Can a Manager Manage a Club and National Team at the Same Time?
We’ve seen many great football managers swap club football for the international stage, and vice versa. But can a manager manage a club and national team at the same time? In this article, we dive into the topic.
We cover the reasons why a manager might want to manage two teams, as well as listing ten football managers that have managed both a club and national team at the same time.
Table of Contents
Can a Manager Manage a Club and National Team at the Same Time?
Yes, football managers can manage a club and national team at the same time. One example is Sir Alex Ferguson, who managed both Aberdeen and the Scottish national team at the same time. This is possible due to the breaks in domestic football seasons coinciding with international matches.
Conveniently enough, international matches take place during breaks throughout the domestic football calendar. This means that, in theory, a manager can go from managing their club side straight into managing an international team during a break in the season.
Why Do Football Managers Manage Two Teams?
Pride
The main reason why football managers manage both a club and national team at the same time is personal pride. More often than not, an international manager will manage their own nation, and it is a huge honour to be asked to do this.
Therefore, if asked, it’s hard to turn down the opportunity to manage your own country, however this might come at a time when it’s impossible to walk away from the club they are managing. This presents the unique example where a manager manages both a club and a national team at the same time.
Work Ethic
Some football managers might want to manage two teams because they have a particularly strong work ethic. They might enjoy the challenge of being constantly busy during the calendar year and enjoy the process of working hard at what they love doing.
Development
Another reason why football managers will manage two teams at the same time is because they want to develop their abilities as a coach. International football is a very different tactical environment in comparison to club football due to the lack of time coaches have with national teams on the training pitch.
This however can present opportunities for a manager to learn different tactical styles that they can implement in their other team too.
10 Managers That Have Managed a Club and National Team at the Same Time
Here are 10 managers that have managed a club and national team at the same time:
- Sir Alex Ferguson
- Guus Hiddink
- Leonid Slutsky
- Rinus Michels
- Miguel Herrera
- Fatih Terim
- Dick Advocaat
- Ricki Herbert
- Stuart Pearce
- Billy Bingham
1. Sir Alex Ferguson
The first manager in our list is no other than Sir Alex Ferguson, who managed both Aberdeen and the Scotland national team at the same time. He took over the Scotland team in 1985 after their manager Jock Stein tragically died. Scotland had qualified for the World Cup playoff qualifying match at the time.
Unfortunately, Scotland lost to Australia in the play-off, meaning they missed out on playing in the 1986 World Cup. Ferguson managed Scotland for 10 games – Winning 3, drawing 4 and losing 3, which meant he achieved a win percentage of 30%.
2. Guus Hiddink
Dutch manager Guus Hiddink is a rare example of a football manager who managed two professional teams at the same time on two separate occasions. Firstly, he managed both PSV and the Australian national team for 11 months from July 2005 to June 2006.
He then swapped the Australian dugout for the Russian dugout in July 2006, remaining as the Russian national manager for a spell of four years. In 2009, he became interim manager of Chelsea for 4 months from February to May, that meant that he was managing both Chelsea and Russia at the same time.
Hiddink led the Russian national team to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 thanks to star players Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin. Although his spell with Chelsea was brief, he led them to FA Cup success.
3. Leonid Slutsky
Leonid Slutsky found himself managing CSKA Moscow and Russia at the same time for a spell of 10 months. This spell came at the end of his 7-year tenure with CSKA where he led them to three Russian Premier League titles and two Russian Cups.
Slutsky took Russia to Euro 2016 after winning all of their qualifying matches, however this was a big failure, with Russia finishing bottom of their group behind Wales, England and Slovakia.
Russian fans got in a lot of trouble at the tournament, causing violence after their shock exit. UEFA threatened to disqualify Russia from the next tournament however because they were hosting the 2018 World Cup, they automatically qualified.
He resigned from his role with the Russian national team following the disappointment of the Euros in June 2016 and 6 months later resigned from managing CSKA Moscow.
4. Rinus Michels
Next in our list of managers who managed both a club and national team at the same time is Rinus Michels. The creator of “Total Football”, the Dutchman managed both the Netherlands and Barcelona at the same time.
He applied the tactics for total football at both sides. Meaning that he expected his sides to play floating football where every player had the licence to attack, defend and create chances.
He led the Netherlands to the 1974 World Cup final, where they lost 2-1 to West Germany. Johan Cruyff was his prized asset and played for both sides that Michels managed. Cruyff became the spearhead of Michels total football tactics.
Domestically, Michels won the La Liga title with Barcelona.
5. Miguel Herrera
For 2 months in 2013, Miguel Herrera was the manager of both Club America and the Mexico national side. His main priority was sealing qualification for the 2014 Brazil World Cup. He bowed out of Club America after taking them to a Liga MX title.
Mexico qualified for the tournament and Herrera led them to the Round of 16 where they were controversially knocked out of the tournament by the Netherlands, losing 2-1.
6. Fatih Terim
Turkish football manager Fatih Terim managed both Galatasaray and the Turkish national team on three separate occasions. In August 2013 he found himself managing both sides at the same time as Turkey aimed to qualify for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
Terim guided Galatasaray to a UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000, the first Turkish team to win any European competition. In addition, he led them to two Turkish league titles during his second stint as manager.
7. Dick Advocaat
Dutch manager Dick Advocaat managed both Dutch Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar and the Belgian national side at the same time. He was already managing the Belgian national side when he got the call to take over at AZ Alkmaar from Ronald Koeman a couple of months later.
He managed both sides, however his stints there weren’t particularly great, and in 2010 he moved on to take charge of the Russian national side.
8. Ricki Herbert
Another manager who has managed both a club and national team at the same time is New Zealander Ricki Herbert. He managed the New Zealand national team from 2005-2013 and Australian A-League team Wellington Phoenix from 2007-2013.
This is one of the longer stints we’ve seen of a manager managing both a club and national team at the same time. He took New Zealand to the 2010 South Africa World Cup after they won their qualifying play off match against Bahrain.
In their first game at the 2010 World Cup, they claimed a point in a 1-1 draw against Slovakia, and this was the first ever point they’d ever claimed at a World Cup. In their next match, they held the reigning champions Italy to a 1-1 draw, and their third match against Paraguay ended 0-0.
Although they were unbeaten, New Zealand failed to qualify for the Round of 16. They ended up being the only “undefeated” team in the tournament.
9. Stuart Pearce
For just under 4 months in 2007, Englishman Stuart Pearce was managing both Manchester City and the England Under 21 side. His role with England was initially on a part-time basis because of his commitments to Manchester City.
Whilst managing the England Under 21 side, England manager Fabio Capello called Pearce up to be a coach for the senior men’s team. Pearce was also manager of the only Great Britain football team in 2012 when they competed at the London Olympic Games.
10. Billy Bingham
Last in our list is Northern Irishman Billy Bingham. He managed both Northern Ireland and Plymouth Argyle for two years from 1968-1970. He was initially made Northern Ireland manager in 1967, but the role didn’t require much workload.
Hungry for more work, Bingham took the role of Plymouth Argyle manager just five months later. Taking over from Derek Ufton, he was unable to avoid the drop as Argyle finished bottom of the Second Division.
