EPL: Top Manager Grudges in the Premier League in Recent Times
In recent times, the English Premier League has witnessed some juicy exchanges and grudges between some of its most colourful managers.
Some of these grudges have become deep rooted and have even followed managers when they moved on to other clubs.
It is evident that it is not just the players that get embroiled with each other out of the pitch but also the managers who come to verbal and sometimes close to physical blows on and off the pitch.
Arsene Wenger and Mick McCarthy
1 of 9
In December 2009, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger accused Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy of undermining the credibility of the Premier League and not acting in the good faith to other Premier League clubs.
Having seen his Arsenal team held at Burnley, Wenger was incensed when McCarthy fielded pretty much a reserve team against Manchester United.
United went on to extend their lead over the Gunners, and Wenger was left to bemoan the fact that the Wolves manager had handed the league leaders three points with having to challenge as hard as they would have had to for them.
Since that time, Wenger has had little time for any comments from the Yorkshire man and vice versa.
Arsene Wenger and Sam Allardyce
2 of 9
The grudge between Arsene Wenger and Sam Allardyce extends back as far as when the Englishman was managing Bolton Wanderers.
The differences between the two bosses is principally based on the way the game should be played and in recent years has just seen the two slinging mud at each other.
Ever the purist, Wenger was and is disgusted at how Allardyce's teams play the long ball style, thereby destroying the aesthetics of the beautiful game.
Allardyce's gripe is that Wenger is always moaning to the authorities about other teams being dirty, when actually, Wenger's Arsenal themselves dished out as good as they got.
The Englishman has been quoted as saying that Arsenal boss uses the media so much so that in the end referees do not allow opponents to tackle Arsenal players.
This feud has not seen its last exchange despite both managers reportedly being quoted as respecting one another. Add to the fact that Allardyce and Sir Alex Ferguson are good friends, and it probably means that Wenger is not going to ever like him too much.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Kevin Keegan
3 of 9
In the closing stages of the 1995-96 season, the title was up for grabs between Manchester United and Newcastle United, and it was Ferguson who played his usual mind tricks on Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan.
Angry and irritated by Ferguson, Keegan let it all out live on television with one of the most ludicrous outbursts in television football history, after United manager goaded Keegan by alleging teams try harder to beat United than Newcastle.
His famous livid utterings of, "I will love it if we beat them. Love it!" will be something that Keegan will never live down.
Ferguson pipped Keegan to title that year, and it was not until Keegan returned for a short spell as Newcastle manager again in 2008, that the two managers spoke to each other again!
Since then Ferguson has maintained that he has no problems with the Keegan, but then he would not; the problem was and is the other way around.
Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho
4 of 9
The third of May 2005 was mostly likely the birth of one of the bitterest feuds between two football managers and possibly their clubs, after their departures.
Since that night, Liverpool's Rafa Benitez and Chelsea's Jose Mourinho have been at each other's throats.
It was the Champions League semifinal, second leg with the tie balanced 0-0. Liverpool hosted Chelsea, and Anfield was rocking with sound and colour. With only four minutes on the clock, Petr Cech could only partially block a Milan Barros effort and Luis Garcia was on hand to force the ball over the line, or was it?
Match officials conferred and a goal was awarded. Liverpool celebrated, and Mourinho fumed and later called it the "Ghost Goal."
Since that moment, Benitez and Mourinho have been bickering and squabbling like little children. There has been name calling, refraining from hand shakes, frosty look and even belittling the other's achievements.
They both went through a stage of not shaking hands with one another at the end of matches, in particular in the 2006 season FA Cup semifinal and the following Community Shield match.
Despite both having left their respective Premier League clubs, they continued their feud, and ironically it was Benitez that replaced Mourinho at Inter Milan.
Mourinho belittled Benitez by suggesting that it was really his team that won the Italian Super Cup shortly after the Spaniard took over at Inter. And Benitez said that he could out do his predecessor by winning six trophies in one year.
When Benitez won the Club World Club with Inter, Mourihno said, "One thing is certain, [Rafael] Benitez won’t do better than me [at Inter]…Another thing is also true that should he lift the Intercontinental Cup, he will have only won two games compared to my 13. Therefore it will be my trophy and not his.”
The two will probably go on in the same vein for seasons to come.
Rafa Benitez and Sam Allardyce
5 of 9
Rafa Benitez and Sam Allardyce have had a fractious relationship from the off. This hatred was born in just the Spaniard's third game in charge of Liverpool in which Allardyce's Bolton striker Kevin Davies broke Sami Hyypia's nose.
Clearly, the pair do not see eye to eye on the way the game is supposed to be played. With each of them at some point in time blaming the other of instructing their respective teams to be overly physical.
Big Sam levelled a scathing attack on Benitez in early 2010, when he suggested that the Spaniard's obsession with securing Champions League football for Liverpool had made the Anfield team a overly physical one.
Further evidence came form the Englishman when he stated that the Spaniard was constantly moaning and had sent a DVD of the tactics of Allardyce's teams' play to Keith Hackett, former General Manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board.
The thorny relationship took a further nose dive, when Allardyce took offense at a hand gesture made by Benitez during Liverpool's 4-0 win in 2009, which suggested the game was over.
What must have infuriated the former Liverpool boss, would have been that his old foe Sir Alex Ferguson waded in and also condemned the Spaniard.
Benitez's gesture was not in anyway even aimed at his opposition, but the Manchester United manager could not keep his nose out of a situation that did not need his intervention.
This, added to the friendship that Ferguson and Allardyce share, meant that Benitez was on the receiving end of comments that were unprovoked and unnecessary.
With Benitez no longer managing in the Premiership, the grudge between him and Allardyce has temporarily cooled, but if Benitez was to return to England no doubt old wounds would resurface.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho
6 of 9
Ever since Porto, then managed by Jose Mourinho, knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League, Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson have been at loggerheads with each other.
Both never hesitated to take swipes at one another and with the Portuguese maestro taking over at Chelsea a short time after, a fierce feud ensued.
Mourinho has never let Ferguson forget that he beat the Scot and ran half the length of the pitch to celebrate with his players. He takes a dig whenever the opportunity arises and early on in 2004 cheekily reminded Ferguson that money does not indeed buy success as the United manager suggested when taking a swipe at Mourinho's Chelsea.
The Chelsea boss simply pointed out that when his Porto beat the mighty Manchester United they had barely 10 percent of their budget.
Although, Ferguson has suggested that he thought it was rather amusing when Mourinho came and proclaimed that he was "The Special One," it undoubted had the desired effect and got under the Scot's skin.
Both managers leveled accusations at each other, that they attempted to influence referees and match officials. And both claimed that the others team always tried to con referees by diving and claiming penalties and trying to get players booked or sent off.
Mourinho's move to Inter Milan and Real Madrid has only slightly softened the feud, as although they meet less often now, there have still been clashes in the Champions League.
Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho
7 of 9
In late 2005, then Chelsea manager sparked off a bitter feud with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claiming that Wenger was obsessed with Chelsea and more dramatically calling the Frenchman "a voyeur."
Wenger considered taking legal action which prompted Mourinho to claim that he had a 120 page file on Wenger!
The FA did consider sanctioning them both in order to bring this feud under control but decided against it. Even the Arsenal chairman and League Managers Association stepped in to urge the pair to bury the hackett.
The bitter rivalry continued bubbling away and has not died even after the exit of Mourinho from the English Premier League