Our manager league is well underway now, with five seasons completed. We have some early leaders and some early strugglers:
Today we'll get to near-halfway with another four seasons, then we should really have an idea of which managers are in with a chance.
Season 6
Season 6
So we begin today with the season where Pep Guardiola is with his real-life side, Man City. Can he replicate his real-life treble? Meanwhile two managers who have really struggled - Mikel Arteta and Thomas Frank - have Manchester United and Chelsea today, presenting their chance to start to move up the leaderboard.
Graham Potter failed to make it to November, as he received the sack with West Ham just above the relegation zone. After the World Cup break Gareth Southgate (Newcastle) departed, followed soon after by the inevitable Moyes (Leeds). Steve Cooper (Leicester), Julen Lopetegui (Southampton) and Patrick Vieira (Bournemouth). The latter two clubs found themselves relegated along with Ralph Hasenhuttl's Fulham.
It was a bit more competitive at the top of the table, as Frank's Chelsea were able to run City closer than anyone managed in real life, taking it to the final day of the season. But City went into their clash with West Ham just needing to avoid a heavy defeat, and they duly won 1-0 with Erling Haaland securing yet another title. But the stand-out performance of the league season surely came from Crystal Palace. Lead by Manager League leader Unai Emery, they secured a wonderful fifth place. Marco Silva's 10th-place finish with Forest also deserves a shout-out.
Arteta's Manchester United may have only just scraped into the top 6, but they did shine in the cup competitions, reaching all three cups they entered. In the League Cup they met their city rivals, and after a 2-2 draw the penalty shootout went through all 11 players before Antony missed his second kick, handing the trophy to City. In the FA Cup they met Newcastle, and this time came out on top, 2-1 the score. Finally, in the Europa League final they took on Ajax in a repeat of the 2017 final. It was looking good at 2-0 up, but a late Dusan Tadic brace took it to extra time, and Steven Berghuis struck to win it for the Dutch side.
In the Champions League Guardiola was not able to replicate their real-life exploits, losing to Real Madrid in the last 16. Roberto De Zerbi's Spurs also fell at this stage, whilst Chelsea were beaten by Gary O'Neil's Liverpool in the quarter finals. Liverpool ran into Real Madrid in the semis and lost a very tight encounter. The other English teams in Europe were Antonio Conte's Arsenal, who lost to Man United in the Europa quarter finals, and West Ham who got to the Conference League semis under new boss Ange Postecoglou.
Meanwhile, England were being lead by Jesse Marsch. After finishing second in the Nations League Marsch hammered his home nation USA in the group stage. He ran into France in the quarter finals but did what a few other managers failed to do, and beat the 2018 champions. However, their run ended there with a 2-0 semi final defeat to Belgium.
Graham Potter failed to make it to November, as he received the sack with West Ham just above the relegation zone. After the World Cup break Gareth Southgate (Newcastle) departed, followed soon after by the inevitable Moyes (Leeds). Steve Cooper (Leicester), Julen Lopetegui (Southampton) and Patrick Vieira (Bournemouth). The latter two clubs found themselves relegated along with Ralph Hasenhuttl's Fulham.
It was a bit more competitive at the top of the table, as Frank's Chelsea were able to run City closer than anyone managed in real life, taking it to the final day of the season. But City went into their clash with West Ham just needing to avoid a heavy defeat, and they duly won 1-0 with Erling Haaland securing yet another title. But the stand-out performance of the league season surely came from Crystal Palace. Lead by Manager League leader Unai Emery, they secured a wonderful fifth place. Marco Silva's 10th-place finish with Forest also deserves a shout-out.
Arteta's Manchester United may have only just scraped into the top 6, but they did shine in the cup competitions, reaching all three cups they entered. In the League Cup they met their city rivals, and after a 2-2 draw the penalty shootout went through all 11 players before Antony missed his second kick, handing the trophy to City. In the FA Cup they met Newcastle, and this time came out on top, 2-1 the score. Finally, in the Europa League final they took on Ajax in a repeat of the 2017 final. It was looking good at 2-0 up, but a late Dusan Tadic brace took it to extra time, and Steven Berghuis struck to win it for the Dutch side.
In the Champions League Guardiola was not able to replicate their real-life exploits, losing to Real Madrid in the last 16. Roberto De Zerbi's Spurs also fell at this stage, whilst Chelsea were beaten by Gary O'Neil's Liverpool in the quarter finals. Liverpool ran into Real Madrid in the semis and lost a very tight encounter. The other English teams in Europe were Antonio Conte's Arsenal, who lost to Man United in the Europa quarter finals, and West Ham who got to the Conference League semis under new boss Ange Postecoglou.
