The clubs without managers and the bosses who’d suit them

Never before has the Premier League managerial merry-go-round span at quite the current rate of revolutions.

For the first time in the last three decades of top-flight English football, there have been as many as 13 managerial departures during the season.

Within a matter of hours on Sunday night, both Leicester City and Chelsea parted company with Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter respectively. Antonio Conte had mentally checked out months earlier but Tottenham only got around to firing the Italian coach in late March.

None of those three clubs have managed to fill their vacant hot seat. Let’s give them a helping hand.

The sh*thouse – Diego Simeone

Look, this just isn’t going to happen. But Premier League heritage deserves a Diego Simeone stint at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are synonymous with sh*thousery, but that’s when they’re at their absolute best.

To successfully lead the Blues to glory, your ego’s got to be Nero-like and those cajones have got to be huge. Supporters fell in love with the dark arts of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, no matter how grating their style became. They just want to win.

Any manager that’s tried to play on the front foot and implement “progressive and modern ideals” generally hasn’t lasted long at Stamford Bridge. Think Maurizio Sarri, Graham Potter and, to a certain extent, Thomas Tuchel.

We need a dislikable Chelsea back in the Premier League. Give ’em El Cholo.

The ‘project’ – Julian Nagelsmann

The youthful German is the early frontrunner for the job following his harsh sacking from Bayern Munich. Nagelsmann has long been regarded as one of the most exciting young coaches around, and his stint in Bavaria certainly won’t damage his reputation beyond repair – far from it.

Nagelsmann evolved Hoffenheim into the most watchable team in the Bundesliga during his first senior coaching job and guided RB Leipzig to the Champions League semi-finals in 2020. He’s a coach that’s achieved so much without winning a heap of silverware.

His high-octane style without the ball is complemented by a complex approach in possession that could take Chelsea to remarkable heights should the Blues add a couple of crucial elements to their starting XI.

Nagelsmann’s got the talent and ego to succeed at Stamford Bridge.

The name – Luis Enrique

The Spaniard is among the candidates the Blues are said to be considering, and he’s the big name you’d typically associate with the Chelsea job.

His style is easy on the eye, but perhaps atypical of the most ruthless Blues outfits of yesteryear. Moreover, there’s no doubt the club would need to sign a legitimate number nine to ensure the control Enrique’s framework facilitates garners tangible reward. His Spain side were arguably the most impressive team at Euro 2020, but they faltered at the World Cup due to their work in the final third.

The former Barcelona boss hasn’t managed at club level since 2017, but he’s spoken of his desire to manage in the Premier League.

The dream – Roberto De Zerbi

This is a broken football club. Tottenham need a manager who, given time, will be able to oversee a culture shift in north London, much like Mikel Arteta’s done down the road.

It took the Spaniard almost three years to return Arsenal to a respectable level, but he was aided by an early FA Cup win and the absence of fans when the going got tough. Nevertheless, Tottenham supporters have got to show patience with their new boss.

While De Zerbi has perhaps not yet proven himself as a ‘project’ manager as such, his work at Sassuolo and now Brighton depicts the good feeling his football can harbour at a football club. He’s an exceptional coach, and Tottenham would be silly not to target him in the summer.

He, along with Nagelsmann (who now looks unlikely), surely have to be considered the club’s primary targets.

The nostalgia – Mauricio Pochettino

Sadly, there’s a developing feeling that the fanbase won’t be happy until the adored Argentine is given another shot to oversee the “painful rebuild” he spoke about in 2019. His return would be an admission of failure on Levy’s behalf, but Fabio Paratici’s current absence renders a nostalgic comeback more likely.

Poch would return to north London in a heartbeat, and it may be the move Levy has to make to get a large section of the fanbase back onside.

The Argentine took Spurs to levels unseen in N17 for decades, but there’s certainly no guarantee he’ll be able to work his magic a second time around. How often are such nostalgic returns actually successful?

The Man Utd blueprint – Arne Slot

Man Utd’s decision to back a project and appoint Erik ten Hag has paid off – even if the Red Devils haven’t exactly been in the best of form since their Carabao Cup triumph.

Ten Hag made a name for himself at Ajax, where he lifted three Eredivisie titles and was an impossible Lucas Moura hat-trick away from reaching the Champions League final in 2019.

Spurs could follow United’s lead by appointing a Dutch coach who’s starring in his homeland. Slot’s Feyenoord have impressed in Europe under his tutelage and are on the cusp of winning their first league title since 2016/17. The Dutchman’s prestige is soaring, and he’s now regarded right alongside Ten Hag as the brightest coaching talent the Netherlands has to offer.

His high-pressing style is one that supporters are craving, and the 44-year-old could be the gamble Levy and Tottenham need to make.

The obvious – Graham Potter

Chelsea ultimately forked out around £50m for seven Premier League wins in six months under Potter. Theoretically, Leicester could get that haul – which would be far more beneficial for the relegation-scrapping Foxes – for free as the 47-year-old was expensively released on the same night as Rodgers.

90min understands that initial talks between Potter and Leicester have hit a wall, but the former Brighton boss could potentially dust off his roll neck next season if the Foxes opt for a firefighter to preserve their Premier League status for the remainder of the current campaign.

The exciting but somewhat unproven – Ange Postecoglou

Rodgers’ reign may have ended with the club mired in the relegation zone, but the former Celtic manager oversaw Leicester’s longest sustained period of success. After the overall tenure of Rodgers, the (King) powers that be in the east Midlands may be tempted to direct their managerial search back towards Glasgow.

Ange Postecoglou is on course to inspire Celtic to the heights Rodgers hit during his time north of the border playing arguably even more exciting football. However, the high-pressing, free-flowing, carousel of chaos at Celtic Park has been so successful that it will take plenty of persuading to sneak Postecoglou over Hadrian’s Wall.

The next best thing – Michael Carrick

After learning off one of the great managerial minds of his time in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Carrick took the Middlesbrough job last October and is poised to lead the club back into the play-offs.

Much of Leicester’s recent success has been predicated on snapping up the next best thing on the pitch, why not replicate the approach in their hunt for a manager?

Southampton’s Operations and Sustainability Manager Caroline Carlin and LWFC supporters club founder Jo Goodall join Shebahn Aherne to have football’s climate conversation about what football clubs are doing to reduce their carbon footprint. Pledgeball’s Heather Ashworth also gives an update on the Pledgeball League table. If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!