Football is a cruel game be it from a player's point of view or from a manager's point of view. No matter how successful you were in your previous job or how successful you are with your current club, your job is never secure, even if you win the Premier League title despite having the odds stacked against you. That is exactly what happened with former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri, who was sacked by the Foxes in a shocking turn of events.
Also read: Leicester City sack Claudio Ranieri 9 months after winning the Premier League title; Twitter reacts
Claudio Ranieri, who has managed the likes of Juventus, Chelsea, Monaco and Atletico Madrid, was never expected to guide Leicester City to the Premier League title in the 2015-16 season, but he did and how. While his name will forever be remembered for this remarkable achievement, all fairy-tales come to an end and so did Leicester's.
While no one expected them to challenge the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal for the title this season, it came as a huge surprise for everyone as they lost their touch and are now sitting just one point above the relegation zone. Should they get eliminated, they would be the first team since 1938 to be relegated after winning the Premier League.
That being said, this is not the first time a manager in the top leagues of Europe has been shown the door after guiding his team to a title. Here is a look at five managers who were sacked a season after winning a title with their team.
Jose Mourinho sacked by Chelsea
Jose Mourinho was sacked for the second time as Chelsea manager in the 2015-16 season after he guided them to the Premier League title in the 2014-15 season. After finishing third in his first season back at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho and his men completely dominated the Premier League in the season that followed as they went on to win the league, losing just three matches.
In the next season, Jose Mourinho signed a four-year deal at the club and they were once again expected to challenge for the title. But after losing nine out of 16 games in the Premier League, Chelsea decided to sack Jose Mourinho.
Vincent Del Bosque sacked by Real Madrid
Not a lot of people remember, but Vincent Del Bosque had a really successful spell as manager of Real Madrid during the late 90's and early 2000's as he won basically all the available trophies from the La Liga to the UEFA Champions League. But despite that, he was not able to hold on to that job. After guiding Real Madrid to their 29th La Liga, the Real Madrid hierarchy decided to sack the former player just 48 hours after their La Liga triumph. However, they did regret the decision to some extent later on.
While Del Bosque would go on to enjoy success as the manager of Spain later on, winning the World Cup in 2010 and the Euros in 2012, Real Madrid would go on to endure their worst trophy drought in 50 years.
Roberto Di Matteo sacked by Chelsea
Roberto Di Matteo initially joined Chelsea as the assistant manager to André Villas-Boas in the 2011-12 season. After the sacking of Villas-Boas, the Italian became the caretaker manager until the end of the season, winning the FA Cup. He also guided them to their first-ever Champions League trophy.
Following that outstanding achievement, Roman Abramovich decided to offer the former Chelsea player a two-year contract, but he could not continue that same form the next season and after losing to Juventus 3-0 in the Champions League, which also saw them get eliminated from the tournament, the Italian was sacked. He lasted only eight months as the Chelsea manager.
Louis Van Gaal sacked by Bayern Munich
Louis Van Gaal has certainly established himself as one of the top managers in Europe and while he did struggle to establish himself at Manchester United, he won them the FA Cup in his final season. The former Netherlands manager had a lot of success at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich and despite winning the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal in his debut season and almost winning the treble with them, he lost to Inter Milan in the finals of the Champions League.
However, none of that was enough to save him as in the season that followed Bayern Munich got eliminated from the Champions League in the last 16 and lost pace in the Bundesliga, leading to Van Gaal being sacked.
Fabio Capello sacked by Real Madrid
During his second spell in charge of Real Madrid, Fabio Capello arrived at the club during the time they were going through their worst trophy drought ever. After having enjoyed success with the likes of Milan, Roma and Real Madrid during his first spell in charge, they were confident he could turn their fortunes around and he did. He guided them to their 30th La Liga title after his side defeated Mallorca on the final day of the season, but despite that, he could not stay on as the manager and was sacked before the start of the next season as the Real Madrid hierarchy felt they didn't win in a pleasing-enough style.
