Top 10 available managers: Brendan back on the market as ex-Man Utd bosses seek jobs | OneFootball

Some of these managers can afford to be picky, even if a couple risk being too choosy. Others are waiting for clubs to panic like f*** after a ropey start to the new season…

10) Bruno Lage

The former Wolves boss was fairly brutally binned by Benfica and replaced by Jose Mourinho the day after an admittedly embarrassing Champions League defeat to Qarabag. But he had won three of his first four games in the league as well as steering the club through qualifying and into the Champions League in the first place.

Has a decent amount of experience in Portugal, Brazil and the Premier League, but lasting barely a year in any one job is becoming a bit of a habit for a man whose longest single managerial stint was the 76 games he managed in his first spell at Benfica.

9) Erik ten Hag

Ten Hag suggests his sacking at Bayer Leverkusen was an ‘unprecedented’ nonsense and some of his grievances are legitimate. He arrived in a summer during which Leverkusen sold a number of their best players and can any coach really make a mark in such little time amid such squad turnover?

Well, apparently, 62 days is long enough for the higher-ups at Leverkusen to decide that Ten Hag is absolutely the wrong man for them. Which reflects poorly on the club, but it will always be more damning on the manager. So what next for Ten Hag? Perhaps something closer to home, back in the Netherlands, or very far away, in Saudi or suchlike.

8) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The Norwegian was fired during a brutal week for ex-Manchester United managers, with Besiktas pulling the trigger an hour after defeat to Lausanne in the Europa Conference League play-offs.

Solskjaer was appointed in January with Besiktas sixth in the table and he had a positive impact steering the club to a fourth-placed finish after eight wins and a draw in his first 12 games. He certainly has form for strong starts. Besiktas didn’t wait, like United, for things to turn really sour. But Solskjaer’s ability to spark immediate improvement will appeal to some chairmen when they start to panic as winter takes hold.

7) Edin Terzic

The nearly man of Dortmund, Terzic was so close to glory, leading his boyhood side to the Champions League final last season, a year after a final-day collapse gifted Bayern Munich another Bundesliga title.

But Terzic is becoming the nearly man of the managerial market given how many jobs he is linked to without an appointment materialising. Most recently, Roma were talking to the 42-year-old before they went all in on Gian Piero Gasperini, while Brentford are also mentioned as a possible destination but only speculatively.

6) Ange Postecoglou

Despite being sacked by Tottenham, Big Ange’s stock was still high having made good on his second-season-silverware promise. So it always seemed a weird marriage with Evangelos Marinakis, not a man renowned for patience, but an annulment on day 39 was fast even for the Forest owner. Where does that leave Postecoglou now? Probably looking abroad. Unless Celtic fancy another ride on the Ange train…

5) Brendan Rodgers

Celtic ought to be the easiest job in British football, especially while Ibrox is hosting Scotland’s biggest circus. And Rodgers might have thought he could escape unscathed if he walked away now, but Dermot Desmond’s statement in response to the manager’s resignation was eviscerating in the extreme. No chairman can say they weren’t warned and it will make many wary. But someone will be taken in by Rodgers’ smarm and whatever brand of football he’s selling these days. West Ham, probably.

4) Luciano Spalletti

Spalletti was sacked as Italy coach in the middle of the recent international break after almost two years at the helm of the national team. Having announced his own dismissal, the 66-year-old is either taking his time to lick his wounds or he would prefer his next gig to be closer to home since he has rejected a £14million-a-year deal to take over at Al-Nassr.

Spalletti, who has previously managed Roma, Zenit and Inter, took the Azzurri job after leading Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023. There is no disgrace in his Italy record and he is likely to be looked upon favourably by many big clubs while scouring the manager market. The Juventus gig could appeal…

3) Zinedine Zidane

Is Zizou a great coach, or just a great Real Madrid coach? That isn’t to denigrate his achievements at the Bernabeu. Only Carlo Ancelotti has won the Champions League more often than the three occasions Zidane has lifted it. And the Frenchman stockpiled his winners’ medals in consecutive seasons. Add a couple of La Liga titles and Zidane’s record is unimpeachable.

Still, though, we’d love to see Zidane take another job. He seems to be very choosy – fair f***s, he’s certainly earned that right – having been linked with PSG, Manchester United and Chelsea in the past. He has spoken about his level of English being a barrier to managing in the Premier League, but we all want Zidane to take the chance to prove he’s brilliant beyond the Bernabeu. That prospect, though, gets more remote the longer he turns his nose up at a return to the dug-out. He was offered £84million to boss Al-Hilal this summer but that wasn’t for Zizou. At this stage, he seems quite happy with his lot, and why the f*** wouldn’t he be? At least until the France job becomes available.

2) Gareth Southgate

Southgate recognised the time for ‘a change and a new chapter’ – for himself and England. What might that represent for Southgate?

Weirdly, a Euro 2024 campaign that culminated in England’s first final on foreign soil probably tainted his chances of a big club chance somewhat. There was speculation over a Manchester United move which always seemed fanciful, especially now Dan Ashworth is long gone from Old Trafford.

There’s a fair chance a statesman like Southgate decides he doesn’t even need the hassle of a high-profile club job. Perhaps a foreign club might hold more appeal than a domestic gig. Regardless, it would be fascinating to see how Southgate fares among players every day rather than every couple of months.

1) Xavi

After an unnecessarily shambolic exit from Barca, Xavi spoke of taking a sabbatical year. Which has now passed, so can we expect the former midfield maestro back in the dug out?

It seems so. Xavi has been linked with Manchester United and Chelsea and he has spoken of taking a Premier League gig, though we doubt the job he’s looking for exists here: “There’s no hurry for me, but I’d like a good project. Like, ‘You have four years to work and make a project’. I’d love to work in the Premier League, I love the passion there. In Spain, it’s too much about the result.”