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The Best New Manager Bounces Across Europe This Season
Blogs

The Best New Manager Bounces Across Europe This Season

The Best New Manager Bounces Across Europe This Season

The new manager bounce - it’s a football mystery. Surrounded by so much intrigue, so much bewilderment, it is a perplexing puzzle of the football world.

And yet, with every passing season, we grow less and less surprised when one actually happens. Though there are so many inexplicable intangibles surrounding the sudden upturn in a team's form, one thing is always constant - the change of the man in the dugout.

This season has been no different. The football management world is always moving with hirings and firings, and by mid-December, relegation-threatened and underperforming teams decided it was time for something to change. This is not to say that all manager replacements are a success - just look at Ruben Amorim’s United.

But this season in particular has seen a number of high profile teams switch managers, which was inevitably followed by well documented success.

So, welcome to Football Park’s comprehensive guide to this season’s best manager switch-ups!

5. Patrick Viera to Genoa - December 2024

We first visit Serie A, which has proven to be one of Europe’s most tightly contested leagues this season. There has been plenty of excitement at both ends of the table, and the title race, relegation battle and the top four spots are yet to be decided.

Genoa have been a Serie A side for all but one season since 2007, and have very much become a part of the furniture in the Italian top flight. That is why their dire form at the start of the season came as such a surprise. Many knew they were certainly not the strongest team in the division, but they had more than enough quality for a mid-table finish.

A former player at the club, manager Alberto Gilardino was seemingly powerless as his side slid all the way down to 20th at the end of October, and although he managed to pick up a win and a draw in his final two games, lifting them out of the relegation zone in the process, it was not enough to save his job.

Patrick Viera was appointed swiftly, and took over with Genoa in 17th. A bedding in period was certainly expected, and fans braced themselves for a slow start to life under the Frenchman. But not so - Viera shifted away from Gilardino’s 4-2-3-1 system, preferring a 4-5-1 to crowd the midfield, and reaped immediate rewards, drawing 3 and winning one in his first four games.

A defeat to current table-toppers Napoli followed (hardly a disaster), and results picked up again, this time winning three of their next five games, raising them to 12th. Though Viera is yet to shock one of the big boys, save for a 0-0 draw against AC Milan, Genoa are now back to doing Genoa things, picking up maximum points in almost every game they would be expected to.

Genoa now sit 13th, and with four games left to play, sit 14 points clear of relegation, meaning they have mathematically secured their Serie A status. Viera has staged a remarkable turnaround at the club, and going into next season, their sights will be set high.

4. John Eustace to Derby County - February 2025

Gaining promotion back to the Championship at the second time of asking in 2024, there were understandable fears that Derby would be in and around the relegation zone come the end of this campaign. Though they were impressive early in the season, eventually, their form dipped, and they slowly dropped down the league.

By mid-February, they sat in 22nd, after a run of 12 league games without a win, and the Ram’s hierarchy had seen enough. Paul Warne, coach of three years, was fired, and in his place came Blackburn Rovers coach John Eustace.

This was seen as a baffling career move from the English coach. Why leave a safe job at promotion-chasing Rovers, for a job that threatened almost certain relegation at the end of the season? Even Derby fans were confused, but quickly, Eustace showed them that there was still hope.

After losing his first game against Middlesbrough, Derby sank to the bottom of the table, and forgive the figure of speech, but the only way was up from there. And up they went - they won their next four games, and in the six games since, they have won two, drawn two, and lost two.

Those two wins came in their two most recent games, and were enough to drag them up to 19th, where they lie one point clear of the drop zone. With one game left of the season, Stoke City are the only side standing in their way, and with the Potters’ also fighting relegation, there is no guarantee that Derby will pick up the necessary win to secure their survival in a game with so much on the line.

However, with John Eustace at the helm, the Rams have shown they are a force to be reckoned with, and they certainly head into this game as favourites.

3. Robbie Keane to Ferencvaros - January 2025

We now take a visit to the Hungarian League, and to reigning champions Ferencvaros. It hasn’t actually been a bad season for the side that has been crowned champions every season since 2019, but what was unusual about their campaign until January was that they hadn’t occupied top spot the entire time.

Accustomed to dominating every other side in the division, Ferencvaros were struggling to assert the same level of supremacy over their rivals, and in mid-December dropped off of the top of the table. While they were able to move top again a couple of weeks later, it didn’t last, and six days into the new year, coach Pascal Jansen decided to jump ship, and was replaced with former Tottenham and Liverpool striker Robbie Keane.

Inexperienced in management, having been appointed only twice, both times for less than a year, there were plenty of reservations about the Irish legend. But with Ferencvaros’ form since his appointment, Keane has dispelled even the harshest of critics.

