Rookie Coach of the Year. Also known as the Markus Babbel Trophy. Mainz 05’s coach Thomas Tuchel had been the only contender for this prestigious prize until Bochum appointed Heiko Herrlich. Herrlich didn’t have the best of starts, losing 2-1 to Frankfurt, but we’ll have to wait and see, whether he can turn it around at his club. Something that Tuchel already did in impressive fashion with Mainz. This weekend his Mainz side came back twice to draw with Wolfsburg (3-3) and grab their 18th point. 18 points don’t guarantee you a spot in next season’s Bundesliga, but it’s probably safe to say, that Mainz will be part of it nonetheless. That’s surely disappointing news for all the clubs at the bottom, who had hoped for Mainz to have a stranglehold on one of the two direct relegation spots. The Markus Babbel Trophy is not just an honor though, but also a warning, as Stuttgart are proving this season. Time will tell whether Thomas Tuchel is the next big thing in Bundesliga coaching, or just a one-hit wonder – even if it’s one claiming to have a clear vision, tactical concept, a large DVD collection and all that.

Blame Games. Hamburg decided to take things as they come and not complain too much about their ever more prominent injury list. They were playing well enough indeed and backup players stepped up to take responsibility. Hamburg drew with Leverkusen, but could argue that Leverkusen came to park the bus. Hamburg drew with Schalke, but could argue that they had to play with ten men in the second half. Hamburg lost against Mönchengladbach but are running out of arguments this time around. The blame for the defeat and for wasting the third consecutive chance to take over the top of the table is now handed back and forth between Jerome Boateng and Bruno Labbadia. Boateng had received a knock from Gladbach’s striker Raul Bobadilla and was in pain throughout the second half. He signaled that he would like to play on and stated later that he didn’t want to let his team down – there were no central defenders left on the bench. Yet, it was more than obvious for all to see that Boateng was no longer fit to play. All except Labbadia. Labbadia preferred to rely on Boateng’s error of judgement and kept him on the pitch until the 84th minute. Boateng is currently doubtful for Hamburg’s game against Celtic on Thursday by the way. Ideally, both Boateng and Labbadia will have learned a lesson from this match. One lesson Hamburg definitely haven’t learned yet though, is the one they have been taught all season long: they can’t defend their leads, independent from fit, unfit or red carded central defenders. This seems to be a general problem, similar to their tendency to completely underperform against smaller teams.

Depth. Both Leverkusen and Bremen received a lot of positive feedback for playing negative football this season. The consensus was, that both teams were less naive and more mature. In other words, both had to be considered as serious title candidates. Something which hasn’t yet been considered, when considering their title credentials, is the depth of their squads though. Leverkusen did well to compensate Patrick Helmes’ long term injury so far, thanks to Stefan Kiessling and Eren Derdiyok. They also dominated Schalke this weekend, despite missing Simon Rolfes and Renato Augusto in midfield. Yet, when Sami Hyypiä had to be substituted for Lukas Sinkiewicz, the drop in quality was immense. It probably can’t serve as the sole explanation as to why Leverkusen managed to give up a two goal lead and draw the match in the last ten minutes, but it’s still safe to say that Leverkusen have a very mediocre central defense without Hyypiä. Werder Bremen have been blessed with a mostly injury free starting eleven. The moment they lost Claudio Pizarro they also promptly struggled at Nuremberg on Saturday and needed Aaron Hunt’s last minute heroics to draw the match. But that could be a coincidence. Far more interesting will be to see, how the team reacts to the news that Torsten Frings will miss the next three weeks with a torn muscle. Werder Bremen did well to stabilize the defense this season, but they did nothing to add any depth.

Running. In the days before women cared – and were not supposed to care – about football, they denounced the sport as being a pointless game of men running after a ball for 90 minutes. Except for the pointless bit, they certainly grasped the very essence of a game, where only 1 player out of 22 is usually in control of the ball. The next best thing the other 21 players can do is to run and getting players to run remains one of the game’s biggest mysteries. This is where Lucien Favre failed and where Markus Babbel is still succeeding. Stuttgart’s players aren’t doing it in a particularly structured manner, but they are doing quite a lot of it. Enough to earn a 0-0 draw against Bayern, whose running is much more structured but still terribly uninspired.

