The last couple of seasons has seen a host of players we all grew up watching finally retire from the game and try their luck at management. Alan Shearer tried it and failed pretty swiftly, Gary Neville's stint at Valencia showed he's just a mouthpiece whilst the less said about Paul Scholes at Oldham the better. Unfortunately, Jamie Carragher has still to make that plunge and given his knowledge of the game I feel that's a wasted opportunity but I think he's gone the cushy route more than anything. Twat.
So those above shall not be included as their stints were too short and so with that in mind.
Frank Lampard
Play-offs with a Derby side heavily influenced with loaned players, a playoff spot appearing to be par for the course at County but he did knock Man United out of a domestic cup. I think his inexperience and bitterness showed with the whole spy-gate rubbish.
Steven Gerrard
Short stint with the Liverpool youngsters before knocking back MK Dons. Rangers finishing 2nd in his debut season, a good effort in Europe but again, a good number of loaned players and discipline issues throughout the squad.
Jonathan Woodgate
Briefly a scout for Liverpool before rejoining Middlesbrough as a coach until Garry Monk decided James Beattie would be a better option. Two years working with the clubs academy before being the sole survivor of Tony Pulis's backroom staff. Tasked with promotion and improving the visual aspect of 'Boro's play.
Phil Neville
Surprisingly took over the England Woman's team and a decent effort to lead them to the semi-final however the warning signs remain. Defensively he's a weak coach and I believe it was his decision to switch to a 4-4-2 against USA that backfired. He's good with the media and deflects the serious questions quite well but it's difficult to gauge just how good he could be until he joins a club.
Scott Parker
Fulham's reign in the Premier League was as depressing as Parker's career being mostly known for a Maccy's advert but he secured some big wins, steadied them defensively and is well deserving of his opportunity to bring them back up.
Lee Bowyer
Looked set to depart after leading Charlton to promotion before a U-turn and now looks set to remain. Play-off defeat a few months after taking over Robinson but his first season saw them rewrite a wrong and defeated arguably the two bigger sides in Doncaster and Sunderland to steer the Addicks up.
Joey Barton
Controversial as he may be, finishing 11th wasn't too bad an effort with decent wins over rivals Blackpool as well as Sunderland. As is always the case with Barton, trouble isn't that far off and assaulting the opposition physically isn't what management is about. You need to beat them with your ideas and tactics, Joey!
Sol Campbell
Ridiculed for years yet finally got his break after a short stint helping out with Trinidad and Tobago. Macclesfield looked dead and buried prior to his arrival and a drop to the Conference seemed inevitable. 7 wins, 10 draws in his 25 games in charge. A full season in charge next season is going to be interesting and he's one to watch, I reckon. I'm actually quite pleased for him too.
John Terry
OK, OK, I know. He's not a manager but I'm either forgetting someone obvious or I'll continue to scrape the barrel with this one as it'll inevitably happen during this season when Dean Smith gets sacked for you know...getting Villa promoted.
Other
Who?