Top Ten Managers Of All Time

[joseywales]

1. Alex Ferguson

2. Jock Stein

3. Brian Clough

4. Matt Busby

5. Bill Shankly

6.Jose Mourinho

7. Vicente Del Bosque

8. Johann Cryuff

9. Tommy Walker

10. Bill Struth

[Cruyff Turn]

Rinus Michels has to be in there.

[Bazzas right boot]

I'd stick wenger in there, and Simone must be close, although maybe too early for him to be classed as a great.

[joseywales]

I would have put wenger in but for me he has let himself down by not adapting to the modern game the way fergie did.

[rudi must stay]

1. Alex Ferguson

2. Jock Stein

3. Brian Clough

4. Pep Guardiola

5. Jose Mourinho

6. Sir Bobby Robson

7. Vicente Del Bosque

8. Johann Cryuff

9. Arsene Wenger

10. Rafa Benitez

IMO

[joseywales]

IMO

Sorry I don't understand tech speak what does that mean if you don't mind me asking.

[rudi must stay]

Sorry I don't understand tech speak what does that mean if you don't mind me asking.

In my opinion

[joseywales]

In my opinion

Thank you for explaning the meaning of the term.

[Footballfirst]

Clough is no. 1 for me.  To take modest clubs from domestic backwaters to national and international prominence takes some doing and Clough achieved it with Notts Forest and Derby.

 

Ferguson has to be considered too because of his longevity and effectively producing 4 or 5 different, but still successful, squads. My only caveat is that Man Utd had the financial resources to be the top side throughout his tenure, whereas Clough's achievements were down to selective recruitment and bloody good coaching

[Notts1874]

Josey is starting a lot of threads at the moment?

 

PS The answer is Bob Paisley.

[joseywales]

Clough is no. 1 for me.  To take modest clubs from domestic backwaters to national and international prominence takes some doing and Clough achieved it with Notts Forest and Derby.

 

Ferguson has to be considered too because of his longevity and effectively producing 4 or 5 different, but still successful, squads. My only caveat is that Man Utd had the financial resources to be the top side throughout his tenure, whereas Clough's achievements were down to selective recruitment and bloody good coaching

I personally believe Fergie's biggest achievement was beating real madrid to win the cup winners cup with a small Scottish club like Aberdeen that will never happen again.

[joseywales]

Josey is starting a lot of threads at the moment?

 

PS The answer is Bob Paisley.

 

Sorry if I am starting a lot of threads I will bear that in mind for the future.

[queensferryjambo]

Bill Shankley is always quoted as one of the greatest when he only won 3 league titles, one FA Cup and one UEFA cup in 15 seasons.

 

Bob Paisley won 6 league titles, 3 League Cups, 3 European cups, 1 UEFA cup and a European super cup in 9 seasons and hardly ever gets a mention when it comes to these things.

[Notts1874]

Sorry if I am starting a lot of threads I will bear that in mind for the future.

Good lad.

[queensferryjambo]

Josey is starting a lot of threads at the moment?

 

PS The answer is Bob Paisley.

 

 

Ha ha I was checking my stats and typing as you were posting

 

Never quite understood why Bob Paisley never seems to get the accolades he deserves (IMO).

[Hackney Hearts]

 My only caveat is that Man Utd had the financial resources to be the top side throughout his tenure, whereas Clough's achievements were down to selective recruitment and bloody good coaching

 

But surely Ferguson had already proved his abilities without financial resources by transforming two rubbish Scottish clubs?

[Eldar Hadzimehmedovic]

Is this just UK or worldwide?

[Uncle Buck]

Have to have Pep.

[Eggert]

Not in any order;

Alex Ferguson
Bill Shankly
Brian Clough
Johan Cruyff 
Pep Guardiola
Ottmar Hitzfeld
Helenio Herrera
Rinus Michels
Vicente del Bosque
Jose Mourinho

[Brighton Jambo]

Not in any order;

Alex Ferguson

Bill Shankly

Brian Clough

Johan Cruyff 

Pep Guardiola

Ottmar Hitzfeld

Helenio Herrera

Rinus Michels

Vicente del Bosque

Jose Mourinho

That's a good list I reckon though like the poster above I would personally squeak Bob Paisley in somehow

[Big Slim Stylee]

That's a good list I reckon though like the poster above I would personally squeak Bob Paisley in somehow

 

Make it a Top 12 and shoe-horn Ancelotti in there with him.  Feel he never quite gets the credit he deserves.

[1874robbo]

Bill Nicholson would have to be on that last.

[Eggert]

That's a good list I reckon though like the poster above I would personally squeak Bob Paisley in somehow

 

 

Make it a Top 12 and shoe-horn Ancelotti in there with him.  Feel he never quite gets the credit he deserves.

Those two names were close to getting on my list possibly for Shankly or Mourinho, but subjectively maybe don't have as big personalities. 

 

Stein should also there but was trying to limit the amount of UK based managers.

