Since the Premier League’s beginning in 1992, some utterly woeful teams have taken part in the competition. The team that probably springs to most people’s minds would be 2007/08 Derby County, who totalled 11 points all season, or perhaps more recently Sheffield United, who achieved 16 points in the entirety of the 2023/24 season. But today, we look at the worst managers in the competition’s history.
To look at this, we must go back to the 2017/18 Season; Crystal Palace were looking for a replacement manager after Sam Allardyce confirmed his departure, resigning just 5 months into his contract.
After a summer search for their 8th manager in 9 years, Crystal Palace landed eyes on Frank De Boer, who had just had his contract terminated by the Italian team, Internazionale, in early November of 2016.
Frank De Boer officially signed for Crystal Palace in June 2017, allowing him to have the entirety of the summer transfer window to build his squad while also implementing his rather unusual possession-based tactical style in a 3-4-3 style.
In his first press conference as manager, he spoke out, saying how he truly believed he and his brother could “Grow the club further and further” while also saying that “European football is a possibility.”
To make this European dream happen, throughout the summer transfer window, the Crystal Palace hierarchy heavily backed the manager, spending a total of 47.25 million Pounds.
After a busy transfer window, his first game in charge resulted in a home 3-0 loss to newly promoted side Huddersfield Town. De Boer would go on to manage three more games, Liverpool, Swansea, and Burnley, losing all 3 of them and failing to score a single goal. After just 77 days in charge and four games managed, Frank De Boer was sacked as manager.
Many fans at the time commented on the sacking, saying, “I have found someone that has done worse than Bob Bradley” and “I can’t tell who’s more at fault, the club for hiring him? Or how bad his style of Football is?”
Despite being in charge for as little as 77 days, he built up quite a reputation and records during his time in charge. He was sacked, having managed Palace for only 450 minutes of game time, making it the shortest reign of the Premier League era. While also earning the record of becoming the first team in England’s top division to lose their opening four league fixtures without scoring since Preston in 1924, that’s before WW2 started and finished!
The criticism reached Frank De Boer, who spoke out to the media, exclaiming that the players refused to listen to his tactical style and that the club didn’t provide him with the style of players he wanted… despite him having all control of transfers, which was shown through his being a manager, not a head coach, meaning he’d be forced alongside someone.
After speaking out on his sacking, highly reputable Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho described Frank De Boer as “the worst manager in the history of the Premier League.”
Regarding his short stint, in those four games, he had demonstrated that his style of football was indeed being played. Out of the four games he’d overseen, in three of them, he had the most possession, yet his side wasn’t able to convert that into goals. As well as that, in those four games, they had a total of 11 shots on target, therefore averaging just a measly 2.75 per match.
Star players such as Belgium’s international Christian Benteke and Ivorian international Wilfred Zaha were simply being forced to play in a system that couldn’t create enough chances, therefore leading to a shortage of goals.
We’ve seen numerous managers arrive in the Premier League and fail miserably but breaking two records in a matter of 77 days is simply unheard of. Even the two managers that had lasted a shorter amount of time than him, Rene Meulensteen for Fulham 2013/14 (75 days) and Les Reed for Charlton 2006/07 (41 days), still achieved more than him!
For Fulham, Rene managed to get three wins, while Les for Charlton only managed one… but still one more than Frank did.
To add to how comical Frank De Boer’s stint was, it was the fact that all managers that are compared to him didn’t have a good team, nor did they have a big transfer budget, which is one of the significant reasons why he is the worst manager the Premier League has seen.
After sacking him, Palace would go on to hire Roy Hodgson, and they’d finish 11th in the Premier League (Joint 10th) with 44 points, therefore showing that the quality was indeed there but Frank De Boer wasn’t entirely sure how to manage the team.
