Success is one unique measure that it is often used in the world of football, to judge the worth and how good coaches are on the job when managing a club.
The two UEFA competitions, the Champions League and the Europa League were the last competitions in Europe that finally draw the curtain on the weird and very long 2019-20 football calendar due to the pandemic this season.
In the midst of it, there are few coaches whose future depends solely on the outcome of their success in their respective leagues, and perhaps in Europe.
More often than not, when top clubs invest a lot of money into their team, they expect the coach in charge to bring success to the club. Whether in the domestic league or in European competitions which sometimes could be very difficult to achieve for coaches.
When a manager is successful while managing a team, he tends to get all the accolades for a job well done. If things went sour and the manager couldn’t achieve the main goal of bringing success to the club, he gets fired and look elsewhere for a new managerial job.
Today, we take a look at the top five coaches whose future could depend on their success this season.
Rudi Garcia – (Manager, Olympique Lyonnais)
Garcia’s appointment as the manager of Lyon came as a big surprise to many in the French Ligue 1 and specifically the fans of the club when he was appointed the head coach of the club, following the sacking of Sylvinho who only managed the French team for just five months in the dugout.
In all honesty, no fans of Lyon would have expected the former Marseille’s gaffer to be in charge of their darling team, due to what he said in 2018.
Saying that Lyon got preferential treatment from referees, amid a battle between the two clubs for Champions League qualification, as such the President of the club Michel Aulas blasted him as “Arrogant”.
Since he stepped down at the Orange Vélodrome, to take over the managerial position at Lyon, Garcia has really done a decent work compared to what former manager Sylvinho did with the team, although he couldn’t win the French Ligue 1.
That could perhaps be some of the yardsticks, the club hierarchy could use in judging his work with Les Gones this season. However, his team started the new season on a good note, it now depends on how far they could go once they get into the heated moment of the season.
Thomas Tuchel – (Manager, Paris Saint Germain)
When the Ligue 1 Champions show Unai Emery the exit door despite winning the league, it’s was evident that what they wanted was to win the Champions League. Perhaps that’s why they’ve been spending hugely in the transfer market to make the team a formidable side in France and in Europe.
Following the exit of the Spaniard, the french side appointed Thomas Tuchel to take over the managerial role. And since the appointment of the German in 2018, he has won the Ligue 1 back to back, as well as this year’s French cup and league cup.
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To put the icing on the cake, Tuchel was able to break the Champions League quarter-final’s jinx for Paris Saint Germain, and also took them to the final of the competition for the first time in the history of the club against German champions Bayern Munich.
Following defeat to Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League, Tuchel’s future at PSG is reportedly in serious doubt. As reports by top journalists have it that the German gaffer might lose his job, with the Paris club looking in the direction of former AC Milan and Juventus manager Max Allegri as the next manager.
Although the Ligue 1 just kick-start, it’s left to be seen if Tuchel would still be the manager to take Paris Saint Germain through the new season, having missed out on the European title.
Antonio Conte – (Manager, Inter Milan)
Had it been Inter Milan took their chances in the 2019-20 Seria A campaign and not give their fans a hot and cold kind performance, perhaps the ‘Old Lady’ wouldn’t have been crowned champions of Italy.
Before the end of the season, Conte has been very vocal about how the club’s board hasn’t been protecting his players, which in one way or the other hasn’t gone down well with the boards, which sprung up the talk about his future at the San Siro looks uncertain.
According to rumors, Inter Milan are said to also be in talks with Allegri to replace Conte. As it stands, logically Conte would still be in charge of the Nerazzurri going forward. But with the frustration behind the scenes at Inter Milan, coupled with their recent defeat to Sevilla in the Europa League final, the management could be looking to let Conte leave the club if he fails to achieve success this season.
Diego Simeone – (Manager, Atletico Madrid)
Sometimes around July Los Rojiblancos manager made it clear that he coaches for his players and not those in the stands. El Cholo’ came under a lot of criticism from the fans and was even whistled at the Wanda Metropolitano due to the inconsistent performances of his team during the 2019-20 season.
Atletico season was rather a turbulent one, the last few months before the end of the La Liga campaign, they were able to up their performances and also booked their place in the upcoming 2020-21 UEFA competitions.
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Meanwhile, their loss in the Champions League against Leipzig has seen a lot of Atletico Madrid fans doubt Simoene’s capabilities if truly he’s the man to lead them into winning the Champions League, despite having taken them to two finals.
Without doubt, since Simeone took over the Madrid based side, he has taken the club to new heights where they now sit amongst the finest European clubs in world football.
However, their exit in the champions league did raise a lot of questions on his future, but then we can only wait to see how things would pan out when the new season begins.
Steve Bruce – (Manager, Newcastle)
The ‘Magpies has been a subject of a takeover bid from PCP Capital Partners, who have the strong backing of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. But since the end of the 2019-20 Premier League campaign, the talk of the takeover bid has died a natural death, perhaps we might get to see another set of billionaires coming back to take over the club from Mike Ashley.
Following the exit of Rafael Benitez, the Magpies supporters were extremely furious about the fact that Mike Ashley couldn’t tie the Spaniard gaffer to a new contract, and also guarantee him gigantic transfer money to bring in good players.
As such the former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager had to leave after his contract expires, which led to the appointment of Steve Bruce.
Bruce’s reign at Newcastle so far may not have been like that of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, or a Pep Guardiola at City. However, since he took the role at the Tyneside club, he has done relatively well to keep the team in topflight football fighting painstakingly to save the club.
As the new 2020-21 begins on September 12, a lot would be expected from Bruce, both from the fans and the club hierarchy, as his job is very much under threat.
