Tom Cleverley has taken his first step into management by taking interim charge of Watford, leaving many fans saying how old they feel after the news. Here are other former players you won’t believe are managers.
Former Manchester United midfielder, Cleverley, has taken the plunge into management after Watford sacked Valérien Ismaël. Cleverley’s task won’t be an easy one, given the revolving manager’s door at Watford.
In only 14 months being at the club, Ismaël Koné has played under FOUR managers at Watford 🤯
Slaven Bilić
Chris Wilder
Valérien Ismaël
Tom Cleverley#CanMNT pic.twitter.com/qU8GQau2eq— CanMNTBible (@CanMNTBible) March 11, 2024
Cleverley’s only taken the role on an interim basis, but his decision to enter the management world has made a lot of football fans feel old. The midfielder became a regular for Manchester United in the 2011/12 season after Paul Scholes retired and Sir Alex Ferguson identified him as an ideal replacement. His career was hampered by injuries, which ultimately resulted in him retiring aged just 34 in 2023.
With Cleverley’s surprise introduction into management, we’ve identified former players you won’t believe are managers.
How are we in the same time frame where Tom Cleverley is a Championship manager but Pepe Reina still plays football… pic.twitter.com/BsqubS7Nox
— george (@StokeyyG2) March 11, 2024
Carlos Tevez – Independiente
It doesn’t seem like two minutes since Argentine Carlos Tevez was causing Premier League defences to have nightmares the night before a game. Now, aged 40, Tevez is the manager of Independiente in his native Argentina, and he starts our list of former players that you won’t believe are managers.
Tevez played for both sides of Manchester, and West Ham United. His goals in his first season for West Ham kept the Hammers up, at the expense of Sheffield United. His transfer to West Ham was surrounded by controversy due to third-party involvement, which led to complaints by the Blades.
Independiente isn’t the first club Tevez has managed. He was briefly in charge of Rosario Central before departing after just five months.
He’s yet to experience the same success he had in his playing career, but Tevez’s side have made an impressive start to their current campaign. Tevez will be hoping his side continue their impressive start and go on to challenge for the title.
Arda Turan – Eyupspor
A fine midfielder during his playing days, Arda Turan, has quietly slipped into management over in Turkey. He played 100 times for his country and was part of a successful Atlético Madrid team during a period of Real Madrid and Barcelona dominance.
The Turkish midfielder, Turan, started his career at Galatasaray before making a move to Atlético Madrid, where he played over 100 times. After four years in Madrid, he swapped Atlético for Barcelona, where he stayed for five years before departing permanently in 2020. He returned to Galatasaray, where he played for another two years before retiring in 2022.
Now, aged 37, Turan is the manager of the Turkish side Eyupspor who are based in Istanbul. The side plays in the TFF First League, the second tier of Turkish football. They look set to be promoted to the top tier of Turkish football after a fantastic 2023/24 season.
ARDA TURAN ARDA TURAN OLEY! pic.twitter.com/EQ1Z4ZCdNn
— Eyüpspor (@eyupsporkulubu) March 3, 2024
Nuri Sahin – Borussia Dortmund (Assistant Manager)
Sahin is the next on our list of former players you won’t believe are managers. Another fine Turkish midfielder, Nuri Sahin, was expected to be one of the gems of Turkish football alongside Turan. He started his career with Dortmund, before getting a dream move to Real Madrid.
His time in Madrid wasn’t what he would have wanted, and he soon joined Liverpool on loan. He again struggled, and his loan was terminated early. Sahin moved back to Dortmund two years after joining Real Madrid, initially on loan, before making the move permanent.
Sahin spent another six years in Germany before moving to Turkey to play for Antalyaspor in 2020. In 2021, Antalyaspor fired their manager and offered Sahin the role of player-coach. Sahin took the unusual decision to immediately retire and become full-time manager of the club, aged just 33.
In his first season, he took the side from being relegation threatened to finishing 7th. This was thanks to a long unbeaten run that got the eyes of the media watching what Sahin was doing in Turkey. After impressing in Turkey, he was offered the chance to become assistant manager of Dortmund.
Sahin is only 35 years old and has a long management career ahead of him. His success at Antalyaspor and the experience he’ll pick up while at Dortmund, suggests he’s in for a promising career as a manager.
Liam Rosenior – Hull City
While the other players so far on this list have competed at the very top, Liam Rosenior’s career was much humbler. The majority of his playing career was spent with the club he now manages, Hull City, as well as Fulham and Brighton.
Rosenior retired from the game in 2018 and worked for the youth setup at Brighton. He became interim manager of Derby County in 2022 after being the assistant to Wayne Rooney. His time in the role was short, and after Paul Warne was appointed Derby manager, Rosenior was offered the role of manager at Hull City.
Charlie Adam – Fleetwood Town
The final player on our list of former players you won’t believe are managers is former Liverpool midfielder, Charlie Adam. Adam started his professional career with Rangers before making the move south of the border to Blackpool. He was part of the Blackpool team that famously reached the Premier League against all odds.
His performances for the club earned him a big move to Liverpool. He spent just one year with Liverpool before being sold to Stoke City, where he enjoyed six more years in the Premier League before Stoke were relegated.
After returning to Scotland to play for Dundee, Adams announced his retirement in 2022. Adam made his first step into management at the end of 2023, joining League One side Fleetwood Town.
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