12 Coaches from Outside the Top Divisions Who Are Ready to Step Up
Transitioning to the elite level of football is a challenge not every manager is cut out for, whether it be due to a premature rise or simply finding the cut-off point in their own skill as a leader.
The only way to find out this ceiling, however, is to make an attempt on it and this summer will see numerous tacticians make a grand step up in what's required of them.
We've taken a look through those managers either contending or are already on course to meet that task, determining which managers across the world are prepared for a higher calling.
12. Abelardo Fernandez
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Gijon born and bred, it seems only appropriate it would Abelardo Fernandez's boyhood club who give him his first real opportunity at the big time in football management.
Having climbed the club's ranks since being installed as a youth coach at the club, Fernandez is now on the brink of taking Sporting Gijon back into La Liga after only one full season at the first-team helm.
Through spending so much time in the lower levels of this Gijon squad, we may come to find the former Candas and Tuilla boss is limited in genuine talent, but his work done throughout 2014-15 showed some genuine talent.
Having guided Sporting Gijon to third in his maiden campaign, Fernandez has helped the club overcome the limitations of last term's fifth-place finish and ready his side for another playoff journey.
11. Markus Kauczinski
2 of 12It was just a single point impeding Karlsruher from taking their spot in the promotion playoffs of the 2. Bundesliga this season, but that shouldn't diminish the leadership of Markus Kauczinski.
Kauczinski is another with intimate knowledge of his squad, having himself climbed the ranks of Karlsruher over the past six years, even having held the first-team interim position on three occasions.
After all those temporary leads, the 45-year-old now has the reins for good and was only just short of clinching top-flight football and a record of two promotions in three seasons.
Under Kauczinski's guidance, the club appear to be making only forward steps, the mark of consistent improvement.
10. Aitor Karanka
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The Championship playoff campaign will decide Aitor Karanka's fate in a race to reach the Premier League, but the former Real Madrid assistant has already proven a force to be reckoned with in England.
Marshalling the best defence in the Championship wasn't enough to seal automatic promotion at this occasion, but the Boro boss is still on track to move up following his first full season at their helm.
Studying under Jose Mourinho in the Spanish capital looks to have rubbed off on the Spaniard after showing an ability to grind out games, but it's becoming clear Karanka's a talent in his own right.
9. Dirk Schuster
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The owners of SV Darmstadt are now reaping the benefits of their decision to stick with Dirk Schuster as manager two years after he almost led the club to relegation from Germany's third tier.
Fast-forward to the present day and Shuster has led Darmstadt to the 2. Bundesliga and to within an inch of another promotion to the nation's highest division.
Only a point separates Darmstadt from second-place Kaiserslautern and the potential to play in the Bundesliga next season, with their manager Schuster having shown superb skill to have hit back in the past two seasons.
8. Ranko Popovic
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Real Zaragoza's place in the playoffs of this season's Segunda Division campaign isn't quite assured just yet, but Ranko Popovic has nevertheless done an admirable job of leading the team to their current position.
Inheriting a Zaragoza team coming off the back of a disappointing season in which they finished 14th, the Serbian has brought consistency back to a side now looking for promotion.
That goal is still some way off, but ex-FC Tokyo and Cerezo Osaka helmsman Popovic looks to have Zaragoza rising through Spain's ranks once more, though some more time managing in Europe will surely lend its hand, too.
7. Roberto Stellone
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With only three rounds of the 2014-15 campaign left to go, Frosinone remain a frontrunner to take automatic promotion from Serie B this season, largely thanks to having one of the best offensive forces in the league.
That encouragement to promote fast, attractive football is part of what makes Roberto Stellone such an attractive prospect as a manager, one unsullied by the more tenuous aspects of "winning football."
A leaky back line may set Stellone's men back some—in fact, Frosinone have the worst defence in Serie B's top seven—but it's a sacrifice that's made ex-Napoli and Torino staple Stellone so popular.
Beginning his management career at the club with which his playing days ended, Stellone is already moving mountains despite only being a few years in the profession in his maiden first-team position.
6. Rubi
7 of 12Taking over a team fresh from relegation leaves no simple task for the following manager, but Rubi has shown some extraordinary man management to take Valladolid straight back into a promotion race.
With a new face at their helm, Los Pucelanos now boast a defence on par with the top two teams in Segunda Division and a more threatening attack than the one managing just 38 goals in La Liga last term.
Rubi only had a short time as understudy to Tito Vilanova at Barcelona between 2013 and 2014, but the ability to implant a structure upon a side who looked to be lacking one has been hugely impressive.
5. Alex Neil
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Still just a babe in his coach development, former Hamilton Academic fan favourite Alex Neil has slotted in well at Norwich City, too, bringing the club to with just a couple of steps of playoff promotion.
The Canaries' choice to tempt Neil from Hamilton now looks a justified one, taking the club out of the funk they were experiencing prior to his arrival and redirecting that belief they are in fact a Premier League team.
By all rights, they could be right after seeing Norwich play with the confidence they have at time in recent months and Neil, having improved matters so much at New Douglas Park, is now effecting the same change at Carrow Road.
From the comeback victory over leaders Bournemouth for his first match in charge, Neil has looked to give something to his players and it's possibly the start of a great career on the sideline.
4. Fabrizio Castori
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The oldest of any candidate to make this list, Fabrizio Castori's experience at the top level is limited despite a resume of coaching positions stretching back to the early 1980s.
Having simmered among the ranks of Serie B for some time, Castori finally found his runaway train with Carpi and has claimed the division's championship with games to spare.
As it tends to, a rigid defence has proven key to Capri's thriving success under their boss of of not even one year yet, giving the outfit their first taste of Serie A football, a challenge he's now prepared for in kind.
3. Ralph Hasenhuttl
10 of 12Ralph Hasenhuttl hasn't taken long to implement massive change at Ingolstadt and fire the club toward a Bundesliga future after claiming a six-point cushion at the head of the 2. Bundesliga.
Going from a 10th-place finish last term to the dominating streak of 2014-15 has seen the Austrian transform Die Schanzer's attack into the joint-best in Germany's second tier and boast one of the top defences, too.
After some promising years at Aalen, it's no coincidence Ingolstadt have profited hugely from Hasenhuttl's appointment, and he's quickly showing himself to be a tactician deserving of first-division credentials.
2. Pepe Mel
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Pepe Mel isn't a name unheard around top-flight circles and though many may doubt the Spaniard based on recent merits, the Real Betis boss appears ready for another run at the big time.
Back at the head of Betis, Mel looks to be profiting from some familiar faces after a forgettable time as coach at West Bromwich Albion, guiding Er Glorioso into pole position for a return to Spain's top tier.
Amassing the most prolific attack in Liga Adelante has been no small feat for the man who's clearly a cut above the rest in his current surroundings and ready for a (significantly) bigger task.
1. Eddie Howe
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One of the most obvious choices for a manager ready to make the step up is of course one who will do so this summer in the hot seat to ensure Bournemouth's success is no flash-in-the-pan story.
With 98 goals in 46 games from a squad that, in truth, wasn't so dramatically transformed from the one of last season, Eddie Howe has squeezed something astonishing out of this Bournemouth lineup.
Having won the Championship, the Football League Manager of the Decade must now take the Cherries into unknown territory and attempt to make a similar dent among the big guns of England.
Mastering a rags-to-riches story the likes of which Howe has at Dean Court has been nothing short of amazing, but it's true the former Burnley chief won't know for sure if he belongs until next August.