Meanwhile, England were being lead by Jesse Marsch. After finishing second in the Nations League Marsch hammered his home nation USA in the group stage. He ran into France in the quarter finals but did what a few other managers failed to do, and beat the 2018 champions. However, their run ended there with a 2-0 semi final defeat to Belgium.
1318 points is a slightly disappointing haul for Guardiola's go with City. Emery's outstanding haul with Palace means he currently is the high scorer for four of the six teams he's managed so far:
Season 7
Having done well every round so far, it would be quite funny if Emery struggled with his 'home' team, Aston Villa. Similarly, Graham Potter has a chance to revive his flagging campaign with a go at the club he made his name at, Brighton. There are a lot of big names at big clubs this time round, the most notable surely being Guardiola managing Liverpool.
Speaking of Liverpool, their real-life boss Jurgen Klopp has just not fired at all this campaign, and this time round he suffers the indignity of winning the sack race with his Leicester team one place above the drop zone. Meanwhile, Potter and Brighton again parted ways in autumn, but this time it wasn't by the manager's choice. We also lost Steve Cooper (West Ham), Gary O'Neil (Southampton) and Antonio Conte (Wolves). The relegation fight went down to the wire. Mikel Arteta's Bournemouth were already down, and they were joined by their two south coast neighbours as Brighton and Southampton failed to survive.
At the top there was no drama, as Erik ten Hag's Man City had enough to ward off a weak chasing pack. Guardiola's Liverpool slumped into 6th, but Brendan Rodgers shook off the Leeds curse by taking 7th place, and earning a European spot.
Marco Silva's recent form continued as he became the first manager to keep Spurs in the top 4, and to add to that he went on a brilliant run in the League Cup, overcoming both Manchester clubs before beating rivals Arsenal in the final. Thomas Frank's Gunners got revenge in the FA Cup fourth round, but lost to City in the semis, and ten Hag added a second trophy by beating Chelsea in the final.
He had the chance to repeat their real-life treble by reaching the Champions League final, but they were bested by Real Madrid. The CL specialists had already seen off Liverpool in the semis, who in turn had beaten Chelsea in the quarters. Spurs, meanwhile, won their group but still lost in the last 16 to Monaco. In the Europa League Man United lost to Real Sociedad in the quarter finals, but Arsenal went all the way and beat Roma in the final.
Meanwhile Frank Lampard fulfils the destiny that seemed inevitable in 2019, and became England manager. A third place in the Nations League wasn't ideal preparation, but they blew away their group in the World Cup, Netherlands, Argentina and then Croatia in the semi final. It set up a final with France, but England were outclassed in a 3-0 defeat.
Speaking of Liverpool, their real-life boss Jurgen Klopp has just not fired at all this campaign, and this time round he suffers the indignity of winning the sack race with his Leicester team one place above the drop zone. Meanwhile, Potter and Brighton again parted ways in autumn, but this time it wasn't by the manager's choice. We also lost Steve Cooper (West Ham), Gary O'Neil (Southampton) and Antonio Conte (Wolves). The relegation fight went down to the wire. Mikel Arteta's Bournemouth were already down, and they were joined by their two south coast neighbours as Brighton and Southampton failed to survive.
At the top there was no drama, as Erik ten Hag's Man City had enough to ward off a weak chasing pack. Guardiola's Liverpool slumped into 6th, but Brendan Rodgers shook off the Leeds curse by taking 7th place, and earning a European spot.
Marco Silva's recent form continued as he became the first manager to keep Spurs in the top 4, and to add to that he went on a brilliant run in the League Cup, overcoming both Manchester clubs before beating rivals Arsenal in the final. Thomas Frank's Gunners got revenge in the FA Cup fourth round, but lost to City in the semis, and ten Hag added a second trophy by beating Chelsea in the final.
He had the chance to repeat their real-life treble by reaching the Champions League final, but they were bested by Real Madrid. The CL specialists had already seen off Liverpool in the semis, who in turn had beaten Chelsea in the quarters. Spurs, meanwhile, won their group but still lost in the last 16 to Monaco. In the Europa League Man United lost to Real Sociedad in the quarter finals, but Arsenal went all the way and beat Roma in the final.
Meanwhile Frank Lampard fulfils the destiny that seemed inevitable in 2019, and became England manager. A third place in the Nations League wasn't ideal preparation, but they blew away their group in the World Cup, Netherlands, Argentina and then Croatia in the semi final. It set up a final with France, but England were outclassed in a 3-0 defeat.
Potter's season with Brighton was so catastrophic that his minus 355 points is a record low in the Manager League:
Season 8
Potter has a nasty assignment after that horror show, as many managers have failed to see out the season with Wolves. After setting the new high score with Spurs, Marco Silva has a chance to bring in some more big points with Liverpool.
