Xabi Alonso's appointment at Bayer Leverkusen at the start of October raised a few eyebrows.
With the team second-bottom of the Bundesliga after a dreadful start to the season, it would have been easy to pick an experienced head coach to replace Gerardo Seoane, but Leverkusen opted to take a gamble and went with Alonso.
The former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder had never managed in the top-flight in any country before, but he got off to a flying start as he guided his side to a 4-0 win over Schalke in his first game, and he hasn't looked back.