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Who’s That Manager – Euro 2008 Edition

There is a feeling of restlessness among football fans; for many of us Saturday evening just cannot come soon enough. So, to make the hours shorter, I have devised a little game that should take you a good while to complete.

It is a new (and improved?) version of “Who’s That Manager?” which I published earlier this season. The concept is basically the same: I pick 5 managers and give you different clues for each manager. Based on the clues that I provide, it is up to you to identify which manager I am referring to.

There are two restrictions that I put on myself (to make the game relatively do-able): 1 – the managers that I have described are currently in charge of national teams that are taking part at Euro 2008; 2 – there is at least one manager picked from each group. So, here they are:

1 – He has quite a bit of experience as a coach in his home nation and his achievements are quite impressive, but most remarkable is the success that he has had with the team he is currently in charge of. In very similar fashion to what he has done at the clubs he has been in charge of, he has taken this unfancied nation to heights it had never before achieved.

2 – He had an impressive start to his management career as he took he won a domestic cup and reached a European final with his debut club. But since moving from that club 10 years ago, he struggled to return to his winning ways and he only has a League Championship in a rather obscure league to show for his efforts. His resume is tainted as he was dismissed on several occasions due to poor results, but he will be confident of making up for that at the upcoming European Championships.

3 – He has never played for or managed a football team which was not based in his homeland, however he is probably the furthest thing from an uncultured manager. He began his managerial career more than 30 years ago and enjoyed a bit of instant success before turning into the football equivalent of a nomad. He changed clubs on more than 10 occasions and was rarely in charge of the same team for three consecutive seasons.

4 – Despite stating that he will never take up a coaching position after retiring as a player, he is now finds himself in his first job as a manager. He is known to discard over-achievers and infatuated superstars without a moment’s hesitancy and this has enabled him to build a relatively solid team. He has managed to deliver the results that he promised when he first took the job, but his playing style is sometimes criticized by the fans.

5 – He began his career more than 20 years ago and he has been in charge of several clubs, including one for which he featured as a player. It was with that team that he recorded his most remarkable achievement as he completed a historic treble. He then moved on to one of Europe’s most respected clubs but he had no success there and was quickly replaced.

Yep. That was it. Entertaining? I hope so.

If you can get them, tell us who you think they are, if you cannot, I will give you clues on each one with every 24 hours that pass and I think that lunch-time on Saturday would be a good time to post the answers. Let me know if you need more time…

Also See: Who’s That Player – Euro 2008 Edition

Topics: European Championships, Managers