Coaches who changed teams and flopped, destroying their careers

Moyes:

David Moyes was doing well at Everton, and then he got greedy or overestimated his abilities and wanted to fill the big shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. The move proved to be a big disaster for both parties, and Moyes was sacked and his managerial career destroyed.

Mourinho:

Jose Mourinho had had two successful stints at Chelsea and a not so successful stint at Real Madrid. He had come to Chelsea after doing very well at Porto.

Then he joined Manchester United as Manager. The move proved to be a clash of cultures and was disastrous for both parties. After a couple of seasons, Mourinho was let go, and he seemed to be destined for the scrapheap as none of the big teams in any of the European leagues seemed interested in him and he had become a TV pundit. That is, until Tottenham sacked their Manager and, completely from left-field, hired him last week.

Neville:

Gary Neville seemed to be doing okay as England Assistant Manager. Then he decided to join his brother Phil at Valencia, with him as Manager and Phil continuing in his role of Assistant. It seemed all the football gods were against hime, with bad results week in and week out. He was sacked, along with Phil.

Although Phil managed to bounce back as Manager of the England Lionesses, Neville’s career is finished, and he has reinvented himself as a TV pundit.

Queroz:

Carlos Queroz had bounced around various coaching positions, particularly in Africa, and then he landed a plum position as Assistant to Sir Alex at United. And things seemed to be going well, and he seemed to have earned respect in his quiet background role to the Scot. That is, until his ambition got the better of him and he accepted a position as Manager of Real Madrid. He failed to deliver and he was sacked.

He returned to Man U as an assistant. He is still a manager, with his current position managing the national team of Colombia after a lengthy stint coaching Iran, but a big position in Europe seems out of the question for now.

Rodgers:

Brendan Rodgers had done well in Wales, and he got ambitious and accepted the role of Manager of Liverpool. He did okay, including coming very close in the Premier League in one season, but had failed to deliver a trophy for the club. He was sacked.

However, Rodgers made a very smart choice. He went to a big team in a minor league, becoming Celtic Manager. He distinguished himself in the role, and because he wasn’t managing in the Premier League, he retained the love of the Liverpool faithful.

He has bounced back into the Premier League, joining Leicester City as Manager for the 2019/20 season. Again, this was a smart decision, joining a mid-tier team instead of over-ambition, and so far, it is a fairy tale return.

Lopetegui:

Julen Lopetegui was doing well managing the Spanish national team, and then he decided to take up the role of Manager of Real Madrid. He was promptly sacked by the Spanish FA and lost the opportunity to manage Spain at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

His stint at Real proved a disaster, and he was sacked without completing a season. He is now the manager of Sevilla.

In the meantime, his assistant with the national team, Real great Fernando Hiero stepped into his shoes as national team Manager and took Spain to the World Cup, with disastrous consequences for both. At the end of Spain’s brief World Cup run he resigned or was sacked and has since also adopted a low profile.

Khompela:

Steve Khompela had done reasonably well managing lower level teams in the South African Premier Soccer League, most notably with Bloemfontein Celtic and Maritzburg United. It was also not a disadvantage that he was a beloved former captain of Bafana Bafana, the South African national team.

He became greedy and accepted the position of Coach of one of South Africa’s most successful teams, and the most supported sporting brand, Kaizer Chiefs. He unfortunately failed to deliver any trophies and was sacked after two or three seasons. He has, however, maintained his coaching career by returning to coaching lower level teams.