Passing. OK, passing the ball shouldn’t be underestimated either, as Hertha proved to the world on Friday, when they failed to string together even two passes for the whole 90 minutes and subsequently failed to get anything from their game against Dortmund (2-0).

Results: Dortmund 2-0 Hertha, Wolfsburg 3-3 Mainz, Stuttgart 0-0 Bayern, Hamburg 2-3 Gladbach, Cologne 0-1 Hannover, Nuremberg 2-2 Bremen, Schalke 2-2 Leverkusen, Freiburg 0-1 Hoffenheim, Frankfurt 2-1 Bochum

Battle Chess. When a commenter on one of Germany’s public broadcasters attempted to summarize and categorize the match between Hamburg and Bayern, he kept talking about this game being for tactic freaks, but with an uncertainty to his statements, as though he didn’t really know what was going on and didn’t want to admit to it. But then again, who does? As such, the first thirty minutes of the match, where Bayern were in control but little else, were mostly used to get to grips with who was playing where, why and how you put that in numbers. At some point a panel of experts agreed on a 3-3-3-1 for Bayern countered by a 4-4-2 diamond by Hamburg, except that Elia was really tripling up the left wing with Aogo and Boateng to put pressure on Breno, while Lahm casually checked by his old friends in Bayern’s back line to take Elia out of the game. All of that produced a high quality 0-0 at half-time and it all no longer mattered when Demel’s injury forced Labaddia to make a slew of positional changes, which accidentally put Louis van Gaal checkmate at the same time – despite van Gaal’s courageous efforts to counter Labbadia by reverting to a 4-3-3. Either that or it was all about a bit of individual brilliance by Ze Roberto and the lack of the same on the other end, that produced the solitary winning goal. So, whether the Bundesliga now has its’ very own Kasparov vs Karpov remains to be seen. Both coaches have a tendency to lose their teams, while they are thinking through their next 37 moves.

In-Jokes. While following the chess game and waiting for Louis to make his next move, I wondered whether coaches have their own way of joking around with each other. I often notice how two coaches have a quick chat after a game or prior to the post match press conference, which usually ends in laughter. In case of Bruno and Louis it would have been like

Bruno: “Got it?”
Louis: “Trochowski?”
Bruno grins, Louis laughs and the press conference begins.

After all Trochowski’s sole role in this game was to fool Bayern and himself into believing Hamburg might actually try anything via the right side. Obviously Labbadia would never admit to that, as it would make Trochowski very angry and tempt him to unleash one of his fiery long range shots at Labbadia, which will go about 10 meters wide.

That’s Clear. As Lucien Favre used to say when he used to be Hertha’s coach. Now he has been fired. Six Bundesliga defeats in a row broke his back on the outside. The team working against him broke him on the inside. The Hertha Offside picks it up from here.

Next in the Line. Borussia Mönchengladbach traded their excellent start to the season and the Juan Arango hype for four defeats in a row and a tough fixture calendar. Anyone who always knew and always doubted the signing of Michael Frontzeck as Gladbach coach may now get an account on a random Borussia Mönchengladbach board or blog and start posting.

Arne Friedrich. When typing Arne Friedrich into the Google searchbox, the service’s automatic search term completion suggests I might primarily be interested in the topics girlfriend, gay or Nutella. I really meant to type dressing room cancer though, but that doesn’t yield any satisfactory results – yet. Still, somehow Friedrich always seems to pop up whenever there’s a rift in a team I have sympathies for. A while back Little Miss Sunshine used Ballack’s shake up with Löw in the German national team, to tell the press how intolerably rude he feels the captain is. Just that he didn’t realize that players aren’t the weakest link and that Ballack is a much better football player than him. In case of Lucien Favre he didn’t realize either that this man knows much more about football than him, but he remembered that bit about who the weakest link is. Now the only question the HSV sympathizer in me has left, is how he managed to get rid of Dietmar Beiersdorfer as well.

