The English Premier League has hosted some the best football managers worldwide since its inception 16 years ago. It continues to attract the top names today, as proven by Luis Scolari's appointment at Chelsea.
Yet who have been the best managers in the Premier League overall?
In part two of my series looking at the glory years of the English Premier League, I offer my opinion on who has made the biggest impact. You may or may not agree—feel free to leave your own views as to who the best Premier League managers are.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United
There can be no doubt that Fergie will go down as one of the greatest ever football managers. From his success with Aberdeen in breaking the Rangers and Celtic monopoly in Scottish football in the 1980's to his phenomenal success with Man Utd, Fergie is a true managerial great.
It didn't seem that way at first, though—in his first season at Man Utd in 1986, fans were calling for him to be sacked after a disappointing league campaign. Thankfully, the Man Utd board were made of stern stuff and supported Fergie.
They were rewarded in spades when Fergie's Man Utd side started winning silverware like it was going out of fashion. Beginning with the FA Cup in 1990, Fergie led Man Utd to the European Cup Winners Cup the following season and then the League Cup in 1992.
He finally got his hands on the Premier League title in the 1992-93 season and hasn't looked back since. The wonderful treble-winning season in 1999, when Man Utd won the Champion's League, Premiership and FA Cup and last season's double has cemented Fergie's reputation as a world-class manager.
Arsene Wenger, Arsenal
The second-longest serving manager in the Premier League behind Ferguson, Arsene Wenger has shown that you can build great teams without spending hundreds of millions.
Sure, he has spent big in the past, but Wenger is better known for his ability to take raw talent and turn them into mature superstars. Just one look at the players he's nurtured over the years attests to his managerial skills.
Who else would have seen Thierry Henry's potential as one of the game's most lethal strikers when he was being wasted as a winger at Juventus? Or the undoubted class of teenager Cesc Fabregas when he was in the Barcelona reserves?
Wenger hasn't been short in the success stakes when it comes to silverware either. He won the Premier League in only his second season, and did the double of the Premiership title and the FA Cup in 2001-02.
Although his last major successes with Arsenal were the Premier League title in 2003-04 and the FA Cup in 2005, there's no doubting that Wenger is currently building a young team capable of challenging on all fronts for many years to come.
Harry Redknapp, Portsmouth
One of the most-loved managers in the game, and possibly the best manager never to lead the English national team, Redknapp is currently enjoying a late career bloom.
Famous for leading little Bournemouth to victory over Man Utd in the FA Cup, Redknapp's greatest achievement came last season when he led Portsmouth to FA Cup glory.
16 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Joe G 10 months ago
Big Sam gave Arsenal fits when he was at Bolton. I remember watching a couple of matches and thinking "this is ugly football, but terribly effective."
Love the inclusion of Harry Redknapp on this list. Ever since helping Portsmouth escape relegation a few years ago, they've been safe from the drop and steadily improving each season. I'm glad they made it into Europe this season.
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Danny Brown 10 months ago
Thanks for reading and commenting, Joe.
I agree - watching Bolton was never the prettiest of spectator sports, but Allardyce definitely had the making of Wenger :)
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Chris Kirk 10 months ago
Sam Allarrdyce?
Come on mate your having a laugh.
Replace him with Martin O Neil.
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Danny Brown 10 months ago
Anyone that turned Bolton into such a hard-to-beat team at home, and who worked wonders on such a limited budget year in and year out, gets a thumbs up from me :)
I was actually considering O' Neill, but I just feel that at the minute he needs to do more in the Premiership with Villa. He was outstanding at Celtic, and should be given the Key to the City of Leicester for what he achieved there.
He's had a decent run with Villa so far, but then again he's had some decent influx of funds - something previous managers never had the luxury of, thanks to Doug Ellis being such a tightwad. Maybe he can be reconsidered at the end of this season.
Thanks for reading and commenting :)
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Ismail Ayub 10 months ago
Arsene Wenger's last major trophy was the FA Cup in 2005. But yes great article...
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Danny Brown 10 months ago
Thanks Ismail, consider myself corrected :)
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Marc Kaveh 10 months ago
Sam Allardyce is an absolute crap manager, who played crap football!
How on earth can you justify a place here for him when he only ever suceeded at one club, the man failed miserably at Newcastle!
Give Sir Bobby Robson a mention for turning the Toon from last in the Premiership in 2001 to 3rd by 2003! How Allardyce can get on and not Robson is a bit of a joke.
The rest is good choices though
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Danny Brown 10 months ago
Hi Marc,
It was his achievements at Bolton that Allardyce gets his place here (for me, anyways). His football may not have been pretty but it was damn effective, and more often than not he really gave the Big Four a better match than many other teams.
Although I love Robson and think he's one of the greatest in the games, and you have a decent shout for him after his achievements in the 2002/03 season, his overall record of only winning less than half his games in charge (46.7%) and losing more than quarter sees him fail to make the grade. Again, in my opinion, that's all :)
Thanks for reading and commenting, appreciate it.
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Reyes Nunes 10 months ago
common man.., putting Big Sam and Harry ahead of Mourinho is laughable..
if he were to say longer in Chelsea i think he would be the number 1 in my list..
Reyes
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Danny Brown 10 months ago
Hi Reyes,
No-one is ahead of anyone - there's no ranking numbers or anything here, it's simply a list of who I believed to be the some of the best managers that have worked in the Premier League since it began.
Thanks for reading.
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Salaar Arshad Shamsi 10 months ago
Good stuff here, Danny.
I'd agree with your choices of Ferguson, Wenger and Mourinho. I know what you are saying about Big Sam's achievements with Bolton but it's just not enough for me..What do you reckon of Old Harry?
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Danny Brown 10 months ago
I love Harry - I think he's a genuine character of the game and always says it as it is. I'll never understand how he's never been asked to manage England, especially when there was such a clamour for an English manager. Hey ho... ;-)
Thanks for reading, and glad you agreed with (most) of the choices! :)
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Ricky O'Neal 10 months ago
Suggestions of Sam Allardyce where very laughable. However I did like the article though even though some managers where overlooked liked Curbishley and what he achieved at Charlton Athletic in all his time there.
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Danny Brown 10 months ago
That's the great thing about differences of opinion, Ricky :o)
Good shout on Curbs, though - in hindsight, he should have made the list as well.
Thanks for reading! :)
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Star 10 months ago
I like that you take the time to respond to everyone's comments. I'm not a huge footy follower but I think you're hot and i LOVE your writing style
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Danny Brown 10 months ago
Haha, umm.. thank you Star and I hope you continue to enjoy my writing. :)
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