10 Football Managers Who Are Always Linked with Jobs

Whenever a vacancy opens up in a dugout, if you listen carefully you can hear the managerial merry-go-round clicking into gear.

The same names always seem to crop up from the bookies and the media when a job becomes available.

Obviously, the particular names linked with a job varies depending on the calibre of the club and coach involved, but there seems to be a limited pool from which those names are plucked.

Here are 10 managers who are never too far away whenever a job is up for grabs.

Alan Curbishley

The former Charlton and West Ham manager's name is routinely in the mix whenever a job at a low to middle-ranking Premier League club comes up, or indeed one at a big club in the Championship. 

Curbishley was once interviewed for the England job, but since then has seen his stock fall after a spell at Upton Park marred by the club's financial difficulties, and he left that job after a row over who was really in charge of first-team affairs.

The 54-year-old has not been in work since leaving West Ham in 2008, and appears settled in his life as a media pundit these days, but that doesn't stop him from being linked with a multitude of jobs.

Jose Mourinho

Mourinho has had to repeatedly insist that he is not leaving Real Madrid this summer, whether or not they win the Champions League in May.

However, the Portuguese coach does have form in that area. He walked out on Porto to join Chelsea as soon as they won the Champions League in 2003, and repeated the trick again in 2010 after Inter Milan lifted the trophy.

If there is a club with money to spend and ambitions of winning Europe's biggest prize, you can bet Mourinho will be the first name on their list.

David Moyes

The Premier League's third-longest serving manager—behind Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger—Moyes is pegged by most onlookers as deserving of a chance at a top job.

The Scotsman has worked wonders on a tight budget during his decade at Everton, and he has shown more than enough managerial skill to indicate he would thrive in such a position.

As such, he has been earmarked as a potential successor to Ferguson at Manchester United, while he has also been mentioned with respect to the roles at Chelsea and Tottenham.

Frank Rijkaard

When Barcelona won La Liga and the Champions League back in 2006, it seemed their manager Frank Rijkaard was destined for greatness. However, after two further trophy-less seasons at the Nou Camp, he took his leave and was replaced by Pep Guardiola.

The Dutchman then took the rather unexpected step of going to Turkey to manage Galatasaray in 2009, but only lasted one season at the Istanbul giants. He has now moved even further east, having taken on the job of coaching the Saudi Arabian national team last year.

Despite the somewhat backwards steps his career has taken, Rijkaard is often mentioned when jobs at big clubs across Europe are mentioned, including at Chelsea whenever they are on one of their regular searches for a new coach.

Guus Hiddink

The Dutch coach did wonders for his reputation by coming in at Chelsea in 2009 following the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari and leading the club to an FA Cup triumph that year.

Hiddink carved himself a nice niche in taking on lucrative jobs in charge of national teams—namely South Korea, Australia and Russia—which had a solid base of players and resources and just needed some coaching expertise to boost their prospects.

He was routinely linked with top jobs in England and elsewhere all the time during those international tenures, and will surely continue to be, even though he is now back in club management at super-rich Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala.

Steve McClaren

Following his disastrous time in charge of England, McClaren did much to rebuild his reputation by winning the Dutch title with FC Twente. That success earned him a move to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, but he did not even complete a full year in Germany.

McClaren returned to management in England with Championship side Nottingham Forest at the start of the season, but resigned after just 10 league games amid a row over the club's transfer policy.

Now back at Twente, the former Manchester United assistant manager is still mentioned in dispatches with regards to a return to English football.

Fabio Capello

Capello's torrid reign in charge of England ended with his resignation in February, ostensibly because of his dissatisfaction with the FA going over his head in their stripping John Terry of the captaincy. However, the Italian quit because he had reached the end of his tether with the English press as much over a matter of principle.

The veteran Italian has a CV few of his contemporaries can rival, and as such it was no surprise to read stories linking him with top clubs even before he finally left the England job.

There has been talk of a third spell at Real Madrid should Jose Mourinho leave the Bernabeu, while the likes of Inter Milan, Chelsea and even Anzhi Makhachkala have also been mentioned as possible destinations. As long as he is out of work, expect Capello's name to pop up whenever a big vacancy opens up. 

Marcelo Bielsa

Athletic Bilbao's thrilling run to the semifinals of the Europa League has put many of the club's players in the shop window, while their manager Bielsa has also seen his stock rise.

The former Argentina and Chile coach is as famed for his innovative methods and attacking football—Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola hails him as his greatest inspiration—as he is for his eccentric personality.

Athletic's European exploits have made them the talk of the continent this year, and the Basque club may struggle to keep hold of their manager, in addition to a clutch of their star players, in the summer.

Steve Bruce

The former Manchester United defender was never out of work for a decade as he flitted from club to club—taking in two spells at Wigan, a brief stay at Crystal Palace and a six-year stint at Birmingham before his luck ran out at Sunderland earlier this season.

Bruce has enjoyed some time out of the game—he was recently spotted watching the England cricket team playing in Dubai—but he is sure to put himself back in the frame for work sooner rather than later.

He came close to taking over at Wolves after the sacking of Mick McCarthy, before the Premier League's bottom club plumped for assistant boss Terry Connor instead. Bruce is sure to be mentioned in the same breath as any club in the bottom half of the Premier League or top half of the Championship looking for a manager this summer.

Rafael Benitez

Since his underwhelming six months in charge of Inter Milan in 2010, Benitez has worked hard to maintain his profile, especially in England, where he still has his home and sees his future. 

The Spanish coach, who paid the price for one bad season in his five years at Liverpool by getting the sack, has an uneven relationship with the British media, with some journalists regarding him as a fine coach with some eccentric ideas and others dismissing him as a controlling egotist.

However, his track record of two Spanish titles with Valencia and the Champions League at Liverpool far outweigh the thankless task of following Jose Mourinho at Inter, and the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Real Madrid and even a return to Anfield are all links which have been made, with admittedly varying degrees of likelihood.