THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY! 9 new Premier League managers ranked as Iraola faces familiar Liverpool problem

It's been a summer of upheaval in the Premier League, with nearly half of the 20 sides opting to change manager in the off-season.

Clubs at both ends of the spectrum have put their faith in a new boss in the hope that the 2026/27 season will bring success. Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea have all changed tack, albeit for differing reasons, with Enzo Maresca chosen to succeed Pep Guardiola, while Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso have walked in after frustrating campaigns under previous coaches.

Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Bournemouth also have fresh - but in some cases familiar - faces in the dugout. They know just how high the stakes are, especially at Forest, who burnt through four managers last season.

It is extremely unlikely that all nine new bosses will see their plans come to fruition in the coming months, so who will sink and who will swim? Here Mirror Football attempts to rank them in terms of which has the best chance of achieving their goals.

Marco Silva left Fulham this summer for Benfica having achieved one of the most boringly successful, under-the-radar stints in Premier League managerial history. After bringing Fulham up as champions in 2021/22, he embarked upon (depending on your viewpoint) mid-table security or mid-table mediocrity: 10th, 13th, 11th, 11th. In short, he did a good job but without pulling up trees.

It is into this context that Arbeloa walks, the Real Madrid cast-off attempting to establish himself. I would suggest that signing two other Real Madrid cast-offs, in Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios, may not have been the best way to try and move on from your past.

Harry Wilson, Fulham's stand-out player from last season, and Raul Jimenez, their experienced striker, have both left. We have no evidence yet that Arbeloa has the tactical nous to craft a new playing style, or the force of personality to create a team bond. I fear they are going to struggle.

You fear for Jaissle - and not because of anything he has done (yet). Newcastle have undergone a huge turnover this summer, selling Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, while also seeing Eddie Howe resign.

Howe was in situ for nearly five years and his exit was always going to cause instability. The fact his exit came alongside the departures of three key players means Newcastle are at risk of spiralling downwards after their 12th-place finish last season.

The Magpies' owners, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, have promised a lot and Jaissle is their man, having been recruited from the relative obscurity of Al-Ahli. Just 38 years old, the German has landed an exciting job, but an extremely difficult one.

Their new signings this summer fall into the camp of 'plenty of potential' rather than 'proven performers'. There is still some time to add some players from the latter section, but reports that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has turned down the chance to join them suggests their transfer window woes could continue.

It's hard to judge O'Neil following a rollercoaster few years in management. But he won't have much time to settle in at Portman Road, having stepped into the breach following Kieran McKenna's surprise decision to walk away after leading the Tractor Boys to promotion.

O'Neil's star rose due to his spell at Bournemouth, fell after his time at Wolves - despite actually having a better win percentage - and then plateaued at Chelsea sister club Strasbourg. So is he one of the brightest English coaches in the game, or a middle-of-the-road one who has been over-promoted? We're about to get a better idea.

Iraola is obviously a brilliant coach and man-manager. His time at Bournemouth, in which he consistently improved the side, despite losing star after star to bigger clubs, earned him a shot at the big time. But pre-season has shown just how difficult the task is that he inherited from Arne Slot.

There are issues all over the pitch to address - from an ageing and injured central defence, through a central midfield which has lost its trademark high-energy pressing, to a misfiring (and extremely expensive) attack.

The job at Anfield is totally different to the one which the Spaniard became used to with the Cherries. He will have to manage egos, deal with heightened expectations, juggle the squad to cope with the Champions League, and - ultimately - win games straight away.

That will take time. This won't be a quick fix.

Nuno Espirito Santo. Ange Postecoglou. Sean Dyche. Vitor Pereira. Forest went through all of them last season and still somehow managed to stay in the Premier League.

Glasner attracted plenty of interest when he announced he would leave Crystal Palace at the end of the season and eventually landed in Nottingham, where he will hope to buck the trend of notoriously impatient owner Evangelos Marinakis.

Glasner showed at Palace that he is an extremely shrewd operator with a clear playing style. He can drill players into his way of doing things. But, as we saw during his final months at Palace, he is not shy in voicing his frustrations when it comes to transfers. If he decides to take on Marinakis then it will only go one way.

The 47-year-old Frenchman arrived in south London after a seriously impressive one and only season with Lens, who he led to the Coupe de France final - the club's first since 1998 - and second place in Ligue 1.

The question is whether his success in France will translate into the Premier League with Palace following the successful reign of Glasner. Frank de Boer and Patrick Vieira are proof that it doesn't always work out like Glasner when taking a manager from abroad.

Sage worked in academy football for years before ascending to first-team football. He is a calm head and will take a methodical approach with Palace, which should mean a steady succession.

Alonso knows how hard it could be for him. "I had a view of Chelsea from the outside," he said this summer. "I could see the positives and my concerns so I addressed them."

The Spaniard has been handed more control than his predecessors, which is shown by his "manager" title, rather than "head coach". He failed at Real Madrid, but was extremely impressive at Bayer Leverkusen and has a ludicrously stacked squad with which to create his own identity at Chelsea.

While some managers have found the Blues' embarrassment of riches a hindrance, preferring a smaller squad, Alonso could be the man to tame it. If he can strike the right balance, maintaining squad harmony while honing in on those players who suit his style, they could be onto a winner.

Bournemouth's reputation for being a well-run club is fully deserved. Their recruitment team continually strike gold when scouring the market for young, talented and under-valued players. That - plus Iraola's coaching - has allowed them to continue to thrive despite selling those players on a few years later.

Rose has worked at Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, so has experience of 'bigger' clubs than Bournemouth. While he hasn't lasted long at either of the German giants, he has been hired due to his reputation as a coach who can get the best out of young players. Given their track record, I trust Bournemouth's judgement.

Pep Guardiola's successor has been groomed for many years for the role. Having worked under the City boss as a coach and soaked up his tactical philosophy, Maresca could hardly be more of a continuity pick.