Manchester United made Erik ten Hag the Premier League’s ninth Dutch manager when they appointed him on Thursday.
The 52-year-old faces an almighty task as the Old Trafford bosses hope he can turn their underperforming stars into dazzling, competitive side once again.
But unluckily for both United and Ten Hag his fellow countrymen’s previous fortunes in the English top flight do not provide a promising omen.
Eight Dutchmen have taken charge in the Premier League to varied success. While Louis can Gaal, Ruud Gullit and Guus Hiddink all lifted the FA Cup but not a single one managed to win the title.
Rene Meulensteen and Dick Advocaat imploded, while Martin Jol notched up the most points of any other Dutchman in top-flight history.
Here, Sportsmail takes a look at how Ten Hag’s compatriots fared in the top flight before him.
Manchester United made Erik ten Hag the Premier League’s ninth Dutch manager this week
Ruud Gullit – Chelsea (player-manager) 1996-98, Newcastle 1998-99
The Premier League’s first Dutch manager had a bright start to life in a top flight dugout when became the first black manager to win a major English trophy with Chelsea’s 1997 FA Cup win.
Ruud Gullit became the Premier League’s first Dutch manager when he took charge of Chelsea in 1996
However, his success did not extend to the Premier League as the west Londoners could only muster a sixth-place finish that term.
Gullit’s Blues improved on their standing the following season when they finished fourth but they did so with him no longer at the helm.
Gullit was controversially sacked midway through the 1997-98 season in February with chairman Ken Bates labelling him ‘arrogant’.
His consequent spell up North at Newcastle was similarly short-lived with his reign lasting just five games into his second season.
His stint at St James’s Park was marred by fallings out with star players Alan Shearer and Rob Lee.
He led them to a 13th-place finish in the 1998-99 season before resigning after failing to win a single game in their opening five fixtures of the following campaign with a home derby defeat to Sunderland being the final nail in the coffin.
Played 104: Won 41, Drew 26, Lost 37. Win rate: 39 per cent
Martin Jol – Tottenham 2004-07, Fulham 2011-13
With 276 points, Jol has notched up the most points of any other Dutchman in Premier League history.
Not a hard feat considering he’s managed the most games of them all with 202 across his seasons at Spurs and Fulham.
Jol enjoyed a good spell with Tottenham, winning manager of the month in his second month in the Premier League before leading them to consecutive fifth-place finishes.
Martin Jol has notched up the most points of any other Dutchman in Premier League history
But Jol and his ‘nearly men’ failed to break into the Champions League places, agonisingly missing out in a final-day drop out of the top four in the 2005-06 campaign amid an outbreak of illness and lasagne-related conspiracy theories.
He was sacked following a poor start to the 2007-08 season and replcaed by Juande Ramos but made his return to the Premier League a few years later.
In June 2011, Jol took charge at Craven Cottage leading Fulham to a top-half finish and then 12th the following season.
P202: W75, D51, L76. Win rate: 37 per cent
Guus Hiddink – Chelsea (interim) 2009 and 2015-16
Another Chelsea FA Cup success story under a Dutch manager came thanks to the Blues emergency step-in.
Roman Abramovich twice turned to Hiddink to steer the ship after sacking first Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2009 and then Jose Mourinho in 2015.
His first stint at Stamford Bridge lasted just four months but Hiddink led the west Londoners to a third-placed finish, a controversial Champions League semi-final exit to Barcelona and an FA Cup win, with only one defeat in any competition.
Guus Hiddink was called upon twice by Roman Abramovich to take charge at Chelsea
He came to Chelsea’s rescue once again as the Blues found themselves in crisis at the end of Mourinho’s imploding tenure.
Hiddink took over in December 2015 after Chelsea had slumped to 16th under Mourinho and managed to salvage a 10th-place finish but couldn’t replicate his success of winning the FA Cup.
P34: W18, D12, L4. Win rate: 53 per cent
Rene Meulensteen – Fulham 2013-14
Meulensteen is better known as a coach rather than a manager – and for good reason.
He spent a notable time at Manchester United as a coach and reserves manager where he established a friendship with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He later became assistant manager at Fulham where he got his big break, replacing Jol.
Rene Meulensteen did not even last a season as manager of Fulham in the 2013-14 season
But Meulensteen’s tenure at Craven Cottage spectacularly imploded as he didn’t even last the season.