It was certainly not the smoothest of starts. Of his first 10 games, Keane won just twice, leading to early calls for him to either resign or face the sack. However, in February, a 3-1 win over Fehervar seemed to be a turning point.

Including that win, the champs are 12 games without defeat, and have won 10 of them, form that eventually proved enough to knock Puskas Akademia off top spot as recently as mid-April.

With four games still left to play, there is plenty of scope for Ferencvaros to collapse. But on a superb run of form, and finally playing with confidence under Keane, he has made his side favourites for a seventh consecutive league title.

2. Carlos Corberan to Valencia - December 2024

2024/25 has been one of Valencia’s worst seasons in recent memory. They currently lie 14th in La Liga, and barring a five wins in their remaining five games, as well as seeing a host of rivals lose their fixtures, they are on track for their second lowest finish this century.

But with Carlos Corberan at the helm, five wins in what is left of the season suddenly doesn’t seem beyond the realms of possibility. The Spaniard took over from Ruben Baraja with the club lying 19th, having won just two league games all season. Poached from West Brom in the middle of the season, Corberan’s only goal was to launch Valencia back into mid-table safety.

Since his appointment, the Blanquinegros have undergone a remarkable turnaround, with their current form akin to rivals sides competing for the top four spot. Though his first game in charge ended in defeat, there were mitigating factors, namely the fact that it was against Real Madrid.

Since then, they have lost on just three occasions, with two coming against Barcelona and one to Atletico Madrid, and though they were heavy defeats (7-1 and 5-0 against Barca, and 3-0 against Atletico), they haven’t allowed those score lines to affect them. Outside of those games, they have won nine and drawn six, form that has seen them shoot up the table.

It is their recent form that has been so remarkable. In their last eight games, they have won four, drawn four, and even managed a 2-1 win against Real Madrid, avenging Corberan’s first game in charge.

While European football is off the table, Valencia are now looking to set a precedent ahead of next season. They will want to win as many games as possible to underline why they can be a threat in 2025/26, and with Corberan at the wheel, few would dispute they can be just that.

1. Vitor Pereira to Wolves - December 2024

It was a tight call between Valencia and Wolves for number one on this list - both have seen a miraculous turn in fortunes in recent months, and results have been similar, so it was tricky to find any differentiating criteria. I decided that the tiebreaker would be on recent form.

And my goodness, Wolves have impressed since mid-March. But first, context. At the start of the campaign, Gary O’Niel was in the Wolves dug-out, and after guiding them to 14th in 2024, a number of summer moves had injected the club with positivity, and there were high expectations for the season ahead.

However, when the starter pistol went, the failed to leave the blocks, and didn’t pick up a single league win until, which was against a Southampton side who to this day are still threatening to match Derby’s infamous points haul of 11, the lowest in league history. A win against Fulham followed, but four defeats on the bounce afterward were enough for Gary O’Niel to pack his bags.

In came Vitor Pereira, formerly head coach of FC Porto and Fenerbahce, and his only requirement was to see Wolves escape the drop zone. When he arrived in mid-December, they lay 19th, and at the time, bookies were tipping them as favourites for relegation over Ipswich.

Pereira immediately established a 3-4-2-1 formation at Molineux, moving away from Gary O’Niel’s fairly standard 4-2-3-1 approach. This change saw them pick up a win in his first game, a 3-0 triumph over Leicester, followed by a superb 2-0 win over Man United and a draw to Tottenham.

With seven points in his first three games, Pereira had almost doubled the club's points tally, and fans were already buying into his project. They then lost four on the bounce, but considering three of these came against Newcastle, Chelsea and Arsenal, the Portuguese coach was given a little leeway. And Pereira has since taken full advantage of an easier schedule.

Since the defeat to Arsenal, Wolves have played 11 league games, and have remarkably won eight of them. A number of these wins have been extremely impressive, specifically a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, a 4-2 scoreline against Tottenham, and an away victory of United, completing the double over the Red Devils.

Vitor Pereira’s side have won their last six, and are unbeaten in their last seven, his three at the back formation proving too good for any mid-table side they come across. Matheus Cunha in particular is benefitting from Pereira’s system, netting nine goals and setting up three more since the new coach's appointment.

With Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester’s relegation confirmed, Pereira has met expectations by keeping his side clear of the drop zone. But so much more importantly, he has made Wolves into genuine threats, and has fans reminiscing over their 2018/19 campaign, when they finished seventh the year after promotion from the Championship. Keep an eye out for them next season.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Harry Pascoe

Lead Writer

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