How managers have fared joining PL from SPFL
Ange Postecoglou has swapped Celtic for Tottenham as the north London club’s permanent successor to former manager Antonio Conte.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the most recent managers to move from the Scottish to the English top flight, and how they fared.
Steven Gerrard
The former Liverpool and England captain took over at Rangers in 2018, finishing second behind Celtic in his first two seasons – and also losing the 2020 League Cup final to the Bhoys – before breaking through to win the 2020-2021 Premiership in an unbeaten season to deny Celtic a 10th title in a row.
He was appointed at Aston Villa early the next season, with a reported £4million compensation payment to Rangers, but was unable to improve Villa’s results.
Villa finished 14th that season and Gerrard was sacked after a poor start to 2022-2023, with Unai Emery taking over and leading Villa into Europe. Meanwhile, north of the border, Postecoglou had taken over Celtic and re-established its dominance.
Gerrard managed 13 wins in 40 games as Villa boss, a 32.5 per cent win rate.
Paul Heckingbottom
Heckingbottom left Hibernian in November 2019 and, having been out of work for much of the season, became Sheffield United Under-23 coach in July 2020.
He took over as interim manager after Chris Wilder was sacked in March 2021 but won only three of 11 games as the club’s relegation was confirmed.
Having lost out on the permanent job to Slavisa Jokanovic, he took over six months later after the Serbian’s dismissal and has led the Blades back to the top flight for the new season, winning 48 of 83 games in his current reign.
Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers was already an established name in England after spells at Reading and Liverpool, but it was at Celtic where he built his medal collection with back-to-back domestic trebles – adding the League Cup leg of a third before departing for Leicester in February 2019 and leaving Neil Lennon to finish the job.
With the Foxes he won the FA Cup in 2020-2021 and reached the Europa League semi-final the next season, with league finishes of ninth, fifth, fifth and eighth as Leicester twice missed out on the Champions League on the final day.
He was sacked in April with the club 19th in the league, with successor Dean Smith unable to save the club from relegation. Rodgers won 92 of 204 Leicester games in all competitions, 45.1 per cent.
Alex McLeish
McLeish’s spell with Rangers brought him two league titles, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups, including a treble in 2002-2003, after a second-placed finish with Motherwell and a promotion with Hibernian.
That earned him the Scotland job but he led it for only 12 games before returning to club management south of the border with Birmingham.
The Blues were relegated in his first season in charge but bounced straight back, finished ninth in 2009-2010 and won the 2011 League Cup after Obafemi Martins’ late winner against Arsenal.
That same season brought a second relegation, though, and McLeish resigned after 168 games in charge with a 36.9 per cent win rate.
