Adam Lallana and other famous player-coaches in football history

Brighton appointed Adam Lallana as an interim coach following the departure of Graham Potter who left for Chelsea along with key members of his backroom staff.

The 34-year-old midfielder will now add coaching responsibilities to his on-field duties, forming part of the support cast for Brighton's newly-appointed interim head coach Andrew Crofts.

That makes Lallana the latest in a long line of player coaches but who were some of the more recognisable ones in recent years and how did they fare when combining the two most important jobs in football?

Legendary Belgian defender joined Anderlecht in 2019 as player-manager after calling time on his career at Manchester City.

The move didn’t go as planned though as Kompany stepped down from the managerial role after failing to win any of his first four games.

That turned out to be his last season as a pro footballer after which he became Anderlecht manager again in 2020 but this time without playing duties.

Wayne Rooney was named player-coach for Derby County in August 2019 as a part of head coach Phillip Cocu’s staff.

Rooney stepped into the head coach role a year later after Cocu was fired and he led the team in the English Championship while also playing 11 games that season.

The Englishman retired from football to focus on the coaching role at Derby County where he remained until he resigned in 2022,

40-year-old Ryan Giggs was appointed player-coach of Manchester United in July 2013 on David Moyes' backroom staff and he got a promotion when the Scotsman got fired 10 months later.

Giggs took over as player-manager in April 2014 and led Manchester United in the last four games of the season both from the sidelines and on the pitch.

He led Manchester United to two wins, a draw and a defeat in his four games in charge and substituted himself on in a 3-1 home win against Hull City in which he even assisted a goal.

Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli was appointed the player-manager in February 1998 after the club had sacked Ruud Gullit who was also a player-manager.

Vialli led Chelsea to the League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup that season, leading from the dugout and also the pitch where he contributed 19 goals across all competitions.

The following season was his last as a player-manager, leading the team to the UEFA Super Cup trophy by beating Real Madrid and also qualifying Chelsea for the Champions League for the first time in their history with a third-place finish in the Premier League as well as scoring 10 goals in 20 games.

He retired as a player to focus fully on the role as Chelsea manager for the next two seasons and he is widely regarded as one of the most successful player coaches in history with five major trophies won.

Dutch legend Ruud Gullit was one of the first marquee players to join Chelsea in 1995 but soon became the manager as well the following summer.

Gullit led Chelsea to the FA Cup title in his first season in charge while also playing 13 games in all competitions that season.

The following season did not go as planned and Gullit was fired mid-season after a disagreement with the club’s ownership.