Reds Bossing The World
Steven Gerrard
Rangers FC
Steven Gerrard needs no introduction, but the Rangers FC manager finds himself in a highly unusual situation going into August. The 2020/21 Scottish Premiership season kicks-off on Saturday 1st August with Gerrard's Gers travelling to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen FC.
However, five days later their delayed 2019/20 UEFA Europa League campaign resumes with a trip to Germany to face Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the round of 16 second leg. Rangers FC, who also have former LFC midfielder Gary McAllister on their coaching staff, lost the first leg 3-1 at Ibrox in March before the tournament was suspended.
It means that Gerrard's Light Blues will play in two different seasons simultaneously. Season 2020/21 will be the former Liverpool FC captain's third in charge at Ibrox with Rangers FC finishing as runners-up in 2019/20 on average points per game after the season was curtailed.
Gerrard also led the Gers to the League Cup final, but they were beaten by 1-0 Celtic FC at Hampden Park and are still searching for a first piece of major silverware since 2011.
Xabi Alonso
Real Sociedad B
“I was born 15 minutes from here,” said Xabi Alonso after being appointed as manager of Real Sociedad B – known as 'Sanse' in the Basque Country – in June 2019.
“I live close by so all my childhood has been around Real Sociedad. My father was a player, later he was manager so I always have had a very strong link to the club. It was always on my mind to come back.” Real Sociedad B play in Segunda Division B, Spain's equivalent of League One.
The club gave Alonso, now 38, his first job in management, having coached Real Madrid CF U14s in 2018/19. A hugely popular member of Liverpool FC's 2005 UEFA Champions League and 2006 FA Cup winning sides, Alonso's first season at Sanse was going well.
With 12 wins from 28 games they lay fifth in Segunda Division B, one place outside of the promotion play-off zone. Following the suspension of football in March, the Spanish FA opted to curtail the season with the league placings as they are, but allow the play-offs to take place in July.
It meant Alonso's side missed out on being involved by just three points, but he remains tipped to go to the very top in management.
Igor Biscan
Croatia U21s
Regarded as one of the best young coaches in Eastern Europe, Igor Biscan was hired by the Croatian FC in October 2019 to coach their U21 international team. The 42-year-old ex-Reds midfielder has already enjoyed a successful managerial career.
Appointed as boss of minnows NK Rudeš in 2016, Biscan immediately led them to promotion to the Croatian First League for the first time in their history. He was subsequently offered the chance to move to Slovenia and take charge of NK Olimpija Ljubljana and, in just one season at the Stožice Stadium, landed the club's first-ever Slovenian league and cup double.
Biscan returned to Croatia in October 2018 to manage HNK Rijeka. More silverware followed – this time the Croatian Football Cup – and this convinced the Croatian FA to make a move for him.
A Liverpool FC cult-hero, Biscan won the 2005 UEFA Champions League and two League Cups (2001 and 2003) during his 118 appearances in four-and-a-half years with the Reds. Croatia U21s are due to resume their UEFA U21 Championships qualifying campaign in August.
Mauricio Pellegrino
Club Atlético Velez Sarsfield
It might surprise you to know that Mauricio Pellegrino is the only current football manager to have played for Liverpool FC and coached the first-team. The former Argentine international centre-back was signed by Rafa Benitez in January 2005 as cover for Sami Hyypia. He made 12 appearances for the Reds, but wasn't eligible to play in the UEFA Champions League due to being cup-tied.
Pellegrino left the Champions of Europe for Deportivo Alaves that summer, but returned to Anfield in June 2008 to work alongside Benitez as first-team coach after Alex Miller left to manage JEF United Ichihara Chiba. When Benitez was replaced by Roy Hodgson in 2010, Pellegrino also departed.
He has since managed Valencia CF (2012), Club Estudiantes de La Plata (2013-2015), Club Atlético Independiente (2015-2016), Deportivo Alaves (2016-2017), Southampton FC (2017-2018) and CD Leganes (2018-2019). In April 2020, Pellegrino was appointed as manager of Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield, but has yet to take charge of a match due to Argentina's 2020 Copa de la Superliga being abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Christian Ziege
FC Pinzgau Saalfelden
Founded in 2007, and playing in Austria's Regionalliga West division – the third tier of Austrian football – FC Pinzgau Saalfelden may not be a familiar name, but it is where you will find ex-Liverpool FC left-back Christian Ziege.
The former German international was only with the Reds for one season, making 32 appearances and scoring twice in 2000/01, and ended up in charge of FCPS in unusual circumstances. Ziege had moved to Saalfelden – a small town in the Austrian Alps about 75 minutes away from Salzburg – in 2018 because his son Alessandro had joined FC Pinzgau Saalfelden.
When the manager left the club in April 2019, Ziege offered to help out and 15 months later he's still in charge. Having previously managed Germany at U18 and U19 level, plus had spells in charge of Spielvereinigung Unterhaching, CD Atlético Baleares and Ratchaburi Mitr Phol FC, Ziege isn't new to management.
His club's picturesque Saalfelden Stadium may only have seating for 350 fans, but Ziege led them to second in Regionalliga West when the 2019/20 season halted for a winter break in late November. However, due to the suspension of football in Austria, his team haven't played since.
