Ranking the Confidence of the Current 20 Premier League Managers
Confidence? Arrogance? Or something in between?
It takes a special kind of personality to manage a Premier League club and at least some degree of delusion to make it work.
And as it turns out, there are claims and counter-claims aplenty among the managing elite of when confidence oversteps the mark.
New Sunderland manager "Big Sam" Allardyce's new book has thrown up one or two accusations against his peers and speaks volumes about Allardyce's belief in himself.
As a result, we've taken it upon ourselves to look at the self-confidence exuded by the current 20 Premier League managers and rank the clubs' bosses. Make your own judgements as to whether or not their belief is warranted.
Allardyce's fiery claims about Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger are the inspiration, but does the Frenchman top the list?
Click ahead for Bleacher Report's Premier League Managers' Self-Confidence Power Rankings.
20. Alex Neil (Norwich City)
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Alex Neil is one of those no-nonsense bosses who is quite content not being the sole focus of attention at Norwich.
But while many expect his newly promoted side to go down at the first time of asking, the 34-year-old's confidence shone through when speaking with the Daily Star ahead of their Premier League opener against Crystal Palace in August:
"Everybody seems to think that we will be going straight back down. I am honestly not bothered one bit by what they are all saying about us. I am used to it all.
When I was player-manager at Hamilton every single expert said we would finish bottom of the SPL after we won promotion. Instead we were in third place in the table by Christmas.
"
The Canaries are 13th after eight games.
19. Garry Monk (Swansea City)
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Another who quietly gets on with his work is Garry Monk.
The Swansea boss is looking to build on a positive first season in charge and has already pinched points from Manchester United and Chelsea this season.
He has been mentioned as a possibility for some pretty high-profile jobs, including the England manager's position, but has kept his eyes firmly on the job at hand.
“It’s nice that people even consider me but I still have a long way to go and lots to prove," he told WalesOnline.
18. Steve McClaren (Newcastle United)
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Speaking of England managers, any opportunity Steve McClaren had to exude self-belief was quite frankly battered to death by the press during his tenure as boss of the national side between 2006 and 2007.
The man dubbed the "Wally with the Brolly" by the media could come out tomorrow and label his Newcastle United favourites to win the Premier League, and we still wouldn't be convinced we are to feel anything other than sympathy for the man.
He's back to work this weekend trying to plot a path to safety for Newcastle.
17. Eddie Howe (Bournemouth)
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He's overseen something of a fairytale run with Bournemouth, but Eddie Howe is by no means getting ahead of himself.
The 37-year-old is in his first season in the Premier League and concedes that the Cherries have it all to do to compete with the financial capabilities of some of the league's bigger clubs.
Speaking ahead of their top flight debut, Howe said to the Daily Mail: "It's not rocket science, we won't be able to compete (in the transfer market) with the top clubs, but when you put 11 players on the pitch, it's not about money, it's about footballers trying to play the game."
Two months into the season and Bournemouth are above Chelsea on the ladder. Wonder if that has done anything to inflate Howe's ego.
16. Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham)
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Given the rise of his Southampton side, you could forgive Mauricio Pochettino a bit of over-confidence.
The Argentine, currently managing Tottenham Hotspur, helped turn Saints into a Premier League force and has apparently played a key role in the development of England's national team.
According to Paul Scholes writing for the Independent, Pochettino is "confident without being arrogant."
But it seems it takes a lot to get much of a reaction out of the Spurs chief, who once told reporters: "I just show emotion in my house, in my bed."
15. Quique Sanchez Flores (Watford)
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Quique Sanchez Flores used to party with Alfredo Di Stefano, as an interview with the Telegraph reveals, so his life in Watford is a long way from home.
But the Spaniard is loving life with the Hornets and even read up on the history of the club before taking the job, so he's not getting too far ahead of himself.
Flores plans to keep Watford in the top flight and has all the confidence in the world to do so, but he's not getting carried away.
14. Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City)
7 of 20If his imagination is anything to go by, Claudio Ranieri is oozing confidence.
His press conferences tend to go off on tangents, and his first spell as a Premier League manager saw him regularly lost in translation, so whether or not his confidence extends into arrogance is entirely unclear.
