When it came to international success, it's fair to say that England's infamous "golden generation" did not deliver on the pitch.
Despite EURO 2004 and the 2006 and 2010 World Cups all opening with high hopes across the water of replicating the success of 1966, England had a habit of capitulating in often spectacular and entertaining fashion.
At club level the likes of Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard were immensely successful but, given the immense talent at the disposal of the England national team at the time, it's remarkable that not even one major final was reached.
As they have moved into management, the reputation of the "golden generation" has become one largely of farce. Rooney has now been sacked after only 15 games in charge of Birmingham City, and his counterparts from the England team of the 00s have largely failed to do any better.
We've gone through the numbers and ranked the managers of England's golden generation in reverse order - starting with the best of a bad bunch, with the #1 spot going to the definitive worst.
NB: We have furnished this piece with statistics, but the rankings were not decided based on statistics alone. Points per game stats are calculated from jobs at club level only
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Ranking the worst managerial careers of England's golden generation
5. Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard during his time in charge of Rangers (Photo: Shutterstock)
Rangers (2018-2021)
Aston Villa (2021-2022)
Al-Ettifaq (2023-present)
Points per game: 1.95
Steven Gerrard is tricky to place here. He has the best points-per-game record of any of the six names on this list by quite some margin, and is the only one to win a major trophy.
The highlight of his time in coaching thus far was undoubtedly his spell in charge of Rangers, which brought the club back to the top of Scottish football with their first Premiership crown in a decade in 2021.
Since leaving Glasgow, however, Gerrard's career has taken a dramatic downturn. An impressive start as Aston Villa manager quickly went awry, and a poor end to the 2021-22 season followed by an even worse start the following year saw him sacked after just under a year in charge. The manner in which the team have taken off with the same core group of players since Gerrard's departure does not reflect remotely well on his management.
Even worse has been his recent spell in charge of Saudi club Al-Ettifaq. The last time the side won under Gerrard was on October 28th and they have managed just three goals in nine matches since then. He has points in the bag from his spell in Scotland, but Gerrard's crown is slipping fast.
4. Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard during his first stint as Chelsea manager (Photo: Shutterstock)
Derby County (2018-19)
Chelsea (2019-2021)
Everton (2022-2023)
Chelsea (interim, 2023)
Points per game: 1.47
Frank Lampard is genuinely lucky that the options following him on this list have somehow been even worse managers than he has. Similarly to Gerrard, Lampard's reputation has gotten even worse with every job he has taken.
After his first season as Derby County manager, Lampard was widely praised for bringing the club to the play-off final. Even though they would lose that game, it's perhaps fair enough to give credit to Lampard for this given the club's deterioration since his departure.
He arrived as manager of Chelsea astonishingly early in his managerial career, and took over a team who had finished third and won the Europa League the previous season. He would take largely the same group of players (albeit minus the major loss of Eden Hazard) to fourth place and losing the FA Cup final, before a torrid start to the 2020-21 season saw him sacked. His successor Thomas Tuchel got to grips with the job so quickly that he would guide Chelsea to the Champions League just four months later.
An even worse spell in charge of Everton was to follow. Lampard took over a team in 14th place, and ended his first season in charge deep in the mire of a relegation battle - from which he earned bizarre praise for guiding Everton out of. Similarly horrendous form the following season saw him sacked.
Then, the most inexplicable move - a return to Chelsea as interim manager. All the evidence suggested this would be a total, abject failure - and it was. One win from 11 games in charge, and resounding defeats at the Bernabeu and Old Trafford, eliminated any chance of Lampard returning to the job permanently.
3. Phil Neville
Phil Neville at the 2019 Women's World Cup (Photo: Shutterstock)
England women (2018-2021)
Inter Miami (2021-2023)
Points per game: 1.32
It's somewhat difficult to rank Phil Neville against the rest of the names on this list, given his lack of experience in the European men's game for direct comparison with the others.
Admittedly, Neville did bring the England women's team to the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup in impressive style - but, after that tournament, the form of the team took an almost immediate downturn, and he was sacked ahead of the year-delayed EURO 2022. England would go on to win that tournament in his absence and reach the following year's World Cup final, suggesting Neville was not exactly a driving force behind their initial success.
His time in charge of Inter Miami in the United States was less-than-impressive, losing almost half his games in charge before being sacked by his old teammate David Beckham before he got the chance to coach Lionel Messi (a horrifying hypothetical image for anyone who genuinely enjoys football).
Despite the failings of his managerial career thus far, Neville has been appointed manager of Portland Timbers for the upcoming MLS season.
2. Gary Neville
Valencia (2015-2016)
Points per game: 1.32
Gary Neville for once comes in as the worse candidate of the Neville brothers here, for his abysmal spell in charge of Valencia.
The ex-Manchester United right-back spent just 28 games in management during the 2015-16 season, and it was not a pretty period. Valencia lost 11 of their games under Neville's stewardship, including a horrendous 7-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.
Neville could only manage three league wins, as Valencia also crashed out of the Europa League during his time in charge.
The brevity of Neville's managerial career is perhaps the clearest example of how disastrous it truly was, and he continues to be the butt of many jokes for his Spanish sojourn to this day.
1. Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney during his time in charge of D.C. United (Photo: Shutterstock)
Derby County (2020-2022)
D.C. United (2022-23)
Birmingham City (2023-24)
Points per game: 1.06
We're genuinely astonished that there is a candidate you can reasonably place ahead of Gary Neville on this list, but Wayne Rooney really has gone and done it.
That points-per-game record speaks for itself but, even when you dig deeper, Rooney's managerial career has been quietly catastrophic thus far.
It's hard to hold the struggles of Derby County during his combined time as player-manager and outright manager against Rooney, due to the dire financial situation at the club and the general turmoil surrounding the Rams. Nonetheless, when Rooney exited stage left in 2022, he did so to little fanfare, and job offers this side of the Atlantic were scarce.
To the MLS it was, so, where a turbulent time in charge of his former club D.C. United was to play out. His first 14 games in charge brought just nine points, and D.C. finished 28th (last) and 23rd in their two seasons under Rooney.
The most recent managerial spell, which came to an end on Tuesday, was the most damaging for Rooney's dwindling coaching reputation. Rooney was appointed Birmingham manager unexpectedly after almost two years away from the English game, with the club in the play-off places under John Eustace.
He leaves them just outside the relegation zone, having taken just ten points from fifteen games in charge. Rooney said in a statement after being sacked that it would take him some time to recover from the spell in charge of Birmingham - we'd say Birmingham fans feel likewise.
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