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Five of the youngest managers in Premier League history

Premier League looks to be heading towards a completely new era with several clubs backing the idea of acquiring managers with relatively less experience but with fresh approaches.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

Bengaluru, May 14: Premier League looks to be heading towards a completely new era with several clubs backing the idea of acquiring managers with relatively less experience but with fresh approaches.

The recent arrivals of the likes of Frank Lampard and Mikel Arteta speak a lot about such a concept.

However, this is not something new. In several occasions previously, Premier League clubs have adopted such a plan and appointed young managers with a player-manager role or who are just new to the management.

Arteta right now is the youngest manager in the division but he is still some way older than the youngest managers the Premier League has seen.

So here we have taken a look at five similarly youthful figures who were youngest in the Premier League to don the managers' hat at one point:

1) Attilio Lombardo – (32 years, 67 days)

Till now the youngest manager in Premier League history who was given charge of a Crystal Palace side fighting relegation. Lombardo had only arrived at the newly-promoted club the previous summer from Juventus but was given a player-manager role when Steve Coppell moved into a Director of Football role. A fan-favourite at the club, he was in charge for last seven games however could not save his side from relegation. He left the managerial role next season but continued as a player.

2) Chris Coleman – (32 years, 313 days)

Coleman had to forcefully retire early from his playing days due to a fatal accident which broke his leg. But after quickly announcing his retirement in 2002 he moved into coaching role under the manager Jean Tigana. After Tigana's sacking in the following season, Coleman was handed a caretaker role and he began brightly in his first senior coaching role, leading the club to a ninth-place finish.

He continued at the club for four years and maintained a decent lower table finish throughout only to get sacked in 2007 after a seven game winless run. Coleman since has managed teams like Real Sociedad, Sunderland and came into the limelight with his tenure with Wales national side who went to the semi-final of 2016 Euro Cup.

3) Gianluca Vialli – (33 years, 227 days)

Chelsea's youngest manager till date, Vialli stepped in as player-manager role at Stamford Bridge in 1998 after the sacking of Rudd Gullit. Chelsea won six of their final ten league games to secure a fourth-placed finish with Vialli in-charge.

However, his most notable impact was seen in the cup competition. Chelsea were already in the semi-finals of the League Cup and the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup and went on to win both competitions under Vialli. He continued the player-manager role next season as well and won the European Super Cup by beating Real Madrid 1–0, and finished 3rd in the Premier League what was Chelsea's highest league finish since 1970.

He has had a disappointing next season after finishing 5th in the Premier League but the campaign ended on a high note when Vialli guided Chelsea to 2000 FA Cup victory. He started the next season brightly, winning the community shield but was sacked five games into the season after an indifferent start and having fallen out with several players

4) Andre Villas-Boas – Chelsea

Andre Villas-Boas is the youngest man on this list who was a full-time appointment straight off the bat. He joined Chelsea from Porto in the summer of 2011 after guiding Porto to the Europa League title at just 33-years-old to gather a reputation as one of Europe’s most promising young coaches. But he could not last a full season at Stamford Bridge and was sacked in February less than a year in his first season after Chelsea dropped out of the Champions League places. He, however, has had a decent spell in Zenit afterwards and is now managing at France with Marseille.

5) Ruud Gullit – (33 years, 352 days)

Gullit arrived at Chelsea from Sampdoria late in his career as a player but surprisingly was handed a player-manager role just a year later following Glenn Hoddle’s decision to take charge of England. He has had a decent start to his managerial career guiding the club to their first major trophy in 26 years during his first season in charge and becoming the first foreign manager in history to win the FA Cup.

However, he started growing a straining relationship with the club’s board next season due to inconsistent performance and he was relieved of his duties in February replacing him with the player-coach role by Gianluca Vialli – a player he had brought to the club from Juventus.

Story first published: Thursday, May 14, 2020, 22:50 [IST]
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