I think everybody would be excited to see Jurgen Klopp in charge of England. A mixed Nations League campaign saw England pip Italy to second behind Germany, and a draw with Israel wasn't ideal World Cup prep. But suddenly everything clicked: in the group stage of the World Cup England won their three games by an aggregate of 12-0, followed by a 2-0 win over Senegal. There followed the usual France quarter final, where Bukayo Saka struck in added time for a single-goal win. England finally conceded their first goal in the semi final, but still overcame Spain 2-1. It set up a grand showpiece against Brazil. After Tammy Abraham put England ahead Brazil fell apart, receiving two red cards. Abraham's second made the game safe, and England became World champions!
The club managers were happy too, as all 20 were still in their jobs at the time of the break. But that honeymoon soon ended as Frank Lampard and Gareth Southgate were sacked from Brentford and Southampton immediately upon the resumption. Jesse Marsch (Crystal Palace), Potter (Wolves) and Arteta (West Ham) were gone soon too. Later on in the season Gary O'Neil paid the price for having Man United in 8th, and that seemed to be the last one.
But then, in the final week of the season, Chelsea and Man City both chose to dispose of Pep Guardiola and Steve Cooper respectively. The two had actually met earlier in the season in the League Cup final, with Man City triumphing. Cooper had paid the price for City's league position, with their 3rd place the lowest achieved by a City manager this series. As for Chelsea, 5th place wasn't terrible (especially compared to real life), but combined with a Champions League group exit and only reaching the Europa League quarters, the writing was on the wall.
This meant we'd have a new team winning the league title, and it turned out to be Liverpool as Silva was able to get the most of enigmatic frontman Darwin Núnez, holding off the challenges of Unai Emery's Spurs and David Moyes' Arsenal. At the bottom end Palace and Brentford suffered premature relegations, then on the final day Ralph Hasenhuttl's Brighton saved themselves by beating the Saints, consigning Wolves to the drop.
Roberto De Zerbi continued to show his class by guiding Leeds to a top half finish, but as well as that he also got them to the FA Cup final where they met Newcastle, managed by real-life boss Eddie Howe. A tense final saw just one goal, as Alexander Isak won it for the Magpies.
As well as getting Spurs' first top-two spot, Emery also became the first boss to get them into the last eight of the Champions League, before they fell to Dortmund. Liverpool fell at the same stage, losing to Barcelona. Man City actually did the best, but they lost to Real Madrid in the semis. In the Europa League Arsenal overcame Man United in the semis, and beat Real Sociedad in the final thanks to a late winner from Gabriel Jesus.
I think everybody would be excited to see Jurgen Klopp in charge of England. A mixed Nations League campaign saw England pip Italy to second behind Germany, and a draw with Israel wasn't ideal World Cup prep. But suddenly everything clicked: in the group stage of the World Cup England won their three games by an aggregate of 12-0, followed by a 2-0 win over Senegal. There followed the usual France quarter final, where Bukayo Saka struck in added time for a single-goal win. England finally conceded their first goal in the semi final, but still overcame Spain 2-1. It set up a grand showpiece against Brazil. After Tammy Abraham put England ahead Brazil fell apart, receiving two red cards. Abraham's second made the game safe, and England became World champions!
The club managers were happy too, as all 20 were still in their jobs at the time of the break. But that honeymoon soon ended as Frank Lampard and Gareth Southgate were sacked from Brentford and Southampton immediately upon the resumption. Jesse Marsch (Crystal Palace), Potter (Wolves) and Arteta (West Ham) were gone soon too. Later on in the season Gary O'Neil paid the price for having Man United in 8th, and that seemed to be the last one.
But then, in the final week of the season, Chelsea and Man City both chose to dispose of Pep Guardiola and Steve Cooper respectively. The two had actually met earlier in the season in the League Cup final, with Man City triumphing. Cooper had paid the price for City's league position, with their 3rd place the lowest achieved by a City manager this series. As for Chelsea, 5th place wasn't terrible (especially compared to real life), but combined with a Champions League group exit and only reaching the Europa League quarters, the writing was on the wall.
This meant we'd have a new team winning the league title, and it turned out to be Liverpool as Silva was able to get the most of enigmatic frontman Darwin Núnez, holding off the challenges of Unai Emery's Spurs and David Moyes' Arsenal. At the bottom end Palace and Brentford suffered premature relegations, then on the final day Ralph Hasenhuttl's Brighton saved themselves by beating the Saints, consigning Wolves to the drop.
Roberto De Zerbi continued to show his class by guiding Leeds to a top half finish, but as well as that he also got them to the FA Cup final where they met Newcastle, managed by real-life boss Eddie Howe. A tense final saw just one goal, as Alexander Isak won it for the Magpies.
