Throughout footballing history, many top players have transitioned from the pitch to the dugout, hoping to translate their on-field brilliance into managerial success. There have been plenty of opportunities for England players to make this jump too. Not only have the Three Lions produced many excellent players over the years but England boasts a lot of football teams, and a fair few trigger-happy owners, meaning there is not usually a long wait until the next vacancy.
As we will soon find out though, the jump between being an international football player and becoming a competent manager is far from a straightforward one. The two jobs require very different skill sets and although some have successfully risen to the challenge, others have struggled. Here is a list of England players who performed much better as a player than they ever did as a manager. Caretaker/interim roles are not included, only permanent appointments.
Bobby Charlton
- England Caps – 106
- Teams Managed – Preston North End
- Years Active as Manager – 1973-75
You could write a book on Bobby Charlton’s career as a player, in fact Charlton himself wrote more than one; but for his managerial career, a leaflet would suffice. The World Cup-winning England legend took the reins at Preston in 1973 and guided them to relegation to Division 3 in his first year in charge. In an attempt to get them back into Division 2 next season, he put his boots back on and adopted the player-manager role. This failed to spark a serious promotion push though with the Lilywhites finishing 14 points shy of a top-three finish. He left early the following season following a disagreement with the board and he never took a permanent managerial role again (though he briefly acted as caretaker manager for Wigan in 1983).
David Platt
- England Caps – 62
- Teams Managed – Sampdoria, Nottingham Forest, England U21, Pune City
- Years Active as Manager – 1998-2015
Having spent two years at Sampdoria as a player, returning to the club three years later as manager did not seem the worst idea. Unlike some other British managers who have worked abroad, he spoke the language and knew Italian football well. Despite this, the appointment was a disaster with Platt, who according to other clubs did not have the necessary coaching qualifications, failing to win any of his six games. Following this stint, he moved to Nottingham Forest as player-manager following their relegation.
Playing time at Forest was incredibly limited (seven appearances over two seasons) but he did manage 103 matches. A win rate of 35% may not seem too bad but Platt spent a sizeable sum on transfers. £3.6m was spent on three Italians who never looked up to the rigours of English football. Forest were expected to be title challengers in their first season back in the second tier but finished closer to relegation than promotion. There was a small improvement the following year but not enough to stop Platt’s reputation as manager from being in tatters. The only other club ever to hire him again was the Indian outfit FC Pune City.
Tony Adams
- England Caps – 66
- Teams Managed – Wycombe Wanderers, Portsmouth, Gabala, Granada
- Years Active as Manager – 2003-2017
With little to lose, rock bottom of Second Division Wycombe took a punt on Tony Adams. The former Arsenal man could not inspire an improvement though and the club finished in the same place they were when Adams took over. They stuck with him heading into the following season but just three months in, Adams resigned citing personal reasons. He returned as assistant to Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth and took the helm when Redknapp left to manage Tottenham. Somehow managing to perform less well than during his poor spell at Wycombe, Adams won just four of 21 games before he was sacked.
Years later, in a quite bizarre appointment, the Arsenal legend took charge of Azerbaijan side Gabala. Under his leadership they finish seventh during the 2010/11 season, two places lower than in the previous campaign. Finally, this brings us to Adams’ final stint at Grenada CF. Admittedly, the La Liga club were struggling but Adams’ run of seven consecutive defeats before his sacking marked a particular low point.
Alan Shearer
- England Caps – 63
- Teams Managed – Newcastle United
- Years Active as Manager – 2009
In fairness to Shearer, he was very much thrown in at the deep end at the start of his life as a football manager. Facing a very real threat of relegation, Newcastle threw caution to the wind and decided to try their luck with an untested club legend. Shearer replaced Chris Hughton who had temporarily been standing in for the ill Joe Kinnear and took charge of the final eight games of the campaign. Of these matches, Shearer managed just one win. Five points from a possible 24 was not good enough to keep Newcastle afloat and the experience put Shearer off management for good.
Gary Neville
- England Caps – 85
- Teams Managed – Valencia
- Years Active as Manager – 2015-16
It was not so much Neville’s 85 caps as an England player that helped him land the Valencia job in 2015, rather it was having close ties with the club’s owner Peter Lim. The former right back had enjoyed some relevant experience working as England’s assistant manager but otherwise, he was as green as they come. This inexperience combined with his inability to speak Spanish made him a shock appointment. Many expected him to perform poorly and indeed this proved to be the case. When sacked, he left the club just six points clear of the relegation zone, having not managed a single clean sheet in 16 league games. The lowest point though was the embarrassing 7-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.
Paul Scholes
- England Caps – 66
- Teams Managed – Oldham Athletic
- Years Active as Manager – 2019
Paul Scholes, along with former Manchester United teammate Phil Neville got a taste of life as manager when covering one Salford City game as a caretaker in 2015. This seemed like it might be his only taste of life in the dugout but he returned in 2019 when Oldham Athletic took a chance on him. Although he was performing poorly (one win in seven matches), Scholes walked from the job rather than facing the axe, following issues with the club owner. Since then his only other managerial stint was when returning to Salford for five games as interim manager.