The Top Nomadic Managers in English Football

The Starting Eleven

Before we take a look at the data from an individual league perspective, we are first going to look at the 11 managers who have made the most changes as club managers (excluding as interim, caretaker or youth team roles)

Top of the table is a man who has only been in his current post for 14 days. After arriving at Wolves, new boss Vitor Pereira took his 14th senior job in what had already been a nomadic career before switching to Molineux.

Pereira has won trophies in Portugal, Greece and China as a manager. Still, his geography does not stop there either, and with spells in Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well, the man who has been tasked with saving Wolves from relegation may want to hire a hotel rather than purchase permanent accommodation on the basis of his previous employment history.

Pereira's 13 changes puts him one clear of Steve Bruce in second and although he is currently plying his trade with League One outfit Blackpool, the former Manchester United defender can also add the likes of Birmingham and Newcastle to his C.V. 

Pereira and Bruce are two of just three managers who have made 10 changes and the other to join this illustrious group is Steve Evans - a man who currently is pitched up as manager at fellow League One outfit Rotherham.

Steve Evans - Image: sky sports

The Scot is something of a divisive figure, loved by those who watch the teams he oversees, less so by the opposition but with 10 changes, his ability to get teams promoted often means he is also rarely out of work.

While another man who has tasted Premier League management in the past finds himself fourth in the table and this is thanks to recently taking the job at Swindon Town.

The man in question is Ian Holloway and the former Blackpool manager amnong many others, is currently in his 10th senior job with nine changes being made.

Behind Holloway are two men who are currently overseeing Premier League team at different ends of the table and one has been in their post for even less time than Vitor Pereira.

Unai Emery

Unai Emery has overseen an incredible transformation at Aston Villa and the former Arsenal boss has made eight managerial changes since his first ever job with Lorca Deportiva in 2004.

However, the wily Spanish coach has to share joint fifth with the new Southampton boss Ivan Juric and with the former Roma boss being in the Saints post for just 12 days at the time of writing, this also represents his eighth managerial move since taking the Mantova job in 2014.

Rounding out the top 11 are five managers who have all made seven changes each - the quartet in question are Paul Cook, Ange Postecoglou, Nigel Adkins, Chris Wilder and Derek Adams. 

Men who have been around the block or around the globe when banking their managerial experience and this experience has obviously been attractive to those who make employment decisions within football clubs. 

Now that we have the top 11 overall, we are going to look at what the tables look like from a league perspective only.

Premier League Changes

With the top four entries already being referenced, we can drop down to those who share joint-fifth when it comes to Premier League changes with six each and this is where the trio of Marco Silva, Nuno Espirito Santo and Julen Lopetegui enter the conversation.

Not necessarily known as journeymen but still known for having to put the hard yards in previously and even though the pair of Silva and Espirito Santo have worked with Premier League clubs in the past, it only feels as if they are getting their flowers since the start of this season.

Nuno Espirito Santo

The reason for this is because both Fulham and Nottingham Forest find themselves in the mix for European qualification and although things are going well at Craven Cottage, they are going even better at the City Ground as Forest are currently operating in the top four of the division.

At the same time, Julen Lopetegui has also had a taste of previous Premier League management before his installation at West Ham but there is a sense that even after arriving in the summer of 2024, his employment already looks like it could be hanging by a thread in East London.

The same cannot be said at either the Emirates or Portman Road and this is where we see the pair of Mikel Arteta and Kieran McKenna who are both currently undertaking their first senior jobs at Arsenal and Ipswich and they consequently sit bottom of this particular Premier League table.

Championship Changes

Sitting at the top of this Championship table is Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder and when you consider that the current Blades boss has returned to this hotseat after time away from Bramall Lane, it represents eight seperate career appointemnet and seven changes. 

That tally places him one higher than QPR manager Marti Cifeuentes who has been in the QPR job for more than a year now and his current posting in West London means he has made a total of six managerial changes.

These two sit ahead of a quartet of managers who have made five individual changes each as Paul Heckingbottom, Rob Edwards, Gary Rowett and Alex Neil have all been on the move - the last two of these four have only recently taken new posts at Oxford and Millwall respectively. 

While at the other end of the list, there are three men who at the time of writing find themselves minding the shop until a permanent successor has been named - this means the trio of Chris Brunt, Ryan Shawcross and Kevin Nancekivell are each on no permanent appointments to date and our keeping the Preston, Stoke and Plymouth hotseats warm respectively. 

League One Changes

As referenced at the top of the article, the Steves known as Bruce and Evans make the overall top 11, and therefore, we lead the charge when it comes to League One changes with 12 and 10, respectively.

The only two in the division to rack up double figures regarding employment changes also means there is considerable distance between themselves and Phil Parkinson in third.

Phil Parkinson - Ringo Chiu // shutterstock

The current boss of Wrexham has made six previous changes after taking his first job at Colchester in 2003 and, therefore, sits above four managers who have made five career changes.

The most interesting of those has to be Darren Ferguson and his connection to his current employer, Peterborough. He may have made five career changes, three of which have seen him return to Peterborough - the club where he started his career.

This means the son of Sir Alex has been manager of the East Anglian outfit on four separate occasions - including his current spell but has also had short spells at Preston and Doncaster to stretch across his legs. 

This division also currently employs four men in their first-ever senior post, and it will be interesting to see how many changes Michael Skubala, Chris Davies, Noel Hunt, and Inigo Calderon make in the future.

League Two Changes

This division could arguably be considered as that of the journeyman, with four of the top 11 overall finding themselves currently at League Two clubs, but at the same time, it can also be considered as the league of new opportunity.

This division also currently employs four men in their first-ever senior post, and it will be interesting to see how many changes Michael Skubala, Chris Davies, Noel Hunt, and Inigo Calderon make in the future.

At the time of writing, 10 of the 24 managers in the division have made no more than a single managerial change - four of those 10 are in the first job. Although this usually means new beginnings for a coach or manager, that is not true at Harrogate.

The reason why the Harrogate manager Simon Weaver differs from his one-job-only counterparts is because he has been in his role since 2009 - a tenure that currently makes him the longest-serving manager in the Premier League or EFL.

Admittedly, not all of that 15-year-plus tenure has been served in the professional game, and it also probably helps that his dad is chairman of the club, but it does also show that you do not always have to be on the move to get a managerial role in the professional realms of English football.

Changes on Average

Now that we know the number of changes that each of the current 92 managers have made (correct at the time of writing) - we can also see what the average change is for managers per division: 

Here, we can see the Premier League has the most changes on average at 4.15 per manager - this means those in charge are, on average, in their fifth professional post while sitting in their current post. 

Drop down a division, and that average drops to just 2.25 in the Championship - the lowest of the four leagues analysed, suggesting that this is a great league to sharpen your teeth, and sometimes coaches can find themselves chucked into the deep end from the off.

In League One, the average moves up a whole job on average from 2.25 to 3.25, meaning coaches or managers in this division are likely to have been in their fourth job on average.

Meanwhile, League Two finds itself positioned closer to the Championship than League One regarding average changes, with 2.96 being made in the fourth tier of English football.

Methodology

Changes counted as one senior job change to the next after their first employment. 

Youth team, caretaker, interim and international jobs not included

Source: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_Premier_League_and_English_Football_League_managers

Data correct as of Jan 2nd 2025