Bavarian Beauty. A very average game between two quite evenly matched teams ended 0-0 for Cologne after 80 minutes and 1-0 for Leverkusen after 90 minutes. Leverkusen’s coach Jupp Heynckes felt like he was in Munich all over again: “This is how Bayern won the titles in its’ history: through confidence and believe in its’ own strength”. Whether this will be enough for Bayer against teams with a more mature and fine tuned game (Hamburg, Bayern, Hoffenheim) remains to be seen. The fans will certainly welcome a change to the club’s die in beauty approach of the past.

Dreary Derby. Schalke beat Dortmund 1-0 and I personally was a bit disappointed by the balance between real controversy (none) vs. made up controversy (some) in Germany’s biggest derby.

Results: Nuremberg – Bochum (0-1), Wolfsburg – Hannover (4-2), Dortmund – Schalke (0-1), Bremen – Mainz (3-0), Cologne – Leverkusen (0-1), Frankfurt – Stuttgart (0-3), Hamburg – Bayern (1-0), Freiburg – Mönchengladbach (3-0), Hoffenheim – Berlin (5-1)

This post sets out to tell its’ story.

Season 1965/1966 to 1966/1967

Here’s the template from which to start. Notice the single curl over his right eye. Great things will eventually grow from it.

For the time being though, Netzer focused on perfecting his football skills. His Borussia Mönchengladbach side had just won promotion to the Bundesliga and would soon be synonymous with great attacking football. The team finished its’ first two Bundesliga seasons 13th and 8th respectively. Netzer also made his first steps in the German national team debuting in October 1965 in a friendly against Austria.

Season 1967/1968 to 1968/1969

Netzer started to add some depth and integrate the single rebelish curl into the system. At this point he can pass as the perfect son-in-law.

Netzer was in the process of testing the potential for commercial exploitation of his profession. Back in 1965 he had already started the publication of a stadium newspaper called “Fohlenecho” (still published today). His conservative hair style clearly indicates that he was overall still tapping in the dark though. His rise to prominence and the performances of his team would soon make him see the light. After finishing 3rd in 1968 and 1969, Borussia Mönchengladbach were ready to shape the Seventies and Netzer was ready for stardom.

Season 1969/1970 to 1970/1971

His trademark special side parting is starting to shine through, as does his marketing prowess. By 1970/1971 it’s becoming clear that he has intentions to go for length.

On the pitch things couldn’t go much better. Mönchengladbach won back to back Bundesliga titles – a first in the young league’s history and Netzer was starting to get more game time in the national team. A business plan also started to come together, which included complementing his work-in-progress hair with a ready-to-go Porsche and a night club called “Lovers Lane”. The Porsche ended up being an invaluable indicator for groupies hoping to catch a glimpse of Netzer at his night club.

Season 1971/1972 to 1972/1973

By 1971 every single hair had fallen into place, so all that was left to do was adding just that little bit of extra length to perfect his signature look. A task completed in time for the 1972/1973 season.

Netzer eventually connected all the remaining dots. Off the pitch he was dating a supermodel/abstract artist and did just about little enough to deny rumors of an affair with an actress to stay relevant in the boulevard. On the pitch his Borussia Mönchengladbach side had to temporarily make way for a certain Bayern Munich. But the two teams combined would end up strolling to Germany’s first European Championship title in 1972 – and beating England for the first time at Wembley along the way. Netzer would finish third in that year’s Ballon D’Or awards – behind Gerd Müller and Franz Beckenbauer. By the end of the 1972/1973 season, Netzer felt he had done and seen it all in Germany and decided to move on to Real Madrid. Borussia Mönchengladbach had reached the DFB-Pokal final against Cologne, which ought to be Netzer’s last game for his club. Just that the team’s coach Hennes Weisweiler wasn’t too enthused about his player’s latest career decision and benched him. The final turned out to be end-to-end stuff and one of the best in the competitions history, yet neither side could score the winner. The game, tied at 1-1, went into extra time. Then Netzer decided he had enough of it, substituted himself and scored the winning goal three minutes later. His legend was complete.

