Poll: The Coaching Selections.

By: chris | June 2nd, 2009

It’s no surprise that coaching changes are typically swift. The selection for the sidelines can impact everything that happens throughout the summer – from the market to the board room to the staff individual player training on holiday. So you don’t mess around.

But this year’s been excessively swift. To the point that unless a shock firing comes in the near future, every single big (or bigger) club* and surprise champion which had its coach poached now has its sideline seat filled. Today. Two days after the season has ended. No room for anticipation here.

* – Juventus still has its position open, but for weeks its been reported as being down to interim Ciro Ferrara and Bari boss Antonio Conte. And yesterday Cobolli Gigli said they will choose a ‘young Italian tactician’. Flip a coin.

(All apologies to Scotland but, well, they’ve got a ways to fight themselves back up.)

If we capped it at clubs which earned automatic berths for next year’s Champions League, this is what it’d look like:

Real Madrid: Manuel Pellegrini (Villarreal)
Chelsea: Carlo Ancelotti (Milan)
Milan: Leonardo (Internal)
Wolfsburg: Armin Veh (Unemployed – fired by Stuttgart mid-campaign.)
Bayern Munich: Louis Van Gaal (AZ)
AZ: Ronald Koeman (Unemployed – previously collecting a paycheck as head of Valencia fan club.)

Extra: Marseille: Didier Deschamps (Two year nap.)

- Marseille finished second and still have to qualify but Didier Deschamps is, for my money, going to be a quality, quality coach at the Velodrome. At least until he starts talking with the board.

Ajax also nabbed Martin Jol after his successful stint at HSV and by the time of this posting, Villarreal will likely have nabbed Ernesto Valverde from Olympiakos (he’s already listed under ‘Manager’ in Villarreal’s Wiki, so it must be true). But with both teams heading to the UEFA Cup/Europa League, they aren’t quite ‘big’ right now – though Ajax’s trophy cabinet may argue otherwise.

So, simple question: Which Champions League team picked up the best coach relative to their goals?

The proven European Ancelotti who’d come under criticism the last two years? Manuel Pellegrini, who’d weaved magic with a humble Villarreal squad much of his tenure but also couldn’t get them to beat a half-decent team in the league? The untested but highly touted Leonardo? Bayern’s new anti-Jurgen? Will Wolfsburg’s Armin Veh, who won a surprising title with Stuttgart in his first full season, defend the crown at the VW Arena? Or is it perhaps the man who would’ve been known as The Special One had luck favored him that night in Gelsenkirchen?

Best coaching selection:(polling)