Old is the new new and with Jose Mourinho on the verge of a return to Real Madrid, we’ve picked out some other manager comebacks we’d love to see.
The self-dubbed ‘Special One’ has turned into the last resort for Florentino Perez in an attempt to establish some kind of order at the Madrid club and while that will inevitably go pear-shaped, the rest of us get to sit back and watch.
It got us wanting some more rekindling of relationships and so here are five manager comebacks we want to see.
Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham
Sometimes relationships die out.
You’ve been together for years but suddenly that thing he used to do that you found cute is actually very annoying or the way she uses her fork has become the most grating thing on the planet. It happens.
But people can change and Spurs have changed, Mauricio. They’ve changed.
They’ve not been the same since you left. They’ve had meaningless relationship after meaningless relationship. They didn’t mean anything, we swear.
Look, we know you two had your problems but think of the good times? Like that trip to Amsterdam. Or that happy day on the red side of north London.
Things are different now. They’re going to buy you more of the things you ask for. They didn’t know how good it was with you.
Ross and Rachel got back together, that could be you and Spurs, Mauricio. Go on, do it. Do it for old times’ sake.
Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool
We reckon 90% of Liverpool fans would be open to the idea because let’s be honest, there’s not much fun going around that part of Merseyside right now.
The blood and thunder style of Klopp has been replaced by a slow and meandering style of football and Arne Slot cannot really hold a candle to Klopp’s charisma.
As for the manager, he was clearly burnt out but maybe a few years of drinking Red Bull and popping up at random events across the world has made him yearn for a return to the touchline. Probably not but it’d be fun to see him try and create the next generation at Liverpool.
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Stuart Pearce at Man City
Whoa, whoa, before you reach for that close tab button, let us explain.
When have you ever known a club appoint a successor to a legendary manager and it goes well? David Moyes crumbled at Manchester United. Unai Emery failed at Arsenal. Arne Slot initially did well at succeeding Jurgen Klopp but even that looks to have taken a turn for the worse.
The most likely scenario facing Manchester City is that whoever replaces Pep Guardiola will fail in comparison to his incredibly high standards. Of course they will. How can a club go from being built around one man to that man suddenly not being there? It’s like a beehive losing its queen.
What City need then is a sacrificial lamb to lower the expectation. Enter Stuart Pearce.
Pearce managed City for a few years back in the 2000s and yes, he may have had a losing record, but Psycho remains a lovable figure for a lot of City fans.
Get him, have him play Donnarumma up top, bring his little toy horse and when he’s sacked by Christmas, the next man in has a hell of an easier job on his hands.
Antonio Conte at Chelsea
Just take a second to imagine it.
Antonio Conte, a famously volatile manager who has fallen out with almost every board he has worked with, being told by a non-suited member of the BlueCo operation that he cannot start Enzo Fernandez this weekend because this iPad says he has played 46.7 minutes too many this quarter.
Conte back at Chelsea would go one of two ways – one, he could self-implode and quit within a month or two, or he could actually bring discipline and success to a talented but raw squad. And then self-implode and quit.
The reality is BlueCo would not go near him with a 20-foot pole but neutrals watching on would get some cracking touchline antics and press conferences out of it.
Rafa Benitez at Newcastle
The Newcastle hierarchy are committed to Eddie Howe, for now, but if they are after a manager who has a history of competing at the top end of the Premier League, Rafa Benitez could be a shout.
While his last managerial jobs read Everton, Celta Vigo and now Panathinaikos, he is adored by the Toon Army for getting them back into the Premier League.
Would it go well? Possibly. Is Benitez past it? Also possibly. But we’d love to find out either way.
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