6 managers we can’t believe managed to rebuild their shattered reputations

Former Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United managers are among those who have managed to rebuild their shattered reputations elsewhere.

While some bosses sink without a trace after a particularly chastening spell, others have shown real resilience to bounce back and silence the doubters.

We’ve looked at seven managers who rebuilt their shattered reputations against all expectations.

Lampard’s appointment at Coventry City in November 2024 was met with an epidemic of raised eyebrows and accusations of the former England midfielder falling on his feet.

They accused Lampard of failing to get an expensively-assembled Derby promoted in 2019, allowing Chelsea to drift to mid-table before getting sacked in 2021, failing at Everton and producing one of the worst caretaker spells of all time back at Stamford Bridge.

Like most things, the reality is more nuanced; while Lampard could never be accused of exceeding expectations, he wasn’t as big of a failure as the social media comedians would have you believe.

Since arriving at Coventry, Lampard has taken the Sky Blues from the Championship’s bottom third to their Premier League return after 25 years.

Scores of self-appointed experts will have to reassess his managerial capabilities if he manages to keep Coventry afloat next season.

By the end of the 2010s, Moyes’ fine decade of work at Everton was long forgotten.

His failure to instantly replicate Sir Alex Ferguson’s success at Manchester United saw him sacked after less than a year (results were bad, but no worse than several successors), Sunderland were relegated on his watch and Moyes also made little impression at Real Sociedad.

Keeping West Ham up in 2017-18 wasn’t enough for scorn to reign down on the Hammers for reappointing Moyes in December 2019.

But the Scotsman led the Hammers to three successive European campaigns, winning the first trophy of his career by lifting the UEFA Conference League in 2023, transforming West Ham from perennial flakes to a modern, upwardly-mobile outfit.

His success upon returning to Everton last year is little surprise; everybody accepts Moyes’ talent these days.

Winning several Europa Leagues with Sevilla and Villarreal did little to prevent English fans from reducing Emery to a speech impediment.

After underwhelming at Arsenal, many wrote Emery off, but his appointment by Aston Villa in November 2022 felt like the perfect marriage between manager and club.

Sure enough, the Basque lifted Villa out of mediocrity and led them into the Champions League. Nobody mocks his accent anymore.

Similar to Emery, Nuno’s good work at Wolves (promotion, qualifying for the Europa League) was overshadowed by a high-profile failure in north London.

While Spurs languish in the Premier League relegation zone, Nuno restored his reputation with Al-Ittihad, spearheading Nottingham Forest’s thrillingly unlikely push for Champions League qualification in 2024-25 and currently masterminding West Ham’s improbable attempt at staying up.

Everton is a renowned graveyard for managers, chewing up and spitting out everybody from Roberto Martinez to Sean Dyche.

But Silva was on an upward trajectory before arriving at Goodison Park in 2018, impressing with Hull and Watford in England’s top flight.

Everton weren’t quite the basket case they would become in the early 2020s – money was spent and the expectation was to push for Europe – but Silva was sacked in December 2019 with the Toffees in the relegation zone and humbled 5-2 in the Merseyside derby.

Happily, the Portuguese has since restored his reputation by making Fulham into attractive mid-table staples. Another example of a coach finding his level.

“Claudio Ranieri is clearly experienced, but this is an uninspired choice by Leicester,” Gary Lineker said the former Chelsea boss arrived at the club in 2015.

“It’s amazing how the same old names keep getting a go on the managerial merry-go-round.”

Ranieri had been out of work since a winless four-game stint with Greece in 2014 was ended after the country were beaten 1-0 by minnows the Faroe Islands.

You all know what happened next.