Premier League Manager Rankings After Weekend of October 4-5
Welcome to the first addition of a new feature, in which all 20 Premier League managers' performances over the previous fixtures—and the 2014/15 Premier League season overall—will be scrutinised and subsequently ranked in descending order.
The ranking will be based on the manager's overall successes and failures: taking into account the resources available to them, their side's league position and points total, their tactical decisions and playing style, their comments in public... the list is endless.
Their job safety—in terms of board, fan and media satisfaction/pressure—will also be considered.
It is largely based on this season only, with the game week analysed given particular emphasis in terms of any fluctuations in the rankings.
However, past achievements—whether at the manager's current club or a previous one—are always a factor to consider in both of the above criteria. After all, just as with players, it can shape how we view them.
Take a look and, if you agree or disagree, do not hesitate to comment below.
20. Harry Redknapp, Queens Park Rangers
1 of 20
It was Harry Redknapp who seemed in pole position ahead of Alan Pardew to bag himself the England job when Fabio Capello resigned in February 2012. How both have fallen since.
Queens Park Rangers were dismal in the 2-0 loss at Redknapp's former club, West Ham United. The R's already have a -11 goal difference, picking up a mere point from their last four games, and now lie bottom of the table.
Redknapp appears completely bereft of ideas, admitting to the BBC his side are “short—short of goals, short up front."
Bobby Zamora’s last-minute winner against a promising Derby side in last season’s Championship play-off final becomes a bigger footballing waste by the minute.
19. Alan Pardew, Newcastle United
2 of 20
Indeed, rather like Redknapp conquering Inter Milan in the Champions League with Tottenham Hotspur, it seems a hell of a long time ago that Papiss Cisse was firing Newcastle United to within touching distance of a top-four finish towards the end of the 2011-12 season.
Cisse’s return from injury has been one of few positives of late, scoring four goals in his last three games. But it says everything about the lack of organisation and belief around him that these goals have earned only two points.
Admittedly Pardew, with a complete lack of ambition above him and a hostile crowd ferociously against him, surely has the second toughest job in English football (after Jose Riga at Blackpool) right now. But he has largely made a rod for his own back with his lame excuses and dismal style since that brilliant 2011-12 campaign.
The 2-2 draw at Swansea was a respectable building block, lifting his side off the bottom to 18th, but a first win of the season—at home to Leicester City—is now an absolute must to relieve a minuscule of pressure ahead of testing fixtures against Tottenham and Liverpool.
18. Roberto Martinez, Everton
3 of 20
Everton have certainly not had an easy start in terms of fixtures—already facing Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United—but a return of less than a point-per-game and 17th place is not pleasant reading for last season’s closest top-four contenders.
In fairness, had they have faced an inferior goalkeeper to David de Gea on Sunday, they would have almost certainly come away from Old Trafford with at least a point.
But Roberto Martinez’s continued use of Romelu Lukaku in wide areas rightly received criticism on Match of the Day 2, and he must take heed by utilising the club’s £28m record signing in a central role against upcoming weaker opposition.
At least the Spaniard can count on a group of players used to slow starts from the Moyes era, but they must make up ground sooner rather than later.
17. Mark Hughes, Stoke City
4 of 20
Rather like last season it has been an underwhelming, stop-start campaign for Stoke. Mark Hughes does not currently appear to know his best attacking combination and tinkering with personnel cannot be helping the search for consistency.
More worryingly, perhaps, if the 3-1 loss to Sunderland is anything to go by, the resolute defending of the Tony Pulis era appears to have diminished.
You would, however, back Hughes to get it right as he ultimately did last term—especially when, despite lying in 16th place, they are only three points off fourth place. It is still very early days.
16. Sean Dyche, Burnley
5 of 20
Sean Dyche could not muster a first Premier League win for his side at Leicester in the battle of last season’s Championship’s top two, but Burnley did finally find some goals in a 2-2 draw having failed to score since Jimmy Arfield gave them the lead against Chelsea on their opening matchday.
That goal must have felt an awfully long time ago but, despite Ross Wallace’s brilliant free-kick equaliser in the 96th minute on Saturday, it looks set to be a long, hard season.
But was it ever really going to be any different? Once again the man with the most interesting voice in football remained upbeat, telling the BBC, "I was really pleased with the performance and the point adds a bit of gloss to it,” and there is certainly something to admire in that.
If he can find a win at home to high-flying West Ham after the international break, there'll be even more to admire.
15. Steve Bruce, Hull City
6 of 20
A first win since the opening day of the season never looked in doubt for Hull against a limp Crystal Palace side, with Steve Bruce’s decision to return to last season’s successful 3-5-2 a shrewd one.
