dowie

Played for: Southampton, Crystal Palace, West Ham Managed: Crystal Palace, Charlton, Hull PPG: 0.81

Brought Palace up to the Premier League, but even 21 goals from love child Andy Johnson couldn’t prevent immediate relegation. Sacked by Charlton in the relegation zone and failed to keep Hull up in his brief spell in charge.

45) Attilio Lombardo

Played for: Crystal Palace Managed: Crystal Palace PPG: 0.86

Lombardo was handed the reins as player-manager for Palace’s final seven games of the 1997-98 season after Steve Coppell decided to swap the dugout for the office of director of football. Unsurprisingly, seeing as Lombardo had no managerial experience whatsoever, Palace lost five of those seven games and were relegated.

44) Lawrie Sanchez

Played for: Wimbledon, Swindon Managed: Fulham PPG: 0.77

Sanchez left his post as Northern Ireland boss to take over at Fulham, keeping them in the Premier League with a massive win over Liverpool before being shown the door in December in the relegation zone.

43) Malky Mackay

Played for: Watford Managed: Cardiff PPG: 0.94

Took Cardiff to the League Cup final and the Premier League, but was sacked midway through his one and only top-flight season.

42) Paul Ince

Played for: Manchester United, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Wolves Managed: Blackburn PPG: 0.76

Lasted just six months in charge of Blackburn in 2008, winning three of his 17 games.

41) Micky Adams

Played for: Southampton Managed: Leicester PPG: 0.91

Led the Foxes to the promised land in 2003 before taking them straight back down.

40) Vincent Kompany

Played for: Manchester City Managed: Burnley PPG: 0.55

We were all hoodwinked by the ease with which he led Burnley back to the big time. He’s struggling as a result of sticking to values which make his side incredibly easy to score against. Top teams may not be interested if they don’t like his style, but they definitely won’t be if his team isn’t winning. A slightly more pragmatic approach would serve him and Burnley well.

39) Scott Parker

Played for: Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Tottenham, Fulham Managed: Fulham, Bournemouth PPG: 0.77

His Fulham side played some decent stuff but found the net far too rarely and were relegated. Having taken Bournemouth up he aired his dirty laundry in public and was sacked following a 9-0 defeat to Liverpool. The south coast side have gone from strength to strength first under Gary O’Neil and now Andoni Iraola, while Parker’s out of a job having failed spectacularly at Club Brugge.

38) Nigel Worthington

Played for: Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds Managed: Norwich PPG: 0.87

Has there ever been a boss whose look encapsulates the club they manage more than Nigel Worthington? The guy screams East Anglia. Norwich were relegated in his only Premier League season.

37) Gary Megson

Played for: Norwich Managed: West Brom, Bolton PPG: 0.94

He’ll be forever loved at the Hawthorns for boinging the Baggies to the Premier League in 2002 and ushering in the yoyoing. The Premier League proved too much for him and them at the time.

36) Owen Coyle

Played for: Bolton Managed: Burnley, Bolton PPG: 1.06

Led Burnley to the top flight for the first time in 33 years and took Bolton down for the first time in 12 years.

35) Frank Lampard

Played for: West Ham, Chelsea, Man City Managed: Chelsea, Everton, Chelsea PPG: 1.30

Should have called this management lark a day after his first Chelsea spell, after which he had 1.67 PPG, was 12th on this list and still held in reasonably high regard. His reputation is in tatters after five points from nine games on his return to Stamford Bridge, which was about the only place he would have been welcomed after a pretty dire time at Everton.

34) Gareth Southgate

Played for: Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough Managed: Middlesbrough PPG: 1.05

12th in his first season and relegated the next, England’s most successful manager since Sir Alf Ramsey has plenty to prove in club management, and will probably get the chance next season.

33) Roy Keane

Played for: Nottingham Forest, Manchester United Managed: Sunderland PPG: 1.02

Niall Quinn, chairman of Sunderland in Keane’s time at the helm, claimed the Manchester United legend resigned as he couldn’t handle the intensity of the job. Ironic given we’re all now lumbered with the most intense man in the history of football punditry.

32) Ian Holloway

Played for: QPR Managed: Blackpool, Crystal Palace PPG: 0.91

Led both Blackpool and Palace to the Premier League. But whatever, here are his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo…

“He’s six foot something, fit as a flea, good looking – he’s got to have something wrong with him. Hopefully he’s hung like a hamster – that would make us all feel better. Having said that, my missus has got a pet hamster at home, and his cock’s massive.”

