Gian Piero Gasperini and 5 More Terrible Managerial Reigns

It is hard not to feel sorry for Gian Piero Gasperini.

The 53-year-old arrived at Inter Milan this summer as one of the brightest managerial prospects in Serie A following his four-year spell at Genoa, but he lasted just five winless competitive games in charge at the Giuseppe Meazza before getting the boot earlier this month.

After becoming the new boss of the Nerazzurri following the departure of Leonardo for Paris-Saint Germain, Gasperini lost the Supercoppa Italiana to locals rivals Milan, the opening league game to managerless Palermo, a Champions League group game to Turkish club Trabzonspor and then, finally, to newly-promoted Novara.

There was certainly an element of misfortune involved in Inter's woeful run of results, but Gasperini's penchant for chopping and changing tactics and formations in the middle of games did little to inspire confidence, and perhaps accelerated club president Massimo Moratti's decision to fire him. Still, at least they have Claudio Ranieri in now. Let's just forget his nickname is 'The Tinkerman' for the time being. 

Inspired by Gasperini's ill-fated 89 days at the Inter helm, here are some more managerial tenures that everyone involved would perhaps rather forget. 

Les Reed (Charlton Athletic, November 14 to December 23 2006)

You know as a new manager that your prospects may not be as rosy as you had hoped when news of your appointment is greeted by the majority of observers with utter bewilderment.

But that was the reaction to the news that Charlton had promoted assistant manager Les Reed following the sacking of boss Iain Dowie after just a dozen games in charge of the 2006-07 season.

Reed had enjoyed a long career as a coach and consultant and many different clubs and organisations, including the FA where he worked as part of Kevin Keegan's backroom staff, spent time as their technical director and literally wrote the book on coaching: "The Official FA Guide to Basic Team Coaching."

Still, his vast experience could not help him win more than one of his eight games in charge during a torrid six-week spell. The Addicks lost 5-1 at Tottenham and 3-0 at home to Liverpool before a Carling Cup defeat to League Two side Wycombe Wanderers at The Valley all but sealed his fate.

Reed, dubbed 'Les Miserables' and derided as the worst football manager of all time by some sections of the sporting press, was sacked just before Christmas, and Charlton's eight-year residence in the Premier League came to an end that season. 

Juande Ramos (Tottenham Hotspur, October 29 2007 to October 25 2008)

Ramos had turned Sevilla from sleeping giants into UEFA Cup winners and genuine La Liga title contenders, so it was seen as a real coup when he left Spain to join Tottenham in 2007. The manner of his appointment generated plenty of controversy, however, as the news of Martin Jol's sacking from the Spurs hot seat filtered through as the Dutchman was in the dugout during a game.

Replacing a manager who was very popular at White Hart Lane and had led Spurs to back-to-back fifth-place finishes was always going to be a task, and the fact that he barely spoke any English did not help endear him to his new supporters.

Results in the league failed to improve anywhere near enough to threaten breaking into the top four, which was what Ramos had been hired to do. Despite reaching the last 16 of the UEFA Cup and winning the Carling Cup—Tottenham's first trophy for nine years—a lacklustre league campaign saw Spurs finish 11th.

Big money was spent by Ramos and sporting director Damien Comolli, but the following began disastrously with just two points taken from their first eight league games. Ramos's final game in charge was a 2-0 UEFA Cup defeat to Udinese, and Tottenham were all too happy to abandon their continental management set-up and hand the keys over to Harry Redknapp.

John Barnes (Celtic, June 10 1999 to February 10 2000)

Most managers who won 19 of their 29 games in charge could feel pretty pleased with themselves at such a high win percentage, but not if you're in charge of Celtic. 

Former Liverpool great John Barnes took charge of the Hoops in a role under director of football and former Anfield boss Kenny Dalglish, and he got off to a great start, winning 5-0 at Aberdeen and 3-0 at home to St Johnstone before thrashing Welsh side Cwmbran 10-0 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup. However, results soon began to nosedive and Celtic lost ground in the title race to bitter rivals Rangers. 

The final straw came when Barnes suffered the eighth defeat of his 29-game tenure, a shock 3-1 home defeat to Second Division side Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup which spawned the now infamous headline on the back page of The Sun: "Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious."

Barnes was sacked two days later.

Graeme Souness (Liverpool, April 16 1991 to Janury 28 1994)

Another Liverpool legend whose managerial career failed to live up to that of his playing days, Souness let England's most successful club slip way down the pecking order on his watch.

'Souey' took the reins soon after the shock resignation of former team-mate Kenny Dalglish, who left the club having won three league titles and two FA Cups during his tenure. Souness's three years in charge yielded just one FA Cup and saw the Scotsman fail to bring in players of sufficient quality to replace the ageing stars of Dalglish's reign such as Ian Rush, Peter Beardsley, John Barnes and Bruce Grobelaar. 

The combustible Souness had been a fearsome, tenacious midfielder during his playing days, and he did not hold back as a manager, which resulted in several rows and falling outs with several key players and senior figures at the club.

After the Reds had not finished lower than second in the league during Dalglish's time in charge, Souness was unable to keep up with the rises of Leeds and Manchester United and led the club he captained to multiple glories to two sixth-placed finishes before ending his final campaign in eighth.

The Reds have sporadically threatened to recover their former glories, even winning their fifth European Cup in 2005, but they have had to look on helplessly as Manchester United have overtaken their haul of 18 league titles. The seeds of such a major downfall were sown during Souness's reign.

Luiz Felipe Scolari (Chelsea, July 1 2008 to February 9 2009)

Another textbook example of how quickly a glowing reputation can be shattered in football. Scolari had managed Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002 and then led Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, and subsequently his standing rose in Europe a great deal.

So much so, in fact, that the FA tried to install him in the build-up to the 2006 World Cup as a replacement for the outgoing Sven-Goran Eriksson, but Scolari was put off because of the media siege he was put under as soon as he became linked with the job. Portugal went on to beat England in the quarter-finals in Germany.

However, 'Felipao' ('Big Phil') was eventually poached from the Portugal job by English employers, only this time for club side Chelsea. Still reeling from the row which led to Jose Mourinho's departure, Chelsea owner pegged Scolari as the man to lead the club to glory once again. It didn't work out quite like that.

The signing of Deco from Barcelona did not have the expected effect on the team, while veteran journeyman Mineiro and misfit winger Ricardo Quaresma failed to make any discernible impact. Defeats at home to Arsenal and Liverpool were among the five losses suffered under the Brazilian's reign, while a series of lacklustre performances yielded 11 draws before defeat at Anfield saw his lucrative £6.25 million-a-year contract terminated after just eight months in charge.

His replacement, Guus Hiddink, picked up the pieces by leading Chelsea back up to third in the table, reached the Champions League semi-finals and won the FA Cup.