The 10 worst managerial tenures in Premier League history - including ex-Tottenham and Aston Villa bosses

Frank Lampard’s return to Chelsea has not gone well. This is what is known in the business as an ‘understatement’. The Stamford Bridge darling has taken charge of a quintet of matches since his interim homecoming and so far, he has lost all five. Over the past month, both he and I share the exact same win percentage in West London. The difference is that one of us has had the opportunity to alter that statistic for the better.

Where Chelsea go from here, only Todd Boehly knows, although even that might be an optimistic prognosis of the situation. If one good thing has come out of this unfolding debacle, however, it’s that it got us reminiscing about some of the men who have made Lampard look positively magnificent by comparison. So, without further ado, here are 10 of the worst managerial tenures in Premier League history...

Paul Jewell

Paul Jewell is a journeyman, pure and simple. His ‘clubs managed’ section of Wikipedia reads like the chorus of ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ by Johnny Cash if Johnny Cash had in fact been a travelling dishwasher salesman with an English small town clientele. In amongst his provincial odyssey, however, was one particularly bad spell in the Premier League with Derby County. Jewell arrived at Pride Park in late 2007, and subsequently didn’t win a single league game between then and the end of the season. Incredibly, he kept his job even after the Rams got relegated and remained in charge until the December of their Championship season.

Jan Siewert

Jan Siewert had the unfortunate distinction of being a relatively young German man at the same time that Jurgen Klopp was managing in the Premier League. The comparisons were immediate, the parallels are still yet to manifest. Siewert was briefed with the unenviable task of keeping a pretty dire Huddersfield Town side in the top flight. One win in 15 matches was, unsurprisingly, not enough to make that happen. He last four games of the Terriers’ resultant Championship campaign, and then vanished into the ether. (He went to work for FSV Mainz 05.)

Les Reed

Sometimes less is more, and sometime less is Les. Reed took charge of just eight matches during a bizarre, fleeting stint at Charlton Athletic in 2006, arriving in late November and leaving on December 24th, like a really confused Christmas tree. He won one game, he drew another, and for those of you without any semblance of numerical literacy, he lost six.

Remi Garde

Remi is, of course, the name of the rat in Disney Pixar’s Ratatouille. At times it must have felt to Aston Villa supporters as if Remi Garde, like the protagonist of that film, was having his every move and decision dictated to him by a furry little chancer hidden somewhere in his garments. And also, this particular rat knew nothing about football. Then again, it’s vermin, what do you expect? Garde managed 23 matches in England, although suggesting he actually managed any of them might actually be a stretch. He won three times, and left less than six months after he arrived.

Frank de Boer

Be honest, as soon as you saw the headline for this article, the first manager who popped into your head was Frank de Boer, wasn’t it? The Dutchman endured a legendarily awful stint as Crystal Palace manager, winning just one of his five games in charge - and even that was in the second round of the Carabao Cup against Ipswich Town. In subsequent months, Jose Mourinho would hammer De Boer for being the ‘worst manager in the history of the Premier League’. Meow.

Bob Bradley

You’ve heard of bald eagles, right? Well, get ready for a bald swan. On the scale of famously glabrous Americans, Bob was less Bruce Willis, more George from Seinfeld during his ill-fated spell Swansea City in 2016 - although in fairness, all hope did die pretty hard shortly after his arrival. The experience New Jerseyan lasted 11 matches in total, and of those he tasted victory just twice.

Felix Magath

Fulham would have been better off appointing Felix the Cat in truth. On paper, this should have worked. The esteemed Magath had won two Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich before he arrived in West London, but he tanked very, very hard in England. The German only lasted 20 matches, won just four of them, oversaw a relegation, and made headlines when he encouraged defender Brede Hangeland to treat a knee complaint by wrapping cheese curd around it. As you do.

Paolo Di Canio

It is fitting that a character as inharmonious (is that the diplomatic way of saying that he has a Fascist eagle tattooed on his back?) as Paolo Di Canio should have created such a divisive legacy as a Premier League manager. On the one hand, the Italian did help Sunderland to enact an improbable act of relegation escapology, and he gave the Black Cats one of the great Tyne-Wear derby moments with that iconic knee slide down the touchline at St. James’ Park back in 2013. On the other, he won just three out of his 13 matches in charge of the club, and was let go just five games into the next Premier League campaign. He has not held a managerial job since, which probably tells you all you need to know.

Rene Meulensteen

In the world of professional football, some people are natural Beyonces - irrepressible supernovas who shine with a blinding luminescene - and others are Michelles - perfectly fine at what they do, but ultimately destined for a life in the background. Rene Meulensteen’s brief spell as Fulham manager proved unequivocally that he is the latter. The Dutchman was, and remains, a highly respected coach, and prior to joining the Cottagers had spent several years on Sir Alex Ferguson’s staff at Manchester United. When given a shot at a top job, however, he faltered, and lasted a little over two months before being ousted from his post in West London. He is now the assistant manager to Australia’s national team - an ancillary role he was surely born for.

Juande Ramos

Some might argue this is a little harsh. After all, it was Juande who guided Tottenham to their last competitive trophy win - a League Cup triumph way back in 2008. In that regard, he does deserve some credit, and in our defence, we did toy with throwing in Jacques Santini ahead of him on this list. But the manner in which Ramos bombed in his second season at Spurs was something truly remarkable. The Spaniard won just one of his opening 11 matches in the 2008/09 campaign, and was sacked soon thereafter. Incredibly, he walked into the Real Madrid job just a couple of months later, and while it’s not strictly relevant to this article, he lasted just 27 matches before he was relieved of his duties. A run of five straight losses (as Real Madrid manager?!?) was the final nail in his coffin.