Ah, Diego. What can you say about the man who almost single-handedly one the World Cup for Argentina in 1986 (with a little help from "the hand of God")? His club career was spent at massive clubs - most famously at Napoli but also at Boca Juniors, Barcelona and Sevilla, among others. After a career dogged by controversy, it was difficult to see the combustible attacker making a smooth transition into management. It certainly proved that way, with his first job at Textil Mandiyu in Argentina in 1994 ending in relegation, and he followed it up the following year with another unsuccessful spell at former team Racing Club. He was away from the dugout until 2008 when he was appointed Argentina boss, proving that his reputation on the pitch meant more than a lack of any kind of managerial track record. To no one's real surprise, the great man regularly flirted with disaster. Bolivia thrashed his team 6-1 (the biggest defeat in their history) and under his watch Argentina came within a whisker of failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. When they did eventually scrape through, Maradona showed his usual restraint, memorably telling the assembled media to "suck it and keep on sucking it". He took Argentina as far as the quarter finals, where they were hammered 4-0 by Germany. The Argentine F.A. chose not to renew Maradona's contract. In May 2011 he returned to club football with the Dubai based side Al Wasl, but he was sacked after just over a year thanks to unremarkable results. It's a shame he probably won't get another top job - he guarantees good fun (for neutrals), just not good results.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
