5 Managers Who Will Start the Season in the Hot Seat

Summer is always a time of change for the big clubs of world football, but at the managerial level, this summer has been witness to an unusual level of turnover.

No one is surprised when clubs like Chelsea get a new boss, but when Manchester United and Barcelona join the party, things start to get interesting.

The top three teams in England are all getting replacements, along with Spain's top two finishers and the German Champions. In Italy, two of the biggest clubs with disappointing seasons are also looking for a breath of fresh air.

The pressure for the new managers to outperform their predecessors will be enormous, and at many clubs, there is little margin for error and little patience for failure.

At which clubs will the manager be stepping right into the hot seat and into immediate danger of an early winter vacation?

Jose Mourinho at Chelsea

The incoming Chelsea manager will be on familiar ground, taking over at a club he led to two straight English titles earlier in his career.

Jose Mourinho's former success at the club might give him some room for error, but Roman Abramovich isn’t particularly known for stability. There have been seven different full-time managers at Stamford Bridge since Mourinho left in 2007 (eight if you count Ray Wilkins, who was in charge for a single match).

After languishing in a distant third for most of the past season and bouncing out of the Champions League at the group stage, the pressure on Mourinho to improve the side will be enormous and will be immediate.

An early slipup could see a quick end to the Special One’s homecoming.

Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City

After winning their first title in over 40 years in 2012, City failed to build on their success last campaign, letting United run away with the title and failing their first European test quite comprehensively.

Manuel Pellegrini will be expected to turn things around immediately on the latter front and convert domestic success, too—at the very least—European competence.

City fans may protest at being placed in the most difficult of European groups last season, having to face off against the champions of Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, but no one came away from Group D thinking that City deserved promotion to the next phase of the competition.

Pellegrini, in the meantime, will be new to the English game. An early defeat in the Champions League and any sort of falter at home and he could quickly find himself out of a job.

Tata Martino at Barcelona

Barcelona’s new boss, Tata Martino, is the most unexpected newcomer among the European elites, replacing an ailing Tito Vilanova.

He takes over from a five-year reign of insiders intimately familiar with and connected to the club and its players. But he will be expected to make them all work together seamlessly in a matter of weeks.

Though he takes over one of the most talented teams in Europe, Martino is also dealing with an unexpected and rather forced transition following Barca’s colossal defeat to Munich in the Champions League and the arrival of mega-transfer Neymar.

The Camp Nou faithful will be looking on with a weary and suspicious eye as he attempts to both carry on the Guardiola-Vilanova legacy but carve out new successes for his players. Will he be able to rejuvenate the Blaugrana?

Walter Mazzarri at Inter

Inter are coming off one of their worst seasons in recent memory, finishing ninth in Serie A, an incredible 33-point gap separating them from champions Juventus.

They’ll be wondering how they squandered their good fortune following five consecutive official league titles, a Champions League crown and Juventus’ demotion to Serie B just a few short years ago.

They’ll be hoping that Walter Mazzarri, fresh off a surprisingly successful campaign at Napoli, will be able to lead the club back to glory—or at least pull them out of the depths. But they will likely have little tolerance for continued mediocrity following their disastrous run of form in the spring.

If Mazzarri cannot breathe new life into Inter, and quickly, he will likely be shown the door.

Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid

Among all the new bosses, Carlo Ancelotti may be under the most immediate pressure at the Bernabeu.

Madrid’s failure in the league last campaign ultimately came down to their mediocre start to the season (falling 11 points off the pace by November), a mistake they will be looking to rectify this time around.

The Madrid supporters are notorious for their desire not just to win but to do so with style and flair. But style and flair have never been Ancelotti’s strong suit. He is built more in the mold of Madrid’s last Italian manger, Fabio Capello, who was sent on his way precisely for failing on that front.

If Ancelotti cannot get his team off to a flying start, he could quickly find himself in hot water.