Ranking the five managers with the most red cards ever: Where does Jose Mourinho rank? | OneFootball

Another sending-off for Jose Mourinho feels routine at this point, but how high does he rank among the most-sent-off managers ever?

Big-name coaches from Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea and Real Madrid are among those who have struggled to keep their cool on the touchline.

Here are the five managers who have received the most dismissals.

5. Arsene Wenger – 3

Technically speaking, Big Weng wasn’t shown three red cards during his lengthy stint in charge of the Gunners.

Nor is there any evidence of him being sent away during his earlier stints at Nancy, Monaco or Nagoya Grampus Eight – when it was much less the done thing.

But there were some notable disciplinary incidents that we’re calling our trump card, rounding this list up to a nice neat five and giving the legendary Arsenal manager the edge over two-time red card receivers like Thomas Tuchel, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.

Wenger’s most famous dismissal was for kicking a water bottle on the touchline at Old Trafford, giving us a biblical image of him looking perplexed up in the stands.

Do yourself and watch Gordon Strachan narrating Wenger’s infamously harsh Old Trafford dismissal. Pure gold.

He was also sent off towards the end of his managerial career, in January 2017, for protesting a stoppage-time penalty decision in a 2-1 victory over Burnley.

Before the Premier League introduced cards for managers, Wenger was handed a mammoth 12-match touchline ban for using “threatening behaviour and physical intimidation” towards fourth official Paul Taylor in the tunnel following an opening weekend defeat to Sunderland.

Wenger’s appeal against the touchline ban was ultimately successful, but he was still made to pay a £10,000 fine. And he was later given a three-match touchline ban for verbally abusing Mike Dean following a January 2018 draw at West Brom.

4. Xavi Hernandez – 3

Never a particularly spiky figure on the pitch, Xavi received a grand total of three red cards (all for two bookings) over the course of the thousand-plus matches he notched for club and country.

He matched that tally from the touchline from just two and a half years at Barcelona.

Call us an armchair psychologist, but that boiling-over frustration surely stems from not being able to take charge of the game as he once did from the heart of midfield.

3. Andre Villas Boas – 3

Well, they did call Villas Boas the new Mourinho back in the day…

The Portuguese coach was never sent off during his most high-profile stints in charge of Chelsea and Tottenham, but he was shown a red card in his off-the-grid stints at Zenit Saint Petersburg and Shanghai SIPG.

He received the third red card of his managerial career for two yellow cards in quick succession after the final whistle of Marseille’s 2-2 draw with Amiens, back in March 2020.

“I apologise for this exchange of words with the referee,” Villas Boas told RMC Sport afterwards.

“It is my fault. We have to control the match after 2-0 and if not, it is my fault.

“I am the leader of this team, it is my responsibility, it’s up to me to give that peace of mind. We lost control of the game and we lost points at home, once again.”

He’s moved upstairs since departing Monaco, now serving as Porto’s club president.

Perhaps he’ll share some anger management pearls of wisdom for Francesco Farioli, who he appointed in the summer.

2. Diego Simeone – 7

“Sometimes you get sent off, sometimes you don’t,” was Simeone’s response to David Beckham’s notorious red card against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup. You’d be surprised if he’s quite as zen and philosophical about the seven he’s received as Atletico Madrid manager.

You wonder if Becks affords himself a little smile while sipping on a cool glass of Stella, or Pepsi, or Haig scotch (is there a drink he hasn’t endorsed?) while watching his old foe tot up red card after red card in his post-playing career.

The Argentinian’s been in charge of Atleti since 2011, making him the longest-serving manager in Europe’s major leagues. But on the evidence of his irate argy-bargy with Liverpool fans in the wake of Virgil van Dijk’s stoppage-time winner, he hasn’t lost the fire in his belly.

“I’m a person, I’m human,” he told reporters in his post-match press conference.

“Obviously, my reaction is not justifiable; I insulted him, but it was 90 minutes of being insulted the whole time.

“Then you turn around, when your opponent has scored, and they are still insulting you. It is not that easy. The referee understood the situation. I hope that a team like Liverpool can improve that part.

“When they identify the person who did this, it should have its consequences, but he who needs to stay calm and take the insults is me.

“In my place you just have to take it.”

His latest red card doesn’t quite match his apoplectic meltdown in the wake of Atletico’s 2014 Champions League final, but it wasn’t a million miles off. Never change, Diego.

1. Jose Mourinho – 15

We’ve published thousands of lists here at Planet Football. And we’ve never been less surprised to see a name at the top.

Mourinho established himself as a firebrand in his younger days at Porto and Chelsea, but if anything he’s only got more cantankerous as he’s got older. Time certainly hasn’t mellowed him.

Highlights including two seperate dismissals and £8000 fines during his first season back at Chelsea in 2013-14.

He received a further six red cards during his time at Roma (no player or manager in Italy received more during his spell there) and reeled back the years when he faced Manchester United as Fenerbahce manager.

And in recent weeks he’s added another two to the tally. His sending off against Real Madrid was somewhat overshadowed by his disappointing response to Vinicius Junior’s accusation of racism, and he’s since been shown a red card in O Classico, a 2-2 draw against league leaders Porto.

“The referee said he sent me off because I kicked the ball towards the Porto bench. That’s completely false,” Mourinho pleaded afterwards.

“Many times, in our own half, I kick the ball towards the stands to give a lucky fan a chance. I know I’m not very good technically, but it was meant for the stands.”

But he was obviously angry, something he doesn’t deny – incensed at being labelled a ‘traitor’ by one of Porto’s coaching staff.

“He (a member of Porto’s coaching staff) called me a traitor 50 times. I’d like him to explain that to me: a traitor to what?

“I went to Porto, I gave my all to Porto, I went to Chelsea, I went to Inter, to Real Madrid. I travelled the world and gave 24 hours of my life every day. That’s called professionalism.”