Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Premier League managers then and now: How the bosses looked before their days in the dug out

                     
 Louis van Gaal, Arsene Wenger and the 18 other Premier League managers may all look smart in their tailored suits as they stand on the touchline.
But wind the clock back and there was a time when they looked as young and fresh faced as the players they manage now.

     
Louis van Gaal spent most of his playing career in Belgium  

Before the days of being known as ‘Le Professeur’, Arsene Wenger was just a young midfielder with a bad perm during his days at Strasbourg. The Frenchman spent three years at the Stade de la Meinau but made just 11 appearances before going on to a career in management.
Aston Villa’s Tim Sherwood famously captained Blackburn to the Premier League title in 1995 – but before the move to Ewood Park he spent three years at Norwich. Back in those days he preferred the slicked back blond look.

Fresh faced Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe was forced to retire in 2007 due to ongoing injury issues. But when he looks back through his playing days he can reminisce on the days he made it into the Merlin Premier League sticker book back in the early 2000 as part of the Portsmouth squad. He still looks the same a decade later.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho may be one of the most successful managers in the modern era. But his playing career was not quite so stellar. Here he is pictured during his early career as a central midfielder for Rio Ave in Portugal - a team managed by his father Felix.
Alan Pardew famously scored for Crystal Palace against Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final back in 1990 – he returned to Selhurst Park last year to manage the club.
Despite being born and playing for Balaguer in Spain - Everton boss Roberto Martinez moved to England in 1995 and joined Wigan. Here he is playing for the Latics in the bottom tier of English football.
Claudio Ranieri returned to manage in England with Leicester, seven years after leaving Chelsea. Here he is in his early playing days in 1973 playing for Roma.
Brendan Rodgers’ (this sticker missed out the 'd' in the Liverpool manager's surname) playing career ended before it started at the age of 20 due to a genetic knee problem, but here he is before he hung up his boots playing for Ballymena United.
Manchester CIty manager Manuel Pellegrini started his career off as a defender, playing for Universidad de Chile where he would go onto spend the rest of his career.
Louis van Gaal came through the famous Ajax academy but never made a first team appearance for the club. Here he is pictured during days at Royal Antwerp where he played the majority of his career.
Steve McClaren (another misspelt sticker with his name spelt like the F1 team) may be back managing in the Premier League with Newcastle, but he spent most of his playing career in the lower leagues. Here he is pictured during his days at Derby in the early 1980s.
Alex Neil is the newest manager in the Premier League and the youngest. This picture taken during his 10-year spell at Hamilton Academical looks almost identical to how he looks now.
Ronald Koeman had a glittering playing career with Ajax, PSV and Barcelona. But it is here at FC Groningen in the early part of his career in the early 1980s that the Southampton manager is pictured with can what is best described as a pudding bowl haircut.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes spent his playing days at some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Chelsea. But this picture was taken during his time in Spain with Barcelona.
Sunderland’s Dick Advocaat spent much of his career playing in either his native Holland or in the NASL in America.
Garry Monk was already a club hero before he replaced Michael Laudrup as manager in 2014. In fact Monk only hung up his boots in 2014 and played for the club in the Premier League – as this sticker shows.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino played for Espanyol more the most part of his career before moving onto France where he represented Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux followed by a move back to Argentina where he returned to his boyhood club Newell's Old Boys. He represented Argentina at the 1999 Copa America and the 2002 World Cup – where he fouled Michael Owen and conceded a penalty against England and David Beckham duly scored.
New Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores spent much of his career at Valencia before moving on to Real Madrid – where he won the League in 1995.
West Brom boss Tony Pulis has a similar managerial style to that of his playing career – no nonsense. The defender played for had two spells at both Bristol Rovers and Bournemouth as well as playing for Gillingham.
Slaven Bilic returned to West Ham this summer as manager but he started his playing career in Croatia with Hajduk Split back in 1988.


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