[benny]

All these posts and no Bob Paisley.

Don Revie,never liked his Leeds side but a better shout than Wegner or Nicholson.

Udo Lattek another great who should be in the list.

[Seymour M Hersh]

Bill Shankley is always quoted as one of the greatest when he only won 3 league titles, one FA Cup and one UEFA cup in 15 seasons.

 

Bob Paisley won 6 league titles, 3 League Cups, 3 European cups, 1 UEFA cup and a European super cup in 9 seasons and hardly ever gets a mention when it comes to these things.

 

That's why Liverpool fans say Shankly laid the foundations and Paisley put the roof on. But if you ask and Liverpool fan over the age of 50 it will be Shankly every day of the week as the best Liverpool manager (and best manager anywhere).

[lauriesrank]

Clough for me all day long, certainly in england, bob paisley has to get recognition and the initial list, difficult to disagree with (I know clough was on it), surely, Guardiola has to have a mention!??

[vasco]

Herbert Chapman's a must. The pre-war equivalent to Brian Clough. FA Cup followed by consecutive Football League Championships with Huddersfield in the 1920s, then exactly the same script with Arsenal in the 1930s. Both teams actually achieved three successive league titles, but he had left the former for the latter before their third, and he died midway through Arsenal's third season of title wins.

[GJamboR7]

Clough is no. 1 for me. To take modest clubs from domestic backwaters to national and international prominence takes some doing and Clough achieved it with Notts Forest and Derby.

 

Ferguson has to be considered too because of his longevity and effectively producing 4 or 5 different, but still successful, squads. My only caveat is that Man Utd had the financial resources to be the top side throughout his tenure, whereas Clough's achievements were down to selective recruitment and bloody good coaching

In the early years, they were on a shoestring budget compared to other teams. It's in his book.

 

Even from 2000 onward, he didn't spend as much as Chelsea season on season. He had a big spend every 2-3 years.

 

Greatest of all time to me

[Flogel98]

Make it a Top 12 and shoe-horn Ancelotti in there with him. Feel he never quite gets the credit he deserves.

Then you maybe need to consider Arrigo Sacchi

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GlasgoJambo]

Then you maybe need to consider Arrigo Sacchi

 

For sure. In charge of what many people see as the greatest club side of the late 20thC.

Ancelotti said of Sacchi

 

"Arrigo completely changed Italian football ? the philosophy, the training methods, the intensity, the tactics".

[manaliveits105]

i would stick Robbie in there now 

[benny]

For sure. In charge of what many people see as the greatest club side of the late 20thC.

Ancelotti said of Sacchi

"Arrigo completely changed Italian football ? the philosophy, the training methods, the intensity, the tactics".

Lippi as well.

[pcw1874]

1. Alex Ferguson

Jock Stein

Brian Clough

Bob Paisley

Rinus Michels

Giovanni Trapatoni

Vicente Del Bosque

Ottmar Hitzfeld

Bill Shankly

Matt Busby

[jambos are go!]

In my experience any discussion about Managers will hardly have started before the 'lets not forget about the underated Bob Paisley' argument is brought up. Its tedious and untrue that he is ignored.

[Phil Dunphy]

Have to have Pep.

 

Pep the best manager of all time?

 

Behave.

[SectionDJambo]

One of them inconsistencies of having a list like this has to be the different nature of player contracts now, compared to pre Bosman.

Much harder for managers of less fashionable clubs to hold onto their best players now. The managers of the bigger clubs could always offer big money before, or unsettle a player through the press, but, ultimately a player was the property of the club until the club decided otherwise. No contract expiry and move on.

It's very hard for a manager to continually rebuild his side after losing his best players to bigger clubs. The modern day manager who can do this successfully is rare.

Could Clough have kept his best players, for example?

Also, some great managers of the pre Bosman era had to put up with some terrible directors. This was probably Tommy Walker's biggest obstacle to even greater success.

[BelgeJambo]

Ranieri - to bounce back from the way he was treated at Chelsea and win the league with a team valued at a pittance compared to the rest of the league - have to take ma hat off to him

 

oh what could have been.

 

Ferguson

Paisley

Busby

Shankly

Clough

Del Bosque

Guardiola

Mourinho

Lippi

Ranieri

[michael_bolton]

A proper ranking is clearly a very difficult thing to define, but many of the lists so far have been quite UK-centric or weighted heavily to the modern era.

 

Worthy of consideration is Valery Lobanovskiy, who had incredible success with his approach with the USSR and Dinamo Kiev. Bela Guttman's contribution to the development of the modern game (not to mention his success) makes him worth a mention. Hennes Weisweiler's career was a triumph for actual coaching and the art of building a team in a way which is rarely seen.

 

In short, a top ten is probably impossible to really compile, but a much greater spread of names is worthy of consideration than the ones in most lists here. Football has seen many smart innovations over the years in many parts of the world. This shouldn't be ignored in favour of modern day celebrity coaches who chuck around wads of cash to help establish 'their philosophy'.

