10 managers sacked from major European clubs this season

Becoming a manager in the major European teams is already strenuous enough, but keeping the role is on another level. Several managers have already been sacked following results not aligning with preseason expectations and Tottenham’s Antonio Conte risk being the latest casualty after the team’s exit from Champions League last week. Webster Nyandika takes a look at the managers who  a look at who they are and who could be next:

1. Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea)

An educated guess would have led you to this result if you saw their preseason form. After guiding Chelsea to the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League title, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in one season, Tuchel got sacked on September 7 after their 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the UCL. After spending 310 million dollars this past summer on transfers, Tuchel’s tactics just didn’t have the same effect. His midfield lacked control, his attackers couldn’t break down low blocks and his defenders were leaky too often despite running three central defenders and two wingbacks. Chelsea hired Brighton & Hove Albion’s Graham Potter as the full-time replacement, but backing a manager with that amount of funds only to move on within a week was an inauspicious decision at best.

2. Ralph Hasenhüttl (Southampton)

Southampton parted ways with Hasenhüttl on Nov. 6 and appointed Nathan Jones a few days after. Hasenhüttl came into the job in 2018 but never finished higher than 11th, which occurred in the 2019-2020 campaign. The Saints are currently in the relegation zone with a 3-3-8 win-draw-loss record (12 points) after losing 4-1 at home to Newcastle. Whichever manager comes in to replace the Austrian will take charge of the youngest average age starting XI in the league.

3. Peter Bosz (Olympique Lyon)

Peter Bosz became the first Ligue 1 coach of the season to be sacked on October 9 after a bad start to the season. He was replaced by former PSG coach Laurent Blanc. Bosz was followed to days later by Michel Der Zakarian and Jean-Marc Furlan, who left Brest and Auxerre respectively.

The flurry of Ligue 1 coaches being sacked in October continued shortly after as Oscar Garcia was booted by Reims and Oliver Dall’Oglio by Montpellier.

Gerard Baticle resigned on November 4 with Angers bottom of Ligue 1. He was replaced by Abdel Bouhazama, who then resigned on March 7.

Bruno Irles became the last Ligue 1 manager to go before the World Cup when he was saked by Troyes on November 8. Irles was replaced by Patrick Kisnorbo.

January 9 was a bad day for managers in Ligue 1 as two coaches got the chop. Julien Stephan was sacked with Strasbourg struggling in penultimate place, while Lucien Favre also was axed with Nice underperforming in the middle of the table.

4. Nathan Jones (Southampton)

There are now two sacked managers in one season for the Saints. Jones’ position had come under review following complaints from senior members of the Southampton squad, and the Saints’ 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton despite leading 1-0 with Wolves having 10 men sealed the deal. Southampton will be looking for a third manager on the season now.

5. Frank Lampard (Everton)

The Toffees started the season with solid defensive numbers and hovered around the middle of the park in the standings, but it eventually proved unsustainable. Everton lacked cohesiveness, chemistry and balance, and now the club is in a tough relegation fight for the second season running. After 20 games, Lampard’s team mustered a 3-6-11 win-draw-loss record and are in 19th place after his sacking. Sean Dyche took over and led the team to a tight 1-0 home win against Arsenal in his first game.

6. Domenico Tedesco (RB Leipzig)

Domenico Tedesco was the first Bundesliga manager to be sacked on September 7 after Leipzig won only one of their first five games of the league season, also losing their opening Champions League match to Shakhtar. He was replaced by Marco Rose.

He was followed by Thomas Reis, who was relieved of his duties by Bochum with the team losing six out of six Bundesliga games to start the season. Reis was permanently replaced by former Vitesse Arnhem coach Thomas Letsch.

The next coach to go was on October 5 as Gerardo Seoane was sacked by struggling Bayer Leverkusen and replaced by former midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Pellegrino Matarazzo was the next to get axed on October 10 by Stuttgart. He was eventually replaced by Bruno Labbadia on December 5. October proved to be a bad month for sackings in Germany as Frank Kramer was handed his marching orders on October 19 with Schalke in penultimate place. Thomas Reis took his place. It was another four months until the next Bundesliga coach was sacked as Andre Breitenreiter was axed by Hoffenheim on February 6.

Five Bundesliga managers were sacked in the 2021-22 season, including Mark Van Bommel and Jesse Marsch.

7. Jesse Marsch (Leeds)

After the club fell to Nottingham Forest 1-0, the club confirmed the sacking of Marsch a day later. They accumulated 18 points in 20 games on a 4-6-10 win-draw-loss record and are in the relegation fight for the second straight season. Spaniard Javi Gracia was tapped as the replacement on February 21.

8. Steven Gerrard (Aston Villa)

Like Wolves, Aston Villa were expected to push for a top-10 finish following their recruitment in the last few transfer windows. However, Gerrard’s uninspiring tactics, player positioning and captain decisions have seen a team comprising Philippe Coutinho, Emiliano Buendia, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey and more also fighting to stay floating in the Prem. Next for the Villans is building under new head coach Unai Emery, who formerly managed Arsenal from 2018-2019.

9. Scott Parker (Bournemouth)

Bournemouth sacked Parker on August 30, shortly after they had been drubbed 9-0 by Liverpool on the road. As one of the newly promoted teams from the EFL Championship into England’s top flight, Parker had been adamant to have the board release more funds to sign more quality players to survive the league, but that didn’t happen. Gary O’Neil is the current interim coach and the squad has picked up form, but only time will tell whether that’s just a purple patch or a promising building block.

10. Bruno Lage (Wolves)

About a month later came Lage of Wolves, who was sacked on October 2 after a 2-0 road loss to West Ham. Wolves were expected to be fighting for another top-10 spot in the table, but their lack of a quality ball-striking No. 9 and clinical wingers had – and still has – them battling to stay above the red zone. Julen Lopetegui, a former Sevilla and Real Madrid manager, came in to replace Lage.