As well as getting Spurs' first top-two spot, Emery also became the first boss to get them into the last eight of the Champions League, before they fell to Dortmund. Liverpool fell at the same stage, losing to Barcelona. Man City actually did the best, but they lost to Real Madrid in the semis. In the Europa League Arsenal overcame Man United in the semis, and beat Real Sociedad in the final thanks to a late winner from Gabriel Jesus.
The striking thing here is that Hasenhuttl's 140pts is above the average score for the Sussex club - their average so far of 82pts is the lowest of the 21 teams. Meanwhile, Emery sets another club high score, and extends his lead over second-place De Zerbi to over 1000 points for the first time.
Season 9
De Zerbi has done well so far, but now he faces the almighty challenge of... his own club, Brighton. Emery also will be risking a banana skin, as he assumes charge of Wolves. Several managers who are struggling in the overall table have a chance to score big points here, namely Frank Lampard and Mikel Arteta at Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.
Silva's recent form came crashing to a spectacular end, as he won the sack race in the first half of October with Leicester one spot above the drop zone. Patrick Vieira was the other manager to go before the World Cup break, also with his West Ham side in 17th. At the World Cup England - managed by plausible future boss Graham Potter - won their group, beat Netherlands but lost to France.
Fairly predictably, Ralph Hasenhuttl's reign at bottom-placed Everton was ended after the resumption. More surprisingly, Julen Lopetegui failed badly at Newcastle and was fired with the club in 15th. Also to depart was Gary O'Neil (Brentford), before we had another shock: De Zerbi really couldn't replicate his real-life success and was fired with the club in the relegation zone. There was one final sacking before the end of the season, as Brendan Rodgers paid the price for only having Man City in 3rd, despite beating Lampard's Man United in the League Cup final.
The relegation battle was between the clubs who had already dispensed with their managers. Brentford and Everton were long gone by the final match, which saw Brighton survive as Leicester failed to get the win against Man United they needed. It wasn't much better at Old Trafford, as that draw resulted in Lampard's men finishing a poor 7th. It meant there was a spot for an underdog in the top 6... and inevitably, it was Unai Emery who took it with his Wolves side. With City out of the equation, the path was clear for Liverpool to win another title, delivering much-needed points for Jesse Marsch.
Jurgen Klopp will be disappointed to finish outside the top four with Arsenal, but made up for it by beating Gerardo Martino's Newcastle in the final of the FA Cup. However, they were defeated by Napoli in the quarter final of the Europa League, which at least a round better than Man United managed. There was similar English disappointment in the other European competitions, with Chelsea the only team to make a semi final, which they lost to PSG.
Silva's recent form came crashing to a spectacular end, as he won the sack race in the first half of October with Leicester one spot above the drop zone. Patrick Vieira was the other manager to go before the World Cup break, also with his West Ham side in 17th. At the World Cup England - managed by plausible future boss Graham Potter - won their group, beat Netherlands but lost to France.
Fairly predictably, Ralph Hasenhuttl's reign at bottom-placed Everton was ended after the resumption. More surprisingly, Julen Lopetegui failed badly at Newcastle and was fired with the club in 15th. Also to depart was Gary O'Neil (Brentford), before we had another shock: De Zerbi really couldn't replicate his real-life success and was fired with the club in the relegation zone. There was one final sacking before the end of the season, as Brendan Rodgers paid the price for only having Man City in 3rd, despite beating Lampard's Man United in the League Cup final.
The relegation battle was between the clubs who had already dispensed with their managers. Brentford and Everton were long gone by the final match, which saw Brighton survive as Leicester failed to get the win against Man United they needed. It wasn't much better at Old Trafford, as that draw resulted in Lampard's men finishing a poor 7th. It meant there was a spot for an underdog in the top 6... and inevitably, it was Unai Emery who took it with his Wolves side. With City out of the equation, the path was clear for Liverpool to win another title, delivering much-needed points for Jesse Marsch.
Jurgen Klopp will be disappointed to finish outside the top four with Arsenal, but made up for it by beating Gerardo Martino's Newcastle in the final of the FA Cup. However, they were defeated by Napoli in the quarter final of the Europa League, which at least a round better than Man United managed. There was similar English disappointment in the other European competitions, with Chelsea the only team to make a semi final, which they lost to PSG.
Arteta and Marsch rack up good scores, although the real winner from this round has to be Emery, who takes another big points haul from a mid-table team whilst three of his rivals clock up negative scores:
And when you add in the bonuses for having the highest score for each team, Emery's lead at the top of the overall table grows to mammoth proportions:
We've only completed nine of twenty one seasons, but at the moment it looks like a huge task to catch Emery. However, each season sees a potential swing of roughly 1500 points, so it just takes a couple of bad seasons for the chasing pack to catch up. We'll do another four seasons next time.