The 7 managers to win the League Cup in their debut season – & what happened next
Liverpool boss Arne Slot is one game away from becoming only the eighth manager in the modern era to win the League Cup in their debut season as manager.
The League Cup is the earliest major trophy in the English footballing calendar and a big opportunity for a new manager to make a statement. Big names at Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United are among those to have achieved the feat.
But did lifting the League Cup signal future greatness? We’ve taken a look at the seven managers in the Premier League era who won the League Cup at the first time of asking.
Gianluca Vialli
Not only was Vialli new to management, but he’d yet to retire from playing when he led out Chelsea against Middlesbrough in the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup final.
The 33-year-old Italian striker had only been in the post of player-manager for about a month, and his very first game as a coach was masterminding the Blues’ 3-1 second-leg comeback in the semi-finals against Arsenal.
Vialli – who finished their top scorer that season with 19 goals in all competitions – played no part as extra-time goals from Frank Sinclair and Roberto Di Matteo settled a hard-fought 2-0 victory for Chelsea against a stubborn Boro outfit.
Chelsea went on to finish fourth that season and also won the Cup Winners’ Cup. Vialli remained in the post for another two seasons and added the UEFA Super Cup, Charity Shield and FA Cup to his own honours list as a manager, securing his status as a Chelsea legend.
George Graham
Unlike all the other names on this list, Graham was not new to managing in English football when he led Tottenham to the League Cup in 1999, ending Spurs’ eight-year trophy drought.
The Scot was something of a grizzled veteran at that point, having already won the trophy twice with Arsenal alongside the FA Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and two league titles before laying down some immensely boring foundations for David O’Leary’s babies at Leeds United.
Spurs poached Graham from Leeds in the September of the 1998-99 campaign and within a few months he delivered silverware, leading Spurs to a classic Graham 1-0 victory over Martin O’Neill’s Leicester City at Wembley.
They also beat Manchester United in the quarters, denying Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils a clean sweep of all four trophies that year.
No further silverware would follow, though, and George was sacked for breach of contract in March 2001 with Tottenham on their way to a third successive mediocre midtable finish.
Jose Mourinho
The League Cup was the first trophy that Mourinho lifted in both of his stints at Chelsea, as well as Manchester United. It might’ve been the case at Tottenham, but he was sacked on the eve of the final against Manchester City in 2021.
In each of those cases – bar Spurs – further silverware would follow. Two Premier League titles, a second League Cup and the FA Cup in his first spell at Stamford Bridge, another Premier League title in his second, and the Europa League at Manchester United.
It’s often said that Mourinho views the League Cup as an important springboard for greater achievements, helping to set a winning, trophy-hungry mentality.
“Lots of teams have followed us since then when we took the League Cup as a real competition, as a real challenge. It is a big competition,” Mourinho told reporters ahead of his third League Cup triumph with Chelsea in 2015.
Juande Ramos
Like Graham before him, Spanish coach Ramos swiftly delivered the League Cup after being parachuted in following a poor start to the campaign.
He replaced Martin Jol in the dugout in October 2007 and soon oversaw a memorable cup run, including an unforgettable 5-1 mauling of Arsenal in the semi-finals before an against-the-odds 2-1 comeback victory over imperial-era Chelsea in the first final at the new Wembley.
Ramos also steered Spurs from 18th to 11th that year, but he ended up leaving the club in an even worse position the following year and was sacked with the club bottom of the table, four points adrift in October 2008.
Still, he can consider himself the last manager to win a trophy with Tottenham and the man who signed Luka Modric. Not bad.
Michael Laudrup
It always felt kind of weird seeing the legendary Danish midfielder in the dugout at the Liberty Stadium.
But his Swansea City side were a breath of fresh air in 2012-13. They finished ninth in the Premier League and Michu was at his Barclaysman best, scoring 22 goals in all competitions.
They knocked out Liverpool and Chelsea (who could forget Eden Hazard’s red card?) before p*ssing all over League Two Bradford City’s fairytale with a 5-0 thrashing – a scoreline that remains a record scoreline for a League Cup final.
Unfortunately his second season wasn’t quite so successful. Michu’s goals suddenly dried up and Swansea found themselves embroiled in a relegation battle. Laudrup was sacked in February 2014 – replaced the club captain of their League Cup victory, Garry Monk.
Manuel Pellegrini
Manchester City feared being on the wrong end of another big upset in their first cup final appearance since the shock FA Cup defeat to Wigan when Fabio Borini put Sunderland ahead early on in the 2014 League Cup final.
But Pellegrini had replaced Roberto Mancini and this new-look City showed their mettle by fighting back to win 3-1, Yaya Toure’s long-range howitzer sparking the second-half comeback.
Further evidence of their bottle was shown in the coming months as they held their nerve in a thrilling title race with a Luis Suarez-inspired Liverpool, pipping Brendan Rodgers’ Reds to the title by two points after winning their last five matches in the run-in.
A second League Cup followed in 2016, but ultimately the Chilean’s last couple of years were a bit underwhelming. A beige holding pattern before the Guardiola revolution.
QUIZ: Guess The Wikipedia Footballer: Can you name these 10 League Cup winners?
Erik ten Hag
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes said after Manchester United’s League Cup final victory over Newcastle in 2023. The win ended a six-year trophy drought for the club.
“We have been searching for this moment. Us the fans and clubs and all together, finally get our trophy and I think deservedly.
“It has been an amazing period, first trophy of the season but we want more it is not enough for this club, we want more and we need more because our standards demand more. For me it was about winning trophies and finally we did it. I am satisfied but I want more. I want much more.”
How have things gone since then? It’s a bit complicated.
That was about the point that Ten Hag’s stock was at its highest. The infamous 7-0 defeat to Liverpool followed shortly after and their Premier League form never really picked back up from there.
Still, the Dutchman did lead United to the FA Cup final a few months later – and got revenge over City in the 2024 rematch.
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