Please send your fake takeover applications to admin@nufc.co.uk and the real ones to daryl[at]theoffside[dot]com.

Update: Just as I write this post the Borussia Dortmund Offside goes up for auction as well. If you are more the romantic type who can do without the successful and without the wealthy then this is a blog for you.

Update 2: I should have taken a little look around before writing this as there are even more team blogs available: Leverkusen Offside, Muklenblacklen Offside and Eintracht Frankfurt Offside. Blog for two of them and we’ll give you the third one for free.

Update 3: I think I see the pattern emerging, so it’s easier to just say that the Hamburg Offside, Cologne Offside, Bayern Offside, Bochum Offside, St. Pauli Offside and Hertha Offside are the only team blogs currently not looking for a new blogger.

For everyone else it’s season 46 episode 34 of the Bundesliga. We’ve already been served 2970 minutes high on excitement and low on answers – the latter will have to be packed into the upcoming 90 minutes. Who’s going to win the title, who will qualify for the Champions and Europa League, who is going down, what is the smoke monster and what lies behind Felix Magath’s wry smile? The league’s script writers have promised us answers to at least half of these questions.

Hannover 0-5 Wolfsburg. Except for the sell out crowd there was nothing really derby-ish about this game (and then, the last match at home usually tends to be a sell out anyway). Hannover fielded a reshuffled team, with 39 year old defender Michael Tarnat given his farewell match, and was consequently ripped apart by the best strike duo of this Bundesliga season. Wolfsburg now only need a draw in their game against Bremen to secure their first Bundesliga title. Can you expect Bremen to put up a fight and possibly repeat their 5-2 DFB-Pokal victory over the wolves despite being in between two cup finals? Well, they were easily beaten 3-1 by Karlsruhe this weekend – make up your own mind… but stranger things have happened.

Hoffenheim 2-2 Bayern. Hoffenheim have overall more quality than Hannover and they were ready to give Bayern a run for their money – e.g. they didn’t give Boubacar Sanogo a farewell match. In fact Hoffenheim wanted to win this game and take revenge for last year’s cruel defeat. They had to settle for a draw though, which will still feel like a defeat for Bayern, who in theory could end up winning the title next Saturday, or drop down to fourth and play in the second tier European competition for the second time in three seasons…

Stuttgart 2-0 Cottbus. And here is the team that will decide Bayern’s fate and who themselves could still win the title or drop all the way down to fourth. A solid performance was enough to overcome Cottbus. Mario Gomez was rested and only had a short twenty minutes cameo, which was enough time for him to set up the second goal.

Hertha 0-0 Schalke. Marko Pantelic scored a perfectly valid goal which was ruled out by the referee and since close games are Hertha’s trademark this season, the game ended 0-0 / the capital’s title hopes. Hertha fans could chose to read a lot into this match, and how this is typical Hertha style choking and apart from being wrong, they would also miss out on the silver lining. A win against Karlsruhe will guarantee Hertha a third place finish, with chances to go second, should Bayern and Stuttgart draw their match. A 63 point haul to date is their best ever Bundesliga result already.

Lucien Favre has some work to do to refocus and motivate his team though. The reaction to the Schalke game was a textbook case of the volatile professional football mercenary team spirit, with Voronin criticizing Favre, Simunic criticizing his team mates and Hoeness unsurprisingly criticizing anyone but himself.