While manager of Chelsea, the Italian compared himself to Frank Sinatra and Carlton Cole to a lion, so it's extremely tough to know where he's at or what he really feels about his surroundings.
Already this season the Leicester boss has explained why Kasabian is behind his side's success and offered free pizza in exchange for clean sheets.
Perhaps this quote best sums up the belief of the man currently fifth on the table, per the BBC:
"I say my team is like the RAF, it's fantastic - whoosh whoosh! - I love it."
13. Slaven Bilic (West Ham)
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Slaven Bilic is a hard one to pick.
One one hand, FC Lusitans manager Xavi Roura labelled the Croatian arrogant after he failed to take his place in the dugout for West Ham's Europa League tie earlier this year.
But the topic came up again after West Ham knocked over Arsenal and Liverpool in Premier League action, and Bilic proved just how firmly his feet are planted on the ground by stating to reporters that the east Londoners are "not Real Madrid."
He leaves us with some wisdom: "There is a tiny line between confidence and arrogance or confidence and laziness."
12. Roberto Martinez (Everton)
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Upon being unveiled Everton boss in 2013, Roberto Martinez vowed to bring the Merseysiders to the Champions League.
While this dream has yet to materialise, the Spaniard's confidence hasn't wavered.
He's fought off the advances of Chelsea for his centre-back John Stones, who he says is key to achieving his goal of Champions League football, per the Guardian.
11. Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
10 of 20Jurgen Klopp has yet to even manage a game in the Premier League, but given the fanfare around his arrival at Anfield, reporters were quick to test him.
Asked to describe himself in similar terms to Jose Mourinho when he announced himself to the Premier League a decade earlier, Klopp restrained himself.
The down-to-earth former Borussia Dortmund man was measured in his response, calling himself the "Normal One"—a "totally normal guy from the Black Forest."
A subdued arrival? Modesty? Lowering expectations? You be the judge.
10. Tony Pulis (West Brom)
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Much like Allardyce, Tony Pulis talks a big game when it comes to Arsene Wenger.
The Mirror reports that the West Brom manager has loved his battles with the Frenchman over the years, and according to the Daily Star, Pulis once said, “I’ve got nothing against foreign managers, they are very nice people. Apart from Arsene Wenger,” and has previously poked fun at Wenger's trophy cabinet.
Something about people in glass houses...
9. Manuel Pellegrini (Manchester City)
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The Manchester City manager's job is one that requires a fair amount of self-belief.
While the threat of the sack and fear of failure has followed Manuel Pellegrini everywhere since he arrived at the Etihad in 2013, to his credit he has remained confident in his own abilities.
Yet another Premier League manager whose past has been terrorised by Jose Mourinho, Pellegrini promised an improved style of play after being appointed, per the BBC: "Man City fans will see a different way of playing than they have seen in other years. We will try to be an attractive team."
When pressed on the ambitions of the club's owners, Pellegrini was unfazed. The Guardian reported that when the Chilean was asked about the club's plan to win five trophies in five years, he simply responded "just five?"
As reported by the Daily Mail, Pellegrini is quite confident in his abilities as a player, too:
"If you want to say I was a disaster of a player then say it. But give me another disaster of a player who played almost 500 games across 14 years.
"
8. Alan Pardew (Crystal Palace)
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Once criticised for his arrogance by Dover chairman Jim Parmenter, the 2015 version of Alan Pardew exudes self-belief.
The Crystal Palace manager has already had subtle jibes at London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham this season, commending Chelsea in a press conference for having "played their part" in a 2-1 loss against the Eagles and telling reporters Spurs are a certainty to finish in the top 10.
Can't really blame him either, with his Palace side flying to fourth on the Premier League ladder before the international break.
7. Mark Hughes (Stoke City)
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"As a young, ambitious manager I wish to move on to further my experiences."
These were the words of Mark Hughes to reporters as he left Fulham for an ill-fated spell as Queens Park Rangers manager and speak volumes about the confidence of the man.
Despite shelling out hundreds of millions of pounds at Manchester City on the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Joleon Lescott, Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz among others, Hughes did not quite meet the expectations of his employers at Craven Cottage (nor perhaps his own) and moved on in 2011.
Confidence unshaken, Hughes went to Loftus Road and made a number of high-profile signings, a trait he has replicated with Stoke City this season.