31) Steven Gerrard

Played for: Liverpool Managed: Aston Villa PPG: 1.16

Really not a great look when you leave a club when they’re in 17th place and your successor has them in a title race just over a year later with a PPG of 2.02. Now sunning himself in Saudi Arabia, Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq haven’t won since October, scoring a whopping three goals in their last nine games. Hilarious.

30) Gianfranco Zola

Played for: Chelsea Managed: West Ham PPG: 1.10

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Zola led the Hammers to a top-half finish in his first top-flight season, before leaving at the end of the second campaign after they just avoided relegation.

29) Paolo Di Canio

Played for: Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham, Charlton Managed: Sunderland PPG: 0.75

His passion is such that his heart regularly slips from his sleeve and lies beating in his hand, until he throws it at someone. The referee-pusher turned touchline maniac beat rivals Newcastle in his second game in charge and kept the Black Cats up, before being sacked five games into the following season.

28) Nigel Pearson

Played for: Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough Managed: Leicester, Watford PPG: 1.12

His assertion that he is flexible enough to get his head in the sand, while the ostrich of a journalist is not is undoubtedly his Premier League legacy. Made way at Leicester for a certain Claudio Ranieri.

27) Gus Poyet

Played for: Chelsea, Spurs Managed: Sunderland PPG: 1.05

Sunderland looked dead and buried before a remarkable 13 points from a possible 15 under Poyet’s watch saved them in 2014.

26) Danny Wilson

Played for: Sheffield Wednesday Managed: Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday PPG: 0.97

Player-assistant manager turned player-manager at Barnsley, Wilson earned Barnsley promotion before they went straight back down. But he was handed the Wednesday job where he secured mid-table security before being sacked with the side on the up.

25) Stuart Pearce

Played for: Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, West Ham Managed: Manchester City PPG: 1.18

Pearce was in charge when some money came into Man City, but before the real bunse turned up. The club narrowly missed out on European qualification and avoided relegation in his time at the helm.

24) Tim Sherwood

Played for: Blackburn, Spurs, Portsmouth Managed: Spurs, Aston Villa PPG: 1.38

“They love homegrown players at Liverpool. Tottenham fans like signings,” said Sherwood as Harry Kane watched from the bench ahead of scoring 31 goals in his next season. He led Spurs to sixth and Villa to the FA Cup final, but it’s impossible to shake the feeling he was blagging his way throughout.

23) Steve Bruce

Played for: Manchester United Managed: Birmingham, Wigan, Sunderland, Hull, Newcastle PPG: 1.11

Has managed exactly 1000 games of football because the Newcastle owners wanted to roll him out for one last afternoon of abuse at St James’ Park. He may not return to management and we don’t blame him.

22) Mark Hughes

Played for: Manchester United, Chelsea, Southampton, Everton, Blackburn Managed: Blackburn, Manchester City, Fulham, QPR, Stoke, Southampton PPG: 1.29

Ball striker extraordinaire turned managerial journeyman.

21) Ryan Mason

Played for: Tottenham, Hull City Managed: Tottenham PPG: 2.00

Hard to place but did a more than serviceable job in very difficult circumstances for Spurs. Still a (very) young man – he’ll be back.

20) Glenn Hoddle

Played for: Chelsea Managed: Chelsea, Southampton, Spurs PPG: 1.31

An exciting, effective footballer, he left most of the effectiveness behind in management, trading it for all that karma bullsh*t.

19) Peter Reid

Played for: Manchester City, Southampton Managed: Manchester City, Sunderland, Leeds PPG: 1.24

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With the help of 30 goals from Kevin Phillips, Reid led Sunderland to seventh in 2001, before joining Leeds, who he managed to keep up in pretty dire financial circumstances.

18) Roberto Di Matteo

Played for: Chelsea Managed: West Brom, Chelsea PPG: 1.42

Not a great Premier League record for the Blues, but he did win the Champions League and FA Cup. Every cloud.

17) Ray Wilkins

Played for: QPR, Crystal Palace Managed: QPR PPG: 1.21

The late, great Wilkins led QPR to eighth after he took over as player-manager before they were relegated in his first full season. A fantastic footballer, an excellent coach and a wonderful human being…

16) Chris Coleman

Played for: Crystal Palace, Blackburn Managed: Fulham PPG: 1.24

Became the youngest Premier League manager when he took the Fulham gig in the summer of 2003 and led them to a surprise ninth-placed finish in his debut campaign.

15) Slaven Bilic

Played for: West Ham, Everton Managed: West Ham, West Brom PPG: 1.23

Achieved West Ham’s record Premier League points tally in 2015/16 before David Moyes broke it. Brought West Brom up (who wouldn’t?) before being sacked and replaced by relegation specialist Sam Allardyce, whose attempt to avoid relegation may have brought a sweet, sweet end to the obsession with relegation specialists.