Hamburg 0-1 Cologne. Just a few weeks ago Hamburg could still win the triple. Martin Jol was coach of the year candidate and courted by Bayern. Didi Bayersdorfer was a transfer magician with profit margins unheard of by even the most reckless bankers and Piotr Trochowski kept saying how he is ready for a really big club after every other half decent match he played. 28 days and Werder Bremen later, Hamburg’s season has completely collapsed with a super-poor home performance against Cologne being the icing on the cake. The DFB-Pokal and UEFA Cup were bonus trophies, but qualification for European football was the club’s official goal for this season, which now is in very serious doubt. Apart from the need to somehow raise their own game again and beat Frankfurt, they also need Dortmund to slip up against Mönchengladbach.

Dortmund 6-0 Bielefeld. And can you see this Dortmund team drop points against Mönchengladbach? Well, you could make an argument that Gladbach are a better side than Bielefeld…

Leverkusen 5-0 Mönchengladbach. Marginally better side really. It’s amazing and embarrassing that a 5-0 defeat still helped Mönchengladbach win a one goal advantage over Bielefeld. Bielefeld now have to win their game against Hannover and overcome a five goal deficit (four goals actually, but Gladbach scored more goals overall and thus would still be ranked ahead of Bielefeld) and hope Dortmund beats Gladbach. Based on Dortmund’s form, they’ll probably just have to make sure to beat Hannover and let Dortmund do all the goal scoring…

There’s a mini chance for some title decisive drama and a big chance for drama regarding relegation, Europa League and Champions League and I hope to get a liveblog ready to cover it all.

There wasn’t all that much football on display in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s last two matches against Schalke and Cottbus, which of course wasn’t Gladbach’s fault alone. Schalke can control a game and dominate possession, but they can’t really score goals or come up with a minimum of creativity and incentive. Cottbus are very much like Schalke without the bit about controlling games and possession. Add a healthy dose of negative psychological dynamics, which come free with potentially imminent relegation, and you’ve got games living entirely off the uncertainty of the result – and that’s stretching it a bit. The games were actually meant to be typical 0-0 draws helping neither side.

Then again, you shouldn’t bring meaning into football, because in the 90th minute of each match Borussia Mönchengladbach scored the only and winning goal, moving them out of the drop zone into safety with a three point cushion and a favorable goal difference stat ahead of the final two matchdays. Their competitors Bielefeld and Cottbus now have to travel to Dortmund and Stuttgart respectively, so there is a good chance that Gladbach won’t have to fear the direct drop anymore. To avoid a nerve wrecking relegation play-off, one more point from the two remaining matches could be enough.

It would be great to see the club securing another season of Bundesliga football, as it has the potential to take the next step and become more than just an eternal jojo team. Although, the last time Gladbach wanted to take the next step and target the UEFA Cup spots, they hired Jupp Heynckes, spent big to sign the allegedly next big South American sensation and eventually got relegated…

For an epic Lord of the Rings-esque account of Gladbach’s latest adventures head over to our Borussia Mönchengladbach Offside.

1. VfL Wolfsburg (60pts / +27gd)
Waiting for the title since: 1945, when the club was founded
Run-in: Dortmund (H), Hannover (A), Bremen (H)
The Dortmund game may decide whether Wolfsburg can win their first ever Bundesliga title or not. Wolfsburg are unbeaten at home, while Dortmund have hardly been beaten all season. There could be a draw in this one. The away game against Hannover is a Niedersachsen Derby, but the fact that this is the first time you learned about this derby, tells you that it’s probably not big enough for Hannover to go all out and ruin Wolfsburg’s title chances. Though, you never know – maybe this game could be the start of a long and passionate fiendish rivalry. Bremen will return from either a UEFA Cup triumph or defeat and have another cup final coming up. You have a feeling that spoiling Wolfsburg’s party is not a top priority for them.

2. Bayern Munich (60pts / +25gd)
Waiting for the title for: 12 long, long months
Run-in: Leverkusen (H), Hoffenheim (A), Stuttgart (H)
In the past, Leverkusen always travelled to the Allianz Arena ambitious and full of confidence and left with deflated egos and zero points. The only reason why it could be different this time around is because Leverkusen no longer have any ambitions or confidence. The away game against Hoffenheim could pose a more realistic threat for Bayern though. Hoffenheim, despite their poor run of form, seem motivated to end the season on a high and take revenge for the defeat in Munich last year. They will of course still miss Ibisevic and his replacement Boubacar Sanogo is someone who can turn the game in Bayern’s favor and not the other way round. The game against Stuttgart could turn out be a real showdown and title decider, presuming Bayern and Stuttgart take six points from their previous two matches and I wouldn’t make any predictions in this case.