Hired in November, he was gone by Valentine’s day, earning 10 points from 13 games as Fulham slipped to rock bottom of the table.
The Cottagers eventually made Felix Magath their third manager of the campaign but even he couldn’t rescue their season as they could only improve their standing by one place and suffered the drop.
P13: W3, D1, L9. Win rate: 23 per cent
Ronald Koeman – Southampton 2014-16, Everton 2016-17
Koeman was a midfield great during his playing days and enjoyed success as a manager but his three years in the Premier League were a rollercoaster.
He got off to a flying start with Southampton leading them to second in the league early in his reign before ultimately finishing seventh.
Ronald Koeman’s three years in the Premier League were a rollercoaster
He followed up his debut season with a sixth-place finished in 2015-16 and helped the Saints qualify for the Europa League group stages for the first time in the club’s history.
His tenure at St Mary’s earned him three manager of the month awards and ultimately the Everton job.
But things began to plummet at Goodison. He replaced Roberto Martinez in summer 2016 and led the Toffees to Europa League qualification in his first season on Merseyside.
But he spent a massive £150million across his two transfer windows and couldn’t back up the spending with the results.
A nightmare start to 2017-18 saw him sacked in October with the club in the relegation zone.
Not to mention he left Toffees fans raging with his choice of Christmas decorations as the red colour scheme led to accusations of Liverpool support and betrayal.
Any hint of consorting with the enemy is never the smartest way to win over Everton fans – just ask Rafa Benitez.
P123: W55, D27, L41. Win rate: 45 per cent
Louis van Gaal – Manchester United 2014-16
Van Gaal drank from the poisoned managerial chalice at Old Trafford and following in his footsteps, Ten Hag should be weary of the path he’s treading.
His reign at Man United was box office but not for winning trophies. Van Gaal produced some legendary Premier League moments from falling to the floor in front of the fourth official to his drunken speech at the club award ceremony to his analysis of sado-masochism to an unexpecting reporter.
But in terms of actual footballing success, Van Gaal has left only the FA Cup for Ten Hag to live up to.
Former United boss Louis van Gaal left only the FA Cup for Ten Hag to live up to at Old Trafford
He led United to FA Cup victory in 2016 but the Red Devils could only muster fourth- and fifth-placed finishes in the Premier League.
Van Gaal never truly won over the United fans and does not appear to have fond memories of the club.
He warned Ten Hag off the United job in March when he urged him to ‘choose a football club and not a commercial club.’
P76: W39, D19, L18. Win rate: 51 per cent
Dick Advocaat – Sunderland, 2015
The statistics may not reflect it but Advocaat did an admirable job in keeping Sunderland up as interim boss in 2014-2015.
The Black Cats stayed up by the skin of their teeth after Advoccat took charge in March of that season.
He could have left the North East a legend and probably would have if he had left when he was supposed to.
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Dick Advocaat did an admirable job in keeping Sunderland up as interim boss in 2014-2015
After Sunderland’s survival, Advocaat chose to sign a contract extension but that’s when his career at the Stadium of Light began to derail.
He only made it to October of the 2015-16 season after he opted to resign with Sunderland stuck in the relegation zone once again.
P17: W3, D6, L8. Win rate: 18 per cent
Frank de Boer – Crystal Palace 2017
The shortest, in terms of games, and least successful permanent managerial reign in the Premier League.
Frank de Boer had the shortest and least successful permanent managerial reign in the Premier League
Four league games, no points and no goals and branded ‘worst manager in the history of the Premier League’ by Jose Mourinho – it’s safe to say De Boer’s time in the Premier League wasn’t an enjoyable one.
De Boer’s tenure at Crystal Palace could easily be mistaken for a temporary one but he did in fact have a three-year contract with the Eagles – which quickly disappeared to ten weeks.
During an interview for The Independent, he later claimed that Palace simply didn’t have the quality of players he was used to managing.
‘A lot of times when you go to a club, the chemistry is not really there,’ he said. ‘That’s why I played five in the back, 5-4-1, very defensive, not my kind of idea, but necessary with the players that I had at that moment.’
Yet, try as he might, it’s pretty much impossible for him to cover himself in glory on this one.
At least his side did win a League Cup tie against then-Championship side Ipswich – that’s a success, right?
P4: W0, D0, L4. Win rate: 0 per cent