IT’S that time of year in the Premier League.
Despite the cold weather, the heat on the managers could not be more intense as we head into the hectic Christmas-New Year period.
Games come thick and fast and a few bad results could see some trigger-happy owners taking aim.
With that in mind, there are a number of top managers who are without a job who could be snapped up as replacements.
They include Champions League and Premier League title winners.
Here, we take a look at 10 notable out of work bosses who a club could turn to…
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Graham Potter
Graham Potter has been without a club since being sacked by Chelsea in April after having the worst win rate of any permanent manager in the club’s history.
However, Potter has already proven himself capable of leading a project forward, with his time at Ostersunds and Brighton clear examples of this.
And with Chelsea still in disarray long after his exit, his time at Stamford Bridge is not looking quite so bad.
Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte left Tottenham in March of this year after an acrimonious fallout with the club.
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However, multiple league titles in Italy and a Premier League in England with Chelsea show the Italian tactician is more than capable of picking up the pieces somewhere.
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Julen Lopetegui
Julen Lopetegui is one of the most recent additions to the list, having walked out on Wolves in August over frustration with the club’s lack of spending to try and stay in the top flight.
Despite less than impressive spells at Real Madrid and Spain, he showed his tactical nous by helping Wolves avoid the drop last season and guiding Sevilla to the Europa League in 2020.
Ruud van Nistelrooy
A new addition to the senior managerial game generally, Manchester United icon Ruud van Nistelrooy managed PSV to an impressive Eredivisie season last year while also winning two trophies en route.
However, he walked out on the club with one game of the season to go citing a lack of support from the board.
Andre Villas-Boas
Tottenham and Chelsea fans will both remember Andre Villas-Boas following his less-than-impressive spells in England.
His Marseille stint was far more successful though, guiding them into the Champions League for the first time in six years and beating Paris Saint-Germain for the first time in nine, though differences in transfer strategy ultimately saw him resign in 2021.
Joachim Low
Joachim Low has been without a job since leaving the German national team in 2021.
He has spent 15 years at the helm, lifting football’s ultimate prize – the World Cup – in 2014 and the Uefa Confederations Cup in 2017.
Ralph Hassenhuttl
A manager cut some from the same cloth as Jurgen Klopp who favours the “Gegenpressing” style of football, Ralph Hassenhuttl had impressive spells in Germany‘s lower tiers before guiding RB Leipzig to second place in their first-ever Bundesliga season.
A nearly five-year spell at Southampton would follow, where he would help the Saints avoid Premier League relegation despite the club’s best players being poached without being properly replaced before he was sacked in November 2022.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been without a job since his sacking at Man Utd in late 2021.
A second-place finish in the league and making it to the Europa League final the season before counted for nothing as he was sacked after the club’s form fell off a cliff.
Those achievements in light of United’s recent fall from grace are looking all the more impressive however.
Hansi Flick
Hansi Flick has had a short but sweet club managerial career at the top of football, winning the Treble in 2020 for just the second time in Bayern Munich’s history.
However, after leaving them for the German national team as Low’s successor, Flick made history by becoming the first-ever boss to be sacked from the position.
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Zinedine Zidane
Having won the Champions League an unprecedented three times in a row with Real Madrid, it beggars belief how Zinedine Zidane has not returned to management yet despite heavy links.
Between 2016 and 2021 – which accompanied a short break – Zidane won three Champions League titles and two LaLiga titles but he has recently hinted at his possible return, telling RMC Sport in October: “I will be back soon. Wait, wait a little bit.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