3. Hertha Berlin (59pts / +10gd)
Waiting for the title since: 1931
Run-in: Cologne (A), Schalke (H), Karlsruhe (A)
Cologne are in safe waters and miss several key players. While Hertha had problems dominating and beating sides from the bottom of the table, I still can’t see anything but three points for Berlin here. The game against Schalke could go either way. Schalke may no longer have anything to play for, but are the kind of side which isn’t vulnerable to Hertha’s counter attacks and they had very little trouble beating Hertha last year. If Hertha beat Schalke they can win the title. The game against Karlsruhe could be a serious test for the fan-friendship between the two clubs – unless Karlsruhe are already confirmed to go down.

4. VfB Stuttgart (58pts / +18gd)
Waiting for the title since: 2007
Run-in: Schalke (A), Cottbus (H), Bayern (A)
The games against Schalke and Cottbus could be tricky, which is my way of saying that I expect six points for Stuttgart but don’t really trust them yet, despite their demolition of Wolfsburg. The best result Stuttgart could get in Munich in recent years was a draw, but then again there were so many clubs, coaches and players who overcame their Bayern jinx this season, that Stuttgart could just as well go there and beat them for an even unlikelier title win than in 2007.

5. Borussia Dortmund (55pts / +20gd)
Waiting for the title since: 2002
Run-in: Wolfsburg (A), Bielefeld (H), Mönchengladbach (A)
With Hamburg hot on their heels and with the easier run-in, Dortmund can’t really afford to lose or draw any of their remaining fixtures. The team is on a club record winning streak, though I have doubts whether they’ll be the first to beat Wolfsburg in Wolfsburg this season. Two relegation threatened sides might put up quite a fight, especially Bielefeld are difficult to play, but Dortmund look too strong to drop any points against them.

6. Hamburger SV (55 pts / 0gd)
Waiting for the title since: 1982
Run-in: Bochum (H), Cologne (H), Frankfurt (A)
You’ve got to feel sorry for Martin Jol’s men. In a bit over two and a half weeks their fierce rivals Werder Bremen turned an excellent season into a bitterly disappointing one. Their chances to win the title are purely mathematical and their chances to play in Europe at all next season could rely on the outcome of the Wolfsburg – Dortmund match. The team’s remaining fixtures all look very easy on paper so it’s not too bold to predict a full nine points here. The psychological blow of the Nothern Derby disaster could stand in their way though.

To round off this post, here’s quick look at the snail race at the bottom of the table:

14. VfL Bochum (28pts / -16gd)
In the Bundesliga since: 2006
Run-in: Hamburg (A), Frankfurt (H), Cologne (A)
I expected Bochum to have booked the tickets for another season of Bundesliga football a while ago. Marcel Koller’s team played some good football and more importantly got results to show for it, different to the first half of the season. With games against Frankfurt and Cologne coming up, I still expect them to convert one of those two matchballs…

15. Borussia Mönchengladbach (27pts / -19gd)
In the Bundesliga since: 2008
Run-in: Cottbus (A), Leverkusen (A), Dortmund (H)
I think Mönchengladbach have to win in Cottbus to have a chance to stay in the league. Leverkusen will be motivated to end their Düsseldorf adventure with one damn home win, so I don’t think Gladbach can expect any gifts from them there unfortunately. Dortmund will most probably be fighting for the Europa League spots (or even more…) and look too strong for Gladbach. I personally hope they stay in the league though, and maybe that’s why I’m so pessimistic.