Nikica Jelavic and Mohamed Diame both found the net once more, although it remains to be seen how loanees Hatem Ben Arfa and Gaston Ramirez—hefty tolls on the wage bill, no doubt—will fit in, especially with two tough fixtures at the Emirates and Anfield up next.
Such high-profile signings have raised the bar of expectation for Bruce, and more wins are now required to head up this list—and the Premier League table.
14. Gus Poyet, Sunderland
7 of 20
Unlike Dyche and Burnley, Gus Poyet and Sunderland did record a massive first win of the season against Stoke having drawn five of their previous six matches.
They, too, perhaps more importantly, finally scored some goals after firing blanks in three of the last four matches. Steven Fletcher recorded double figures in the Premier League three seasons running for Wolves and Sunderland between 2010 and 2013, but he appeared out of sorts last season and has struggled with injury.
His brace upon returning to the side on Saturday lifted both his side and his manager, who reflected this to the BBC, "Before today it was no wins. Now we have only lost one in seven. The start looks different, it looks more than decent.” Quite, Gus.
13. Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool
8 of 20
There is still work to do to recover the form of last season but both Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool showed signs of improvement in beating West Bromwich Albion 2-1 on Saturday.
Rodgers’ decision to publicly slate and drop Mario Balotelli hardly paid off given Rickie Lambert’s continual slump but, otherwise, the Northern Irishman’s in-game management was impressive.
He continually switched the midfield three of Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho around to unsettle West Brom’s game-plan. Henderson in particular thrived in attacking areas, superbly creating Adam Lallana's first goal for the club before scoring the winner in the second-half.
Glen Johnson's return from injury also had a positive impact; Rodgers will hope his options continue to grow after the international break, rather than diminish as they did last month.
12. Louis Van Gaal, Manchester United
9 of 20
It may be fourth-place and two wins on the bounce for Louis van Gaal and United but there has certainly been an element of fortune in the two 2-1 home wins against West Ham and Everton.
Eleven points from by far the easiest start of their rivals remains underwhelming, meanwhile.
That said, the form of Angel Di Maria—surely the best player in the league—looks likely to ensure United will now be a permanent fixture in and around the top four for the rest of the season.
Moreover, Van Gaal hit the nail on the head by, as per BBC, reportedly telling his players, "'We are not playing well but we are fourth in the table—so what will happen when we do play well?'"
11. Arsene Wenger, Arsenal
10 of 20
Arsene Wenger’s dismal record against Jose Mourinho now reads W0, D5, L7 after Sunday’s 2-0 loss.
And the pressure showed as he uncharacteristically—though, it has not been said enough, hilariously—pushed his rival in the first-half.
Far less amusing was the Frenchman’s predictable reference to Chelsea’s resources, saying "at the end of the day, they have a financial power and they used it in a very efficient way when they had the chances," as per ESPN.
It is an excuse which carries minimal weight given Arsenal’s front three on Sunday (Mesut Ozil, Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez) cost almost £100m between them.
Like Everton, the Gunners now have some less demanding fixtures ahead after a tough start. With the unbeaten record gone, wins must now be delivered.
10. Alan Irvine, West Bromwich Albion
11 of 20
There is no doubt the Scot's appointment was the strangest of the summer but, so far at least, Alan Irvine seems to be proving the many doubters (myself included) wrong.
After impressive back-to-back wins, his side delivered a respectable performance in losing 2-1 at Anfield, while his work in building an industrious side around the talented Saido Berahino deserves much credit.
Indeed, from watching Saturday’s game it seemed astonishing that the young Englishman was overlooked in Roy Hodgson’s squad for a toiling Rickie Lambert on the opposition side, even if Berahino's heading ability deserted him at key moments.
9. Neil Warnock, Crystal Palace
12 of 20
After eight points from four games since filling the Pulis-shaped hole at Crystal Palace, it was a disappointing 2-0 defeat in the battle-to-avoid-second-season-syndrome at Hull.
Neil Warnock's side had only two shots on target and committed 14 fouls in the end although, frankly, Saturday’s opposition have spent considerably more money in the previous twelve months and it showed somewhat.
It has still been a very good start for Warnock since returning to his former club and, ultimately, achieving relegation will be considered a great achievement.
8. Paul Lambert, Aston Villa
13 of 20
There was little wrong with Lambert’s game-plan against Man City: Villa are strong on the counter, while City concede a disproportionately high amount of goals—14 percent in the Premier League and Champions League last season, according to Opta (h/t Jonathan Wilson in The Guardian)—when hit on the break.