[Stephane Grappelli]

Make it a Top 12 and shoe-horn Ancelotti in there with him.  Feel he never quite gets the credit he deserves.

Great shout. Has success wherever he goes and just seems to get on with the job without any fuss or mind games. Any player or coach who has worked with him all say that he is a really good bloke. Paul Lambert was saying recently that he was over studying Ancelotti at Real Madrid for his coaching badges and Ancelotti involved him in everything. He even let him sit in on the team talk before a Champions League quarter final against Atletico Madrid.

 

 

Bill Nicholson would have to be on that last.

Another great shout. His Spurs team the first English team to do the double in the 20th Century and the first British team to win a European trophy. He also had the good sense to build a team around Dave Mackay.

[ford donald]

Bill Shankley is always quoted as one of the greatest when he only won 3 league titles, one FA Cup and one UEFA cup in 15 seasons.

 

Bob Paisley won 6 league titles, 3 League Cups, 3 European cups, 1 UEFA cup and a European super cup in 9 seasons and hardly ever gets a mention when it comes to these things.

Shankly dragged Liverpool out of the depths,he rebuilt them completely.Paisley has a lot to thank him for.

[scott herbertson]

Shankly dragged Liverpool out of the depths,he rebuilt them completely.Paisley has a lot to thank him for.

 

Also Shankly created the system, the style of play, the whole family feel of the club. Paisley also suffers in comparisons by having been very quiet, understated. Not one to blow his own trumpet. The Cloughs and Fergies weren't shy about saying how good their teams were and mixing it with the media

 

I'd go for the managers who created systems and club cultures so for British managers I'd say Stein, Busby, Fergie and Clough

 

Internationally although this man was British he was probably the best European manager of all time (by my criteria)

 

 

 

 

Having looked him up I see he was interned in the second world war with PG Wodehouse - an odd thought!

 

The other international manager I would cite would be Rinus Michaels

[JamboX2]

Thinking of a purely British top 10:

 

Ferguson

Clough

Stein

Paisley

Shankly

Nicholson

Struth

Revie

Busby

 

As for a tenth man you could argue Jim McLean punched far far far above his weight at Dundee United in the 1980s. Especially in Europe. But I'll give it to Robson.

[John Findlay]

Herbert Chapman's a must. The pre-war equivalent to Brian Clough. FA Cup followed by consecutive Football League Championships with Huddersfield in the 1920s, then exactly the same script with Arsenal in the 1930s. Both teams actually achieved three successive league titles, but he had left the former for the latter before their third, and he died midway through Arsenal's third season of title wins.

Only took 27 posystem. Well said.

[Placid Casual]

Brian Clough deservedly in the top ten but Peter Taylor was a massive part of Derby and Forest's achievements. Not sure if Clough would have done so on his own.

[Hagar the Horrible]

What about the JJ and BB combo?

 

Seriously Stein might just scrape it into number 10, but there are character flaws and I am not just talking about what he knew, there are other horror stories.  and one thing everybody regardless of how hard you need to come across is that you have a duty of care for you players,  Jim McLean was hard task master, and took the Arabs way above their weight class, but DU contract policy made Sports Direct employers of the year?

 

Top 3 in this order is SAF, Shanks, and Clough.

 

Reasons SAF built team after team and had success with 2 clubs, Made Man Utd into a global brand much more than a club. Brilliant man manager.

Shanks left a legacy and a philosophy where others were able to follow, made Liverpool the giants they still are.  Paisley, Fagan et-al changed little.

Clough for taking 2 mediocre clubs and making them unbeatable.  however needed a Robin to his Batman(Taylor), left no legacy, but the best around in his day no question.

 

everybody else is everybody else, Sir Boabby Robson, was unlucky to have their best team in a era where Liverpool, Forest and Villa had their time in the sun

 

There are arguments for everybody else

[Marvin]

Thinking of a purely British top 10:

 

Ferguson

Clough

Stein

Paisley

Shankly

Nicholson

Struth

Revie

Busby

 

As for a tenth man you could argue Jim McLean punched far far far above his weight at Dundee United in the 1980s. Especially in Europe. But I'll give it to Robson.

I'm assuming that Bill Nicholson,on you're list. A great manager who lead Spurs to the league and cup double.

[Guest Paul Allen]

Anatoly Korobochka > the rest.

[Nookie Bear]

I would have Pep ahead of Fergie.

[andy65]

I can only think through my maroon tinted brain !!

 

Tommy Walker

JJ

Paulo

Alex McDonald

Alex McDonald & Sandy J

George Burley

Craig Levien

Robbie Neilson (will hopefully move upwards through the list one cup would put him near to JJ)

Ivanausks - for the cup and cup semi win

[rudi must stay]

I would have Pep ahead of Fergie.

Until he has won more trophies he isn't