Promoting a coach from within a club can be a dangerous business; for every Pep Guardiola there is an Antonio Alvarez, who won the King's Cup last season and then oversaw Sevilla's exit in Champions League qualifying at the hands of debutant Sporting Braga. Or a Jose Maria Nogues, the former coach of Betis B who led the first team to a 2008 relegation it has still not yet overturned.
Sometimes, though, an internal appointment can be just the tonic needed to put some fizz back into a stagnant club as a former player or youth team coach takes the helm of a Liga side. Here are our top picks:
Mauricio Pochettino, Espanyol
Few in Spain outside of the blue-and-white half of Barcelona would have recognized Pochettino in the street when he stepped into the breach at Espanyol in January 2009 with the team in the relegation zone. Someone at the club was inspired by the former Argentina international, however, promoting him to the big chair straight from his position as an assistant coach to Espanyol's female side.
Pochettino recorded instant success, instilling the fighting spirit he showed as a robust defender -- he still holds the club record for red cards with 13 -- into a faltering side low on confidence. In his first match, rampant Barcelona was held to an 0-0 King's Cup tie at Montjuic, the first blank Guardiola's side had fired since the previous August. A month later, Pochettino went one better, masterminding a 2-1 victory over Espanyol's city rival at Camp Nou.
The man born in Murphy was laying down his own law in Catalonia. "What I can say is that I have a squad who want to wear the Espanyol shirt and want to do well," Pochettino told reporters after his debut on the bench.
Two years after his surprising appointment, Espanyol sits fifth in La Liga, unbeaten at home except by Barcelona and in with a shout of reaching European competition for the first time since reaching the final of the 2007 UEFA Cup.
Juan Carlos Garrido, Villarreal
Another appointment that can be filed somewhere between unexpected and shocking, Garrido's playing career only went as far as the Valencia youth teams. Neither was his coaching path littered with glory. He cut his teeth at El Puig CF, a regional division team, spent a year at Villarreal's feeder club, DC Onda, and later coached Villarreal B between 2002 and his January 2010 promotion to the first team job, where he replaced Ernesto Valverde.
Garrido has the team running smoothly. Currently third in La Liga and regarded as the most entertaining side to watch outside Barcelona, Villarreal has won plaudits this season for its adherence to the beautiful side of the game. And it was nearly rewarded with a positive result at the Bernabeu on Sunday. The Champions League beckons anew for the 2006 semifinalist, which -- if it continues in this vein -- will assume the vacant mantle of Spain's third-place club.
Garrido's contract expires at the end of the season, but there is little doubt that it will be renewed.
Josep Guardiola, Barcelona
It is easy to forget that when Guardiola was anointed as Barcelona's coach in 2008, there were many heads scratched, eyebrows raised and audible utterances of "¿que?" at Camp Nou.
A classy defensive midfielder who patrolled the backfield of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team, Guardiola's managerial career was in its infancy when he was handed the reins that had been previously entrusted to coaches of international renown. What Guardiola brought to Barcelona was similar to the Pochettino effect at Espanyol. Having been in charge of the B team during the 2007-08 season, Guardiola brought Sergio Busquets, Pedro Rodriguez and Jeffren Suarez into the first team, simultaneously giving the surly Samuel Eto'o a kick in the backside and ejecting party boys Ronaldinho and Deco. He also nicked Gerard Pique back from Manchester United, surely on reflection one of Sir Alex Ferguson's most notable transfer clangers.
Guardiola turned Barcelona into a club representative of Catalonia after its long association with Holland in terms of coaching and playing staff. Astutely, he kept the footballing philosophy of the low country and injected a fresh sense of regional identity.
In two full seasons in charge, Guardiola has added two Ligas, a Champions League, a King's Cup, two Spanish Supercups, a European Supercup and the Club World Cup to his third division title with Barcelona B.
Michel, Real Madrid
Not so much an internal appointment as a managerial loan, former Spain international Michel was making his breakthrough on Real Madrid's right flank when Getafe was founded in 1983. The club from the southern Madrid suburb, which hired Michel in April 2009, has long served as an incubator for Real players, and the current squad features Castilla graduates Borja Fernandez, Dani Parejo, Jordi Codina, Pedro Mosquera and Miguel Torres.
Michel's brief tenure at Castilla, Real Madrid's B team, saw the club relegated to Segunda Division B, but his emphasis on youth development -- which was also seen as a criticism of Real president Ramon Calderon's lack of any significant focus on bringing in young players -- led to a less-than-cordial departure from the club.
Michel currently has Getafe sitting sixth in La Liga, which will not go unnoticed at the Bernabeu. Calderon is gone, and Florentino Perez, a willing employer of the five members of Real's legendary Quinta del Buitre, is back in the Bernabeu boardroom. He could be more receptive to the idea of Michel coming back into the fold. Even Jose Mourinho has said that Michel will one day return to manage the first team.
It seems only a matter of time before Real once again plucks one of its own from Getafe.