16. Arminia Bielefeld (27pts / -19gd)
In the Bundesliga since: 2004
Run-in: Hoffenheim (H), Dortmund (A), Hannover (H)
Hoffenheim and Hannover at home will certainly be the key games for Bielefeld. Artur Wichniarek could be the key player in these games after his return from injury. And after all, how can something get relegated which doesn’t even exist?

17. Energie Cottbus (27pts / -27gd)
In the Bundesliga since: 2006
Run-in: Mönchengladbach (H), Stuttgart (A), Leverkusen (H)
With home games against Mönchengladbach and Leverkusen, Cottbus have it all in their own hands. I’m a bit unsure about what Leverkusen side will show up. They might be determined to get a positive result as a confidence boost ahead of the cup final.

18. Karlsruher SC (23pts / -29gd)
In the Bundesliga since: 2007
Run-in: Hannover (H), Bremen (A), Berlin (H)
There is a little glimmer of hope left for Karlsruhe to at least make it to the relegation play-offs. This glimmer stands in stark contrast to their poor performance against Dortmund though. Hannover and Bremen no longer have anything to play for and maybe Karlsruhe are just another freak goal away from an unlikely great escape.

1. Serie A and La Liga (10)
SSC Napoli: Edoardo Reja > Roberto Donadoni
US Lecce: Mario Beretta > Luigi De Canio
Bologna FC: Sinisa Mihajlovic > Giuseppe Papadopulo
Bologna FC: Daniele Arrigoni > Sinisa Mihajlovic
Reggina Calcio: Nevio Orlandi > Giuseppe Pillon
Reggina Calcio: Giuseppe Pillon > Nevio Orlandi
Torino FC: Giovanni de Biasi > Walter Novellino
Torino FC: Walter Novellino > Giancarlo Camolese
Chievo Verona: Giuseppe Iachini > Domenico Di Carlo
US Palermo: Stefano Colantuono > Davide Ballardini

Real Madrid: Bernd Schuster > Juande Ramos
Atletico Madrid: Javier Aguirre > Abel Resino
UD Almeria: Gonzalo Arconada Echarri > Hugo Sanchez
Espanyol Barcelona: Tintin Marquez > Jose Manuel Esnal
Espanyol Barcelona: Jose Manuel Esnal > Mauricio Pochettino
Real Betis Sevilla: Francisco Chaparro Jara > Jose Maria Nogues
Getafe: Victor Munoz > Jose Miguel Gonzalez
CD Numancia: Sergije Kresic > Jose Rojo Martin
CA Osasuna: Jose Angel Ziganda Lakuntza > Jose Antonio Camacho
Recreativo Huelva: Manuel Zambrano > Lucas Alcaraz

3. Premier League (9)
Blackburn: Paul Ince > Sam Allardyce
Chelsea: Luiz Felipe Scolari > Guus Hiddink
Newcastle: Kevin Keegan > Joe Kinnear
Newcastle: Joe Kinnear > Alan Shearer
Portsmouth: Harry Redknapp > Tony Adams
Portsmouth: Tony Adams > Paul Hart
Sunderland: Roy Keane > Ricky Sbragia
Tottenham: Juande Ramos > Harry Redknapp
West Ham: Alan Curbishley > Gianfranco Zola

4. Bundesliga and Ligue 1 (4)
Bayern Munich: Jürgen Klinsmann > Jupp Heynckes
Schalke 04: Fred Rutten > Mike Büskens
Stuttgart: Armin Veh > Markus Babbel
Mönchengladbach: Jos Luhukay > Hans Meyer

Le Havre: Jean-Marc Nobilo > Frederic Hantz
Le Mans: Yves Bertucci > Daniel Jeandupeux
FC Nantes: Michel Der Zakarian > Elie Baup
AS Saint Etienne: Laurent Roussey > Alain Perrin

Note: I tried to exclude caretaker managers, though I couldn’t verify the status in all cases. I included managers who left on their own terms for the same reason. So this list is more about coaching fluctuation than job security actually. It isn’t a list about accurate use of accents and umlauts in names either.