Why Promising Managers are Killing Their Careers Before They’ve Really Started

How Promising Managers are Killing Their Careers Before They've Even Really Started

Good things come to those who wait. That’s a sentiment that most young managers could do with remembering these days.

This season alone, we’ve seen Xabi Alonso (44) sacked by Real Madrid, Ruben Amorim (41) dismissed by Manchester United and Enzo Maresca (46) resign from his post at Chelsea.

All of the above mentioned were young managers who had established themselves by winning silverware at comparatively smaller clubs (Leverkusen, Sporting and Leicester respectively), before jumping at the first opportunity to take charge of elite mega-clubs.

As you can imagine, that’s a pretty big step up to be making at such a young age, and none of them were allowed to stay in their roles for longer than 18 months, with Alonso barely managing six.

It’s clear that the system of throwing inexperienced managers into the deep end isn’t working, so why are clubs continuing to try their luck, and why do managers keep accepting these potentially career-killing jobs?

Another Pep Influence

It’s fair to suggest that Pep Guardiola has been one of the most influential football managers ever (whether for better or for worse is its own debate), and it seems as though his managerial journey has been just one of many success stories that the rest of the world has been trying to repeat since.

Chosen to lead Barcelona at the age of just 37, Pep started his managerial career as he meant to go on, shocking the world by winning the treble in his first season, with six trophies coming his way throughout 2009.

An impressive feat for a manager of any age, such a level of achievement in his first professional job was almost unfathomable, and we’re all well aware of his ability to maintain such high standards in the years since.

It’s important to consider Jose Mourinho in this conversation as well, who became a world beater with Porto and wildly successful at Chelsea in the early stages of his own managerial journey.

Some of the biggest clubs in football seem to be hooked on the idea of replicating Pep’s success with a young, fresh manager, with many opting to copy Barcelona completely by opting for club legends at the dawn of their new careers.

Even their arch rivals Real Madrid decided that, instead of learning from the Alonso mis-step, they would offer the job to Alvaro Arbeloa, yet another ex-player but this time with even less experience than his predecessor.

There’s a litany of examples I could throw at you here, including Frank Lampard at Chelsea and Ole Gunnar Solkjaer at Man United, but finding one who has actually been successful is concerningly difficult.

Is It Really That Common?

If we’re talking strictly about young managers taking the biggest jobs at the start of their careers, then there’s plenty of examples who have already been mentioned, so I’ll avoid boring you with any more.

What I’ll bore you with instead is managers who aren’t exactly young, but are certainly too inexperienced to be taking the jobs that they have.

A prime example of this would be a man who has been making headlines all season, and was dismissed from his job months later than he should’ve been. Of course, it’s Thomas Frank.

Now I mean no disrespect to Frank, I think he’s a brilliant manager who could still have a very bright career, and he deserves massive credit for the job that he did at Brentford. That said, his time at Tottenham was absolutely disastrous, a complete car-crash from start to finish, like trying to fight fire with… well, nothing.

How Thomas Frank's reign as @SpursOfficial boss compares to his predecessors 👇 pic.twitter.com/AuQuc4aOsC

— Premier League (@premierleague) February 11, 2026

His long stint at Brentford proved the potential that he possesses to transform teams when given time and backing, but he simply wasn’t ready for a job like Spurs. He jumped from a side that had no major ambitions and were focused on long-term health (even when they were in the Championship they weren’t seen as title favourites) to a club that demanded short-term results through injury crises following one of their worst domestic seasons ever.

Had he been more patient and managed for a few years longer, perhaps at a slightly larger club than Brentford where he could gauge how to lead under higher expectations, then he’d have been prepared to step into the Spurs role and enjoy success.

It’s a story we’ve seen regularly in the Premier League. Graham Potter turned Brighton into one of the most exciting young sides in Europe, but stunk it up at Chelsea (that’s three managers we’ve discussed now from Chelsea alone – good luck Liam Rosenior…), while Nuno Esporito Santo earned a glowing reputation for himself at Wolves before embarrassing himself at Spurs (another one for them as well).

Admittedly, Nuno did well in the Nottingham Forest job and could miraculously keep West Ham up this season, but his time at Spurs certainly damaged his short-term prospects coming out of that job.

There’s a few anomalies, as there is in any pattern, with one of which being Mikel Arteta, who came into the Arsenal job as a young, experienced ex-player and is still leading them now. It’s not been an especially trophy-dense period, but they have an opportunity to change that this season.

An Unbreakable Habit?

It’s nice to think that clubs and managers alike, particularly in the Premier League, are going to learn from their lessons and realise that inexperienced managers often don’t translate well into elite clubs.

With Chelsea having brought in 41-year old Liam Rosenior, who had only permanently managed Hull and Strasbourg prior to his appointment, to replace Maresca, it looks like they aren’t learning, but Chelsea are becoming adept at making dreadful decisions under Todd Boehly and BlueCo.

There’s an exciting amount of promising managers, some right at the start of their careers and some a little older, that are likely to be approached by elite clubs this summer, and I really hope that they don’t get ahead of themselves, instead opting to take jobs that are a slight step-up from where they are now, but nothing ridiculous.

Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner and Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth are two that are likely to be searching for pastures new, and will hopefully consider strong clubs in Europe that won’t be anchored by the same pressure as a job at a top-six Prem club would.

🔴 ALERT | Manchester United manager candidates this summer:

• Mauricio Pochettino
• Julian Nagelsmann
• Oliver Glasner
• Marco Silva
• Andoni Iraola

[ via @JacobsBen ] pic.twitter.com/tHlupsl2bW

— SportsDeeva (@Blesing_Andrew) February 13, 2026

Fabian Hurzeler is another Premier League manager that is likely to be courted by a different club, while Cesc Fabregas has garnered an exceptional amount of admiration for the work he has done in Italy with Como.

Even Thomas Frank should avoid taking a punt on such a massive job, and instead opt for a Bundesliga club like Leverkusen or Frankfurt (consider this an early prediction on my part).

Such an influx of young managerial talent needs to be nurtured for the future of the game, and hurling them into the biggest jobs is proving damaging for the careers of so many, so it’s gravely important that clubs consider their options more wisely, and managers demonstrate a little more patience when deciding who they want to lead next.