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Postecoglou next: The 11 Non-European PL managers – & how they fared

Ange Postecoglou will become the first Australian to take charge of a Premier League club when he gets started at Tottenham next season.

While the majority of Premier League managers have been European, we have seen a fair share of coaches from the rest of the world taking charge in the English top flight.

We’ve gone back through the years and picked out the last 11 non-European managers to have managed in the Premier League and assessed how they did.

Ossie Ardiles (Tottenham)

Coincidentally, Spurs actually hired the first-ever non-European manager of the Premier League era. Argentine cult hero Ardiles also had spells in England with the likes of Swindon, Newcastle and West Brom.

He didn’t last too long in North London in the end. During his first year in charge in 1993–94 he led Spurs to a 15th-placed finish. They then started the following campaign slowly, winning just five of their opening 14 matches.

Like a failing candidate on The Apprentice, Lord Sugar was left with little choice but to fire him in the end.

Avram Grant (Chelsea, Portsmouth, West Ham)

The Israeli manager had three separate spells in the Premier League, with his first gig coming at Stamford Bridge. Grant led the club to a Champions League final in 2008, but came up short against Manchester United on penalties.

Like many of the Chelsea managers around that time, he didn’t last long with Roman Abramovich calling the shots.

Luiz Felipe Scolari (Chelsea)

The Brazilian World Cup-winning manager arrived at Chelsea in 2008 with plenty of expectations, but his spell was largely forgettable in the end.

As Chelsea sat fourth in the table in February, Abramovich promptly sacked Scolari during his first season in charge.

Mauricio Pochettino (Southampton, Tottenham, Chelsea)

Pochettino is the latest non-European to enter the hot seat at Stamford Bridge. The Argentine manager is well respected in England after the impressive jobs he did at both Southampton and Tottenham.

He regularly had Spurs punching above their weight and had them within touching distance of the Premier League and Champions League. Time will tell how he gets on at the other end of London.

November 9, 2019, London, United Kingdom: Mauricio Pochettino manager of Tottenham during the Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London. Picture date: 9th November 2019.

READ: Everything Mauricio Pochettino said about Chelsea & Tottenham’s rivalry

Manuel Pellegrini (Man City, West Ham)

Taking over from the charismatic Roberto Mancini at the Etihad was never going to be easy. The Chilean boss did win the league title during his first season but then fell short in the next two campaigns.

Pellegrini did lay some crucial foundations upon which Pep Guardiola would later build upon though. Signing the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling during his final season in charge, who then went on to become crucial first team players.

Gus Poyet (Sunderland)

After building up his reputation with Brighton, Poyet then got his chance in the Premier League with Sunderland. Taking over from the eccentric Paolo Di Canio, Poyet guided the club out of the relegation zone during his first season.

The Uruguayan manager didn’t last long after that tough as he soon fell victim to the revolving managerial door at Sunderland at the time.

We’ll never forget when Brighton decided to fire him while he was on live TV.

David Wagner (Huddersfield)

The American-German coach subverted everyone’s expectations when he guided relegation favourites Huddersfield to safety in 2017-18.

Sure, things went wrong the following season, but Wagner will always be a popular man around the Terriers. These days he is back in England and trying to get Norwich back to the big time.

Bob Bradley (Swansea)

The former United States national team manager didn’t do the best of jobs to diminish the many stereotypes he faced while in charge at Swansea.

Bradley lasted just three months in the job and only won two of the 11 games he oversaw. In an interview with ESPN in 2018, he even admitted that he regrets taking the job in the first place.

“Do I have regrets? I wish they hadn’t come and called, quite honestly, in that respect because the situation required real work and some time, and if they didn’t think I was the right guy, and everybody wasn’t on board.”

Darren Moore (West Brom)

Born and raised in Birmingham, Moore represented the country of his heritage – Jamaica – and later took charge of West Brom for the final six matches of the 2018-19 Premier League campaign. Despite only losing one of the final six matches of the season, the Baggies finished rock bottom of the table.

Moore then took charge for the following Championship season but was sacked towards the end of the campaign. After recently guiding Sheffield Wednesday to promotion, he’s now back managing in the Championship.

Marcelo Bielsa (Leeds United)

El Loco made an entire fanbase dream. Not since the early 2000s had Leeds fans had it so good than it was under Bielsa. He won the Championship in style and then guided the club to 9th in the Premier League.

However, after things started to tail off during the following season, Leeds made the tough call to part company with the Argentine manager in February 2022. Things haven’t been quite the same at Elland Road since.

Sheffield United v Leeds United - Sky Bet Championship - Bramall Lane Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa, 01 December 2018

QUIZ: Can you name every player to appear for Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa?

Jesse Marsch (Leeds United)

Marsch got the job done in his debut season to be fair, keeping Leeds up on the final day of the 2021-22 campaign with an away win at Brentford.

The club then adopted a new transfer strategy under the American boss, but things quickly went stale the following year. Marsch was sacked in February and then Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce failed to save the club from relegation.


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