Often, the most achieved Premier League managers become national icons. We remember them and all their achievements, their glories, and everything they did for their teams—even if we don’t support their teams. But while we revere the greats, we don’t forget about those who didn’t have such a good performance in their leadership roles.
Today, we’re going to look at five of the most infamous Premier League managers from over the years.
1. Tony Adams
Adams even today is still widely considered one of the best players of the English Premier League, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to have the same success as a manager. After Harry Redknapp left Portsmouth, Adams was appointed as caretaker manager of the club in October of 2008. He wouldn’t even last a full season, as he was sacked in February of the following year.
In a run of 16 games for the team, he managed to secure only two victories, picking up only ten points. At the time, betting on him or his team was high risk and the bookmakers at Topbettingsites.ie offered odds as high as 100/1 on Portsmouth. If only for this stint alone, Tony Adams, though a great player, is considered one of the most infamous Premier League managers. That said, he currently coaches in Azerbaijan, and no doubt has every chance of building on his managerial career in the future.
2. Iain Dowie
Dowie didn’t start out managing a Premier League team. When he was first made manager of Crystal Palace in 2003, he had a very promising start. He managed to lead Palace to enough victories that they were promoted to the Premier League from League One. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep up the momentum, and the team was once again relegated during their first season in the Premier League.
Thereafter, he couldn’t manage to keep the teams he managed in the Premier League for long. He was sacked by Charlton and Hull City after consistent strings of poor performances, and ultimately is remembered as one of the least successful managers of the Premier League.
3. Paul Ince
Another great player on the pitch, Paul Ince had high hopes of leading teams to victory as a manager. However, once again, he showed us that being a great player doesn’t mean you can always be a great manager. At a total of 177 days in the position, he was one of the shortest-lived managers in the League’s history.
He managed Blackburn Rovers for a total of 17 games, during which he was able to bring home only three victories. At the end of 2008, he was sacked as the team’s manager, and has unfortunately never been able to secure a managership since.
4. Paul Sturrock
Southampton were doing well and had begun making a real name for themselves in the years leading up to 2004. In March of that year, Paul Sturrock took over from Gordon Strachan—without any experience in European leagues. His performance dropped after a promising start, winning three of his first four games—but then going on to lose seven of the following nine with the team.
Many felt his sacking was somewhat unfair, as he had only just secured victory against Blackburn at the beginning of the ’04-’05 season. At the time, even some fans were still patient and felt he had at the very least one more game to prove his worth.
Unfortunately, though, the response wasn’t enough, and he was removed as leader of the team in 2005. It may well be that Sturrock simply wasn’t given the chance to prove himself, but unfortunately, he is now remembered as an unsuccessful manager.
5. Sammy Lee
A respected midfielder for the Liverpool team, Sammy Lee has had a longer career as a manager or assistant manager of a couple of teams. He replaced Allardyce as the manager of Bolton in 2007, and as Lee was his assistant at the time, he was appointed manager of the team. A fan favourite, he unfortunately wasn’t able to gain much success during his time as manager.
In eleven games for the team, he managed to bring home only a single victory. He was sacked, though he did enjoy continued popular support from the fans, who named him “Little Sam”. Today, he is well regarded in assistant manager positions, but he is nonetheless remembered as a poorly performing Premier League manager. He has not since taken up a job as a full manager, and unfortunately is still more widely remembered for his lacklustre performance as Bolton’s manager.
Any manager is likely to have their ups and downs, then, but unfortunately, we only really have the negative to remember when it comes to these managers. Many of them were outstanding players on the pitch, but they just couldn’t bring that performance to bear in the manager’s position. After all, it’s not always easy to go from one to the other.