However, while the last-minute loss of Gabriel Agbonlahor was sheer bad luck, the Scot’s use of subs was curious at best; Leandro Bacuna and Jack Grealish considerably weakened the side while the returning Christian Benteke was desperately off the pace.
A point seemed achievable but, for the third game running against a big side, was not taken.
7. Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham Hotspur
14 of 20
Mauricio Pochettino earned a highly satisfying—if slightly fortunate, given Saido Mane’s astonishing miss in the 84th-minute—win against his former club on Sunday, as he continues to attempt to stamp his mark on this Tottenham side.
Indeed, a small section of the Southampton away fans gave him plenty of stick, with their manager, Ronald Koeman, criticising them for doing so.
Pochettino will likely be glad its all over; Man City away is a massive test next but there are some inviting fixtures in November for his side to finally find some consistency.
6. Garry Monk, Swansea City
15 of 20
Garry Monk's side are now without a win since the three consecutive ones in August which earned him the Manager of the Month award.
Consequently, Swansea have slipped out of the Champions League places after twice being pegged from behind at home to Newcastle. Performance-wise it appeared more Laudrup’s Swansea than Monk’s with two brilliant goals from Wilfried Bony and Wayne Routledge largely to waste after lacklustre defending.
It has still been a good start for the Swans but with fixtures against Everton, Manchester City and Arsenal to come in November, the upcoming matches at Stoke and at home to Leicester now appear to have taken on increased importance to ensure they are not to be dragged down the table further.
5. Nigel Pearson, Leicester City
16 of 20
Pearson went back to basics following the disappointing 2-0 loss at Crystal Palace, using Jeff Schlupp and Riyad Mahrez as wingers in a more conventional 4-4-2 system, as opposed to the three-striker system devised to exploit Manchester United’s weaknesses in the thrilling 5-3 win.
His side looked more cohesive as a result, with the two wingers both getting on the score-sheet in the first-half, but conceding the latest goal of the Premier League season thus far understandably left him furious as his side dropped two points.
However, venting his anger by attacking Burnley’s progression (or lack thereof) by saying, as per the Lancashire Telegraph, “We’re better than we were last season and I don't think they are as good as they were,” was unnecessarily unpleasant.
Poor form, Nigel, but we'll let you off after the start you've had.
4. Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City
17 of 20
Manuel Pellegrini, the first Premier League-winning South American manager, has generally always been a 4-2-2-2 man and it was the default formation during last season’s title winning goal-glutz of a campaign.
However, with Alvaro Negredo gone and Stevan Jovetic less than reliable in terms of fitness, does it still suit his squad?
Pellegrini clearly had doubts himself when bringing on two summer midfield additions—Fernando and Frank Lampard—early in the second-half against Aston Villa, switching to a 4-2-3-1 to allow Yaya Toure to make those bursts from deep more often.
The Ivorian delivered in a manner he did so often last term by scoring the breakthrough goal before Sergio Aguero sealed a 2-0 win.
Formation semantics aside, Pellegrini’s patience and trust in this talented group of players to unlock a stubborn opposition defence runs through the side and it consistently pays dividends.
3. Sam Allardyce, West Ham United
18 of 20
“I won’t ever be going to a top-four club because I’m not called Allardici,” Allardyce once told us in 2012, as per the Daily Mail.
After his successful implementation of the diamond formation, one commonly used in Italy, those comments seem slightly less foolish now.
His West Ham side are now seventh, above Arsenal and Liverpool, after two wins from three matches, and with the firepower at his disposal a top-half finish could well be on the cards.
It's certainly difficult to agree with his assertion, as per BBC, meanwhile, that "I don't think there is anybody playing in midfield that is better than Stewart Downing.” The 30-year-old's role in a left-of-centre midfield role, a la Di Maria, suits him down to the ground.
2. Ronald Koeman, Southampton
19 of 20
Dutchman Ronald Koeman suffered a first league defeat since the opening day at Anfield, with Manchester City moving above them into second place.
It was a similarly even game at White Hart Lane, in which his Southampton side once again enjoyed more possession and deserved something from the game.
A point would have been achieved had one of Koeman’s many summer signings, Sadio Mane, not contrived to miss when it was easier to score.
Those shouts for relegation by many, including Robbie Savage in the Mirror, in the summer look increasingly premature, with another top-half finish more than achievable.
1. Jose Mourinho, Chelsea
20 of 20
Just like his side at the moment, Jose Mourinho remains a cut above the rest.
Sunday was a landmark performance for his Chelsea 2.0 team as, unlike last season, they looked both stronger and technically more proficient than a potential title rival.
Mourinho also impressively kept his cool when Wenger decided to start the playground antics although, considering his record against the Frenchman, why wouldn’t he?
It is now five points clear and counting.
