How Dutch Managers Have Fared in the PL

After David Moyes’ disappointing short spell in charge of Manchester United, it was thought bringing a world-class manager in Louis Van Gaal off the back of a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup will bring Man Utd back to the top, but during his time at Old Trafford, he will be remembered more for his interviews rather than his football.

He had his ups and downs during his time in Manchester, with his memorable moment coming in winning the club's first trophy post-Sir Alex Ferguson, winning the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in his final game in charge.

There were a few memorable spells for the wrong reasons, going eight games without a win over the Christmas period in his final season, whilst also getting knocked out to the club's biggest rivals Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Frank De Boer’s time in charge of Crystal Palace is remembered for all the wrong reasons, only taking charge of four Premier League games before getting sacked, despite having signed a three year deal with the club just two months earlier.

In his four games in charge in the Premier League, his team didn’t manage to score a single goal, whilst conceding seven, with him trying to instil a possession-based system with the players that weren’t of the quality or suited to that style.

His time at Palace was so bad that Jose Mourinho labelled him as ‘the worst manager in the history of the Premier League’ and he could be correct as De Boer had the shortest time in charge of any full-time Premier League manager.

Advocaat’s managerial career lasted an incredible 41 years, managing 23 different clubs, including three stints as the Netherlands manager, three years as the Rangers manager, winning two league titles whilst also winning the UEFA Cup and Russian Premier League with Zenit Saint Petersburg.

His temporary time in charge of Sunderland between March and May 2015, could have meant as much as a league title to him, as he managed to guide Sunderland to safety with a match to spare, which saw him in tears on the sidelines.

After this great achievement he was made permanent manager, but this didn’t go as well as the previous season, as he left the club after just eight league games where his team lost five and drew the other three, with the team in the relegation zone.

Martin Jol had two stints in charge of English sides, taking charge of Tottenham Hotspur from 2004 to 2007 and Fulham from 2011 to 2013, making him the most experienced Dutchman to manage in the Premier League, taking charge of 201 games between the two clubs.

Like most managers in charge of Spurs, he was known as the manager that nearly got them somewhere, but still he was considered a success at White Hart Lane, managing them to two successive UEFA Cup qualifications in his two full seasons in charge.

Jol had two good seasons in charge of Fulham, taking them to a ninth-place finish in his first season and a 12th placed finish in his second season but was sacked in his third season after six successive defeats, replaced by his assistant-coach Rene Meulensteen.

Having spent six successful years as a coach under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, winning four league titles, Rene Meulensteen got his own chance to manage a Premier League club, with Fulham hiring his services in November 2013.

He was known for exceptional technical coaching, but he was unable to take this into management, with his time in charge of Fulham being a short one, as just three months after taking charge, he was left without a job after being sacked with the club facing an uphill battle to stay up.

In his 14 league games in charge of Fulham, he managed just three wins and was sacked as the club thought Felix Magath was better suited to keep the club safe, which he wasn’t as the Cottagers finished in 19th and were relegated to the Championship come the end of the 2013/14 campaign.

After one of the most successful playing careers, Ruud Gullit was thrust into management in 1996 when he was appointed player-manager of Chelsea after Glenn Hoddle left to take charge of England.

Despite the lack of experience, Gullit made a great start to his managerial career, winning Chelsea’s first major trophy in 26 years, winning the FA Cup in 1997, and becoming the first manager from outside of the British Isles to win a major trophy in Britain.

Despite having the club in second place and a place in two quarter-finals, he was sacked, with Gullit stating it was because they falsely thought he was partying too much in Amsterdam.

Gullit was then named Newcastle United manager two games into the 1998/99 season, where he managed to reach the FA Cup final, losing to Manchester United, but he resigned the next season as he had fallen out with the club's best players, including Alan Shearer.

Ronald Koeman managed for just over three seasons in the Premier League, and for the first three seasons, he looked to be doing an amazing job with the clubs he was managing.

He took over Southampton in 2014 after Mauricio Pochettino’s reign, and in his first season he was considered a massive success, guiding the Saints to a seventh-placed finish, but the next season he outdid himself, finishing in sixth, qualifying for the Europa League.

However, he never managed the Saints in Europe as he left to take up the Everton job, and again he managed another successful season, guiding the club to a seventh-placed finish and Europa League qualification.

But his next season lasted just nine league games, as he was sacked with the club in the relegation zone, ultimately struggling with the number of fixtures added with the Europa League and the sale of his star player, Romelu Lukaku who was not adequately replaced.

Hiddink had two spells in charge of Chelsea, both on an interim basis, with his first spell in 2009, replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari for the last few months of the season and in this spell, he lost just once and managed to win the FA Cup and reach a Champions League semi-final.

Hiddink returned to the club in 2015, taking over from Jose Mourinho who had left the club in a dire spot, with the team in 16th place, just a few points from the relegation zone.

He managed to steer the club back in the right direction, going unbeaten in his first twelve games in charge, but the damage to the season had already been done, as he could only manage to finish 10th.