14) Patrick Vieira

Played for: Arsenal, Manchester City Managed: Crystal Palace PPG: 1.15

Shown the door after a 12-game winless run, which sounds fair but also felt a tad harsh at the time given the calibre of their opponents in that stretch. Currently doing a decent job with Strasbourg in Ligue 1 and will presumably be back at some point.

13) Bryan Robson

Played for: Manchester United, Middlesbrough Managed: Middlesbrough, West Brom PPG: 1.11

“This is the best of the lot,” Robson said after West Brom pulled off the Great Escape, becoming the exception to the ‘bottom at Christmas’ rule. Better than the United titles as a player and the two domestic cup finals as Middlesbrough boss.

12) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Played for: Manchester United Managed: Cardiff, Manchester United PPG: 1.65

Did a decent job as a returning club legend before reaching the limit of his capabilities and being replaced by a supposedly better equipped and more tactically astute manager, who’s finding life at Old Trafford just as difficult.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: past and future Man Utd manager

11) Steve Clarke

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Played for: Chelsea Managed: West Brom PPG: 1.16

Led the Baggies to their record Premier League points tally of 49 in the 2012-13 season as they finished eighth. Romelu Lukaku also did a fair bit of the leading with 17 goals and seven assists.

10) Ruud Gullit

Played for: Chelsea Managed: Chelsea, Newcastle PPG: 1.43

Won the FA Cup as player-manager of Chelsea in 1998 and their highest Premier League finish of fourth. Then moved to Alan Shearer’s Newcastle and decided to bench the club’s favourite son.

9) Garry Monk

Played for: Southampton, Swansea Managed: Swansea PPG: 1.31

‘Aren’t you putting your boots on Gaz?’ ‘It’s Gaffer to you now, son.’ We assume it went something like that, as Monk hung those boots up and grasped the managerial reins. He dragged Swansea to safety in his first season and led them to eighth in the following campaign. He was sacked the next year after one win in 11.

8) Rob Edwards

Played for: Aston Villa, Blackpool Managed: Luton PPG: 0.79

Just ten Premier League appearances as a player totalling 613 minutes but Edwards has every chance of featuring as a manager in the top flight beyond this season, either with or without Luton, who are one point from safety despite their market value being nearly half as much as the second lowest in the Premier League. He’s doing a magnificent job on and off the pitch.

7) Gordon Strachan

Played for: Leeds, Coventry Managed: Coventry, Southampton PPG: 1.20

Strachan survived the drop with Coventry for four successive seasons before eventually taking them down and took Southampton to the FA Cup final. The quintessential late 90s Prem boss.

6) Gary O’Neil

Played for: Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, West Ham, Norwich Managed: Bournemouth, Wolves PPG: 1.19

“I couldn’t have done that, lads. I wasn’t good enough to do that,” O’Neil said after Wolves’ comeback win over Tottenham in November. A self-deprecating moment that he may or may not have actually believed, but illustrated his greater worth as a manager than as a player in the Premier League.

5) Graham Potter

Played for: Southampton Managed: Brighton, Chelsea PPG: 1.23

Success at Brighton has since been put into context by the greater success of his successor Roberto De Zerbi, and Potter was sacked from Chelsea after less than seven months at the helm. The ideal CV for Manchester United.

4) David O’Leary

Played for: Arsenal, Leeds Managed: Leeds, Aston Villa PPG: 1.56

Between 1998 and 2002, O’Leary took Leeds to the semi-finals of the Champions League and UEFA Cup. They finished fourth, third, fourth and fifth in the Premier League. His young and exciting side were title contenders before he was sacked by the spendthrift Peter Risdale.

3) Gianluca Vialli

Played for: Chelsea Managed: Chelsea PPG: 1.77

Chelsea achieved success with one player-manager in Gullit, so immediately turned to another. And it proved to be a mastertroke with Vialli winning the League Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and FA Cup. The Italian can certainly claim some of the groundwork that paved the way for Roman Abramovich’s millions.

2) Mikel Arteta

Played for: Everton, Arsenal Managed: Arsenal PPG: 1.88

He’s not yet the Messiah, but he’s more than Pep Guardiola’s naughty boy. Arteta went toe-to-toe with his mentor for much of last season and should have Arsenal in amongst it again this term. He may irritate the p*ss out of many of us, but he’s a very good football manager.

1) Roberto Mancini

Played for: Leicester City Managed: Manchester City PPG: 2.05

The most stylish manager in Premier League history was in charge of Man City for the greatest moment in Premier League history. Tried to style out the celebration with hands in pockets, but succumbed to the losing of the sh*t with everyone else.

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