How do managers fare when they return to a club?

With the return of Frank Lampard to management at Chelsea, we have looked at previous instances where managers have gone back to a club, and analysed whether they fared any better than in their first spell.

Ignoring those who have had a spell of five matches or fewer, Lampard's appointment until the end of the season makes him the 10th manager to return to a club in the Premier League.

Remarkably, he is the third person to do so at Chelsea. Guus Hiddink was twice called upon to step in to firefight for Chelsea, in 2008/09 and then again six years later. Then there was the “Special One Mk 2” when Jose Mourinho came back in June 2013, almost nine years to the day after his first coming to Stamford Bridge.  

The stats say that in most cases returning managers struggle to repeat the levels of performance that they achieved in their first spell.

Only Harry Redknapp, on his return to Portsmouth, and David Moyes in his current stint at West Ham United, have a better points-per-match (PPM) record from their second spell compared to their first. In all other instances, the second time brought a lower PPM average.

Points/match (PPM) for returning managers