The stories behind the shortest managerial reigns in football

“The Manager is the most important person in the club. If not, why is he sacked when things are not going well?” – Arsene Wenger at an LMA fundraiser in 2008.

Arsene Wenger hits the nail right on the head. If the failure of a team is down to the manager, then it follows that whatever success the club achieves is also down to the manager’s capabilities. That is why it is important to hire the right man to lead your club forward.

The managers who appear on this list were perhaps, according to their respective chairmen, not the right men to lead the club. Being sacked in this industry is not the worst thing that could happen, but these managers have the dubious distinction of having held the reins of a club for the shortest duration.

Simply put, these managers below were in the wrong place at the wrong time and had to suffer the ignominy of being sacked in a ridiculously short span of time.

On that note, we take a look at what led to their premature sacking, the stories behind the shortest managerial reigns in football.

10) Rene Meulensteen

When and where: Anzhi Makhachkala, 2013

Duration for which he was manager: 16 days

What happened?

Rene Meulensteen was the first-team coach at Manchester United under Sir Alex, but left by mutual consent following David Moyes’ appointment as manager. Since Moyes wanted to bring in his own coaching staff and Meulensteen did not wish to take up a nominal role, he left to take charge of Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala.

Meulensteen joined one of the richest clubs in the world, with a huge transfer budget and plenty of superstars to work with – what could possibly go wrong?

A lot, actually. As it turned out, the club had spent close to $180 million in 2012 on transfer fees and inflated salaries, and so were looking to trim their budget to $50 million for 2013. The club also lost its first 4 matches of the 2013 Russian League even after spending close to $50 million on summer signings and Meulensteen’s position was already untenable

This seemed to be the final straw for owner Suleiman Kerimov, who decided to sack the manager, shift focus to younger, cheaper players and bring in a new manager to work with the youngsters. In addition, the entire first-team, including a number of superstars, was put on sale, so as to ease the wage budget.