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There are a large number of talented coaches available for work at present
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Each season sees a high turnover of managers in the Premier League
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These ten will surely be on many club’s wish-lists in the months ahead
Being a football manager is a dream job for many sports betting fans worldwide. Even the best in the business don’t have much job security, though, with clubs becoming more and more trigger-happy over the last couple of decades.
Failure can be lucrative in football management with whopping severance packages for the highest-paid managers. Being out of work for months or even years is financially viable for the biggest names, allowing them to wait for the right opportunity to come up.
Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich will both be looking for new managers at the end of the 2023-24 season. Other appealing vacancies are bound to open up. Here are the best football managers out of work as of February 2024…
Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte is one of the most successful managers of the modern era, winning four Serie A titles and a Premier League. Conte, too, has been a difficult man to work with throughout his career, with frequent conflicts with club boards.
The debacle at Tottenham was Conte’s last job. That followed a clash with Inter’s hierarchy over player recruitment, which had also been an issue in the second season of his tumultuous Chelsea tenure.
Conte is a proven winner, yet it’s clearly a risk bringing him in. Neither Liverpool nor Bayern are going to go down that route.
Zinedine Zidane
Despite leading Real Madrid to three Champions League wins and two La Liga titles, it’s a stretch to call Zinedine Zidane one of the greatest football managers of all-time.
Zidane has excelled as a man manager of star-studded squads, and exercised tactical pragmatism in the biggest games.
While the former Ballon d’Or winner has been linked with the Juventus and Manchester United jobs in the past, it remains to be seen if he will take the risk of managing elsewhere. The France job seems made for him.
Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest managers in Premier League history. Very few have conquered four of Europe’s biggest leagues like Mourinho has done, yet his career path has taken a downturn in recent years.
He has still delivered silverware at every club (with the exception of Spurs), but Mourinho’s winning rate has declined in each of his last four jobs.
No longer a candidate for the biggest clubs, it will be interesting to see where the self-branded Special One lands next.
Hansi Flick
The Germany job was too good to turn down for Hansi Flick, even after consecutive league titles with Bayern Munich, a Champions League win and being named European Coach of the Year.
A group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup and further poor results saw Flick become the first Nationalelf manager to get sacked.
Rumours for Flick’s next job have been focused on Barcelona after Xavi announced his plans to leave the club at the end of the season.
Steve Cooper
Highly regarded after guiding Nottingham Forest back to the Premier League, Steve Cooper is bound to be a man in demand this summer.
Cooper was heavily linked with the Crystal Palace job, but the Eagles opted to appoint Oliver Glasner.
His job at Forest was made more difficult by their chaotic transfer policy after earning promotion.
Cooper’s managerial credentials haven’t taken much of hit from how his tenure at the City Ground ended – several clubs will come calling in the offseason.
Graham Potter
Like others who have failed in their first job at a top club, Graham Potter is in a weird spot in his career.
Similar to Cooper, Potter’s chances of success at Chelsea were undermined by bizarre and disorganised recruitment. The Blues did not give him the time he needed.
Potter needs a team to invest in the wider project. Brighton were a great fit for him. Could Newcastle be a good landing spot if they choose to move on from Eddie Howe? Or is Potter an ideal successor to Gareth Southgate?
Joachim Löw
In charge of Germany from 2006 until 2021, Joachim Löw is the longest-serving manager in Die Mannschaft history. Löw led Germany to glory at the 2014 World Cup, and was twice named German Football Man of the Year.
His club management record is hardly spectacular, though. Löw has not managed a club team since 2004.
The game has changed drastically since then, and his most high-profile job was with Stuttgart in the 1990s. At 64 years old, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Löw steers clear of club management.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Ole Gunnar Solskjær might not have reignited the glory days at Manchester United, but he did bring much-needed stability. For all his shortcomings, the Norwegian finished with a win rate only bettered by Erik ten Hag, Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho.
Solskjær has been rumoured as a possible successor to Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
His failings in the biggest games don’t appear to have deterred FC Hollywood, but it would be a shock to see Bayern go with Solskjær when there are so many other excellent candidates on the market.
Julen Lopetegui
Julen Lopetegui prefers another crack at the Premier League. Lopetegui’s last job was with Wolves, where he left after frustrations at financial restrictions, which he felt hampered his long-term project.
Having previously managed Real Madrid, Sevilla, Porto and Spain, Lopetegui is no stranger to the big jobs. His record leaves plenty to be desired, however, and it would be very surprising if a top eight club hired him.
André Villas-Boas
Out of management since early 2021, it’s unclear if André Villas-Boas will return to club management. After leading Marseille to a second-place finish, Villas-Boas departed after public criticism of the club’s recruitment efforts.
His spells with Chelsea and Tottenham were disappointing after his spectacular achievements with Porto.
Perhaps there’s a gap between the teams that would gamble on Villas-Boas and the jobs he’d be willing to accept – Champions League teams are going to look elsewhere, and would the former Zenit manager consider taking on a mid-table job?
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
