Managing a Premier League club is among the most daunting, high-pressure jobs imaginable, so it’s understandable that some men would falter in their quest.
Indeed, even the earliest days of a top-flight reign – the press conferences, the questions, the intense scrutiny – can be enough to tire the mind before a ball is even kicked.
Frank de Boer can certainly empathise. A mere three games into his Premier League journey with Crystal Palace, the Dutchman seems to be a dead man walking.
Some reports claim that he has one game to save his job, but should he lose to Burnley on Saturday, that would be four straight defeats since taking over and would certainly spell one of the worst managerial starts in recent memory.
Here are seven others.
Remi Garde
When the Frenchman parted ways with Villa after 147 thoroughly miserable days in charge, he had a legitimate – albeit unwilling – claim to the title of ‘worst Premier League manager ever.’
Garde was appointed in November 2015 and led Villa to a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Manchester City in his first game. However, discontent stirred when that was followed by a 4-0 defeat at Everton and a home loss to Watford.
Garde only managed to win two Premier League games in total, while he oversaw the start of arguably the worst period in Villa’s career – a run of six straight defeats including a 6-0 defeat at home to Liverpool and a 4-0 hammering at City.
He left by mutual consent at the end of March, and hasn’t managed since.
Rene Meulensteen
Rene Meulensteen is a living example of how being a world-renowned coach does not make you a great manager. Sometimes the no. 2 should stay no. 2. Meulensteen was a bit like Silvio Dante in The Sopranos, stepping in to Tony’s shoes for a brief time when the boss was comatose. It didn’t go smoothly for Silvio, and it didn’t go smoothly for Rene.
Of course, Meulensteen earned a stellar reputation as one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s most trusted lieutenants at Manchester United, but clearly the Dutchman was better suited to the training ground.
He lasted three months at Fulham, winning only four of 17 games before leaving on Valentine’s Day in 2014 as he was succeeded by Felix Magath – another deeply regrettable affair which we’ll come to later.
Meulensteen is now managing in the Indian Super League with Dimitar Berbatov!
Jacques Santini
"They promised me a big apartment on the beach and I found myself 200m from the sea with a view of my neighbours," a bitter Santini said as he walked out of Tottenham in November 2004, leaving the club consumed by turmoil.
Suffice to say, Spurs fans do not remember the Frenchman well. Santini joined after guiding France to a quarter-final finish at Euro 2004, but only lasted 13 games at White Hart Lane, resigning after a series of disputes with director of football Frank Arnesen.
He had only managed two wins – both 1-0 victories – by the time he left, Spurs were in tatters, but luckily had Martin Jol to come in and transform their fortunes.
Egil Olsen
A catastrophic managerial reign, but a highly-amusing one, unless you have any affection for Wimbledon, Egil Olsen was the eccentric ex-Communist party member who steered the Dons towards the abyss.
Bestriding his technical area in wellington boots, “the mad professor” as the English tabloids called him, became a bit of a laughing stock, a clown who tried to engineer a direct and robust style for Wimbledon only to flounder spectacularly.
He managed only seven wins during his solitary season in England and, after starting with a win, he oversaw a torturous nine game winless sequence which pretty much confirmed that he brought little more than a fascinating personality to the Premier League.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Only the snarling, black-hearted grouches of football wanted to see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fail at Cardiff City. Unfortunately, the grouches got their way.
The Norwegian, whose unerring eye for goal helped Manchester United to six Premier League titles, took over from the sacked Malky Mackay in January 2014 and claimed that he was delighted at the ‘fantastic challenge.’
Sadly, it was a challenge he was ill-prepared for and couldn’t overcome. He began with a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham, but struggled to arrest the slide, following it up with two defeats to the Manchester clubs.
It was a gamble that backfired spectacularly, proven by listless displays and naïve tactics that sent the Bluebirds back to the Championship after finishing the season bottom. Solskjaer didn’t last much longer, departing in September.
Great player mind...
Avram Grant
The Israeli manager – who may or may not like awake at night wondering how Roberto Di Matteo has a Champions League on his CV while he doesn’t – secured the top job at West Ham despite being relegated with Portsmouth a couple of months prior.
That wasn’t the greatest precursor to his reign, but it hardly got much better. Grant started with four consecutive defeats and a draw in August 2011 but, with pressure already mounting, he bought time with a 1-0 win over Spurs before going eight games without getting another.
The Hammers ended rock bottom of the league and he was sacked within minutes of sealing the club’s fate. Grant has proceeded to manage FK Partizan and the Ghana national team, but we’re unlikely to ever see him in the Premier League again.
Felix Magath
Nobody can forget the hilariously madcap reign of the two-time Bundesliga winner at Fulham. Before Magath arrived at Craven Cottage, he had a reputation for being a merciless dictator. After he left, seven disastrous months later, he had a reputation for being a comically inept Premier League manager.
Magath’s doomed tenure started with an acceptable 1-1 draw at West Brom, but soon descended into farce as he lost four out of his next five games, with serious questions being raised over his team selection and tactics.
In retrospect, after the failure of Meulensteen, Magath’s appointment can best be viewed as a last-ditch attempt to keep Fulham in the Premier League that transpired to be one of the most spectacular managerial misfires.
Magath promised to rebuild the Cottagers in the Championship, but was relieved of his duties in September after accruing one point from their opening seven games. Magath can now be found suggesting cheese as treatment for injuries in the Chinese Super League with Shandong Luneng Taishan.