He has yet to win any silverware, and his Stoke side currently sits 14th on the Premier League ladder.
6. Ronald Koeman (Southampton)
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Ronald Koeman's job at Southampton has gone more smoothly than many expected.
His success with the Saints is closely tied in with a confidence that became a characteristic of his playing days. Former team-mate Rob McDonald told the BBC:
"We were at an away game once, having our pre-match meal. Our coach, Theo Verlangen, would go mad if he saw mayonnaise on our table. But this time he wasn't paying attention when the waiter put some down in front of us.
Ronald took a couple of chips, slapped them in the mayonnaise and just as he was about to eat them, Verlangen said: 'Koeman! If you eat those, that's a 500 guilder fine!' Ronald stuffed them in his mouth and said: 'Make it a thousand.'
"
His appreciation for mayonnaise and chips is no secret anymore.
5. Sam Allardyce (Sunderland)
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The man of the hour comes in at No. 5.
There is, of course, some excellent irony in Sam Allardyce's new book coming out swinging at the arrogance of others.
The book, which takes shots at Rafael Benitez and Arsene Wenger, also contains an excerpt (via the Evening Standard) in which Big Sam says he was a shoo-in for the England job in 2006 were it not for a technological failure that was entirely the fault of the FA.
But it seems as though his self-confidence has softened with age, with the new Sunderland manager taking a cautious approach in his comments to reporters after being unveiled as new boss of the Black Cats.
"I don’t want to sound negative but we’ve got to be realistic and accept that it’s unlikely that we’ll turn things around overnight.
If you get into double figures in points from your first eight games, your chances of getting relegated are dramatically reduced. Sunderland have got three points.
The ‘R’ word is already back – relegation-threatened Sunderland. I won’t know exactly how difficult this job is going to be until in I’m amongst the players.
"
4. Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)
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If Sam Allardyce's word is anything to go by, Arsene Wenger is one of the most arrogant managers in the Premier League.
“There was one time he wouldn’t shake hands with me at Highbury because we got a draw," Allardyce says in his autobiography (via the Guardian, h/t the Sun). "I saw him ripping his tie off and throwing it on the floor in anger. He takes it all very personally and has an air of arrogance. He’s not one for inviting you into his office for a drink after the game."
Wenger seems to have also got under the skin of Jose Mourinho and Tony Pulis during his time in the Premier League.
3. Tim Sherwood (Aston Villa)
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Nobody in the world has more confidence in Tim Sherwood than Tim Sherwood.
According to Goal.com, the Aston Villa man has quite the view of himself.
"I don't think anyone compares with my win percentage [at Tottenham]," he told reporters after being named Villa manager last season, a claim that doesn't necessarily stack up under scrutiny.
He went on to compare himself to Wayne Rooney and Pep Guardiola, claiming "experience is over-rated."
Sherwood looks set for another relegation dogfight with Villa.
2. Louis Van Gaal (Manchester United)
19 of 20Louis van Gaal's temperament is very difficult to pick.
Perhaps the finest moment of his undying belief in himself and his side's philosophy came in the often-awkward aftermath of a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea last season in which the Manchester United boss said his side had "played the best match of the world."
While Van Gaal's interview was perceived by many as a sign of arrogance, ESPN FC's Iain Macintosh argues the case that his personality is precisely what is needed at Old Trafford following the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
And let's not forget what Van Gaal said when he signed his first coaching contract with Ajax, per the Mirror: "Congratulations on signing the best coach in the world."
Which leaves one, and who else...
1. Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)
20 of 20Jose Mourinho really is the creme de la creme when it comes to self-confidence and is a deserved winner of the No. 1 spot.
The Chelsea manager announced himself to the Premier League by labelling himself the "Special One" at his unveiling and hasn't relented since in his two spells at Chelsea.
Whether it be his ongoing dispute with Arsene Wenger, his steadfast belief that Chelsea are the greatest side in the land or any other of his well-documented indiscretions, the manager never seems to lack for confidence.
And it's moments like these, with his Chelsea side languishing in the league table, that really dig into Mourinho's self-confidence.
"If the club sacks me, they sack the best manager this club has had," he said to Sky Sports.
