7 football legends that became TERRIBLE managers: Maradona, Lampard, Pirlo...

Football management is a completely different beast from playing, as some of the greatest footballers to kick a ball found out after retirement.

While the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff broke the mould, many successful players have struggled to become great managers for a myriad of reasons.

We've identified 7 bonafide footballing legends who couldn't transfer their playing success into the dugout.

Diego Maradona

Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, Maradona failed to inspire the brilliance he so often produced as a player during his two years in charge of the Argentina national team.

With Maradona in charge, the South American giants narrowly qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, where they suffered a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Germany in the quarter-finals.

Many fans in Argentina criticised his decision to leave Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti, fresh from winning the treble with Inter Milan, out of the squad. His contract with the Argentine Football Association was not renewed after the World Cup.

Fourteen months later, he took charge of United Arab Emirates side Al Wasl, guiding the team to an eighth-place finish in his one season. That didn't stop speculation he'd take charge at Spurs though…

Gary Neville

One of Britain's leading football pundits, Neville's one managerial role was a case study in abjectness.

The former Manchester United and England defender was appointed by Valencia in December 2015, despite not speaking Spanish or possessing any experience as a manager.

He failed to win any of his first nine La Liga games, before suffering a humiliating 7-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.

“That 7-0 was a defining moment. No manager could come out of that unscathed,” said Valencia-based reporter Paco Polit.

“After speaking to some of the players in the following days, a number of them said they expected a big, angry reaction from Gary, and it just didn't happen.

“It goes along with the idea that Gary was too nice of a guy to be a coach in Valencia. He was too close to the players because I think deep down he still felt like one of them.”

Five straight defeats in La Liga sealed his fate. Neville hasn't dared return to the dugout since, choosing to stay with Sky Sports instead.

Alan Shearer

Shearer was trusted with the unenviable task of saving Newcastle from Premier League relegation when he took over with eight games remaining of the 2008-09 season.

He failed to do so, winning only once as the Magpies dropped out of the top division for the first time since 1993.

The Premier League's all-time leading goalscorer hasn't returned to management since, instead forging a reputation for speaking terse generalities while dressed as a security guard on Match of the Day.

Lothar Matthaus

Germany's record cap holder struggled to cut it as a manager with a range of clubs, including Partizan Belgrade, Atletico Paranaense and Red Bull Salzburg.

He also attempted two stints as an international coach, but failed to lead either Hungary or Bulgaria into a major tournament.

“At the moment you can't see him getting a job here [in Germany],” Philipp Selldorf, football correspondent of Munich's Suddeutsche Zeitung, suggested in 2011.

“Time has passed him by and now there is a new generation of younger managers.”

Andrea Pirlo

The epitome of cool during his playing days, Pirlo has struggled to transmit such authority from the touchline.

His one season in charge of Juventus saw the side fail to win Serie A for the first time in nine years, finishing fourth in 2020-21. Winning the Coppa Italia has hardly likely to save him from the chop, especially after flopping in the Champions League.

Pirlo's next role was in Turkey with Fatih Karagumruk and he only lasted a single season there too. Reports that he allowed his players to smoke at half-time hardly painted the World Cup-winner as a disciplinarian to fear.

The former midfielder is now in Serie B with Sampdoria, who have won one of their nine matches to date.

Frank Lampard

After reaching the play-off final with Derby, Lampard did well to guide a young Chelsea squad to Champions League qualification in 2020.

But concerns over a lack of defensive nous were exacerbated as Chelsea slid towards mid-table the following season. He was sacked in January 2021 with the club in ninth and Thomas Tuchel leading that same side to Champions League glory reflected poorly on Lampard's managerial acumen.

His time at Everton was similarly bittersweet, saving them from relegation in 2022 only to be sacked the following January with the Toffees looking like certainties for the drop.

Lampard returned to Chelsea on an interim basis in April 2023 and won just one of his 11 matches in charge. He's shown little sign of learning from his previous mistakes and has been reduced to meme status.

We're sure he'll get another job, but there's little to indicate Lampard will make a success of it.

Sir Bobby Charlton

Arguably England's greatest-ever player, Charlton's managerial career was brief and unsuccessful.

The 1966 World Cup winner and scorer of 49 international goals took over as manager of Preston North End in 1973, but he oversaw the club's relegation from the Second Division that season.

He resumed playing but left the following year, making three appearances for Waterford United in 1976.

After a brief role as caretaker manager at Wigan Athletic, Charlton joined the Manchester United board in 1984, where he remained until the late 2010s.

Who else do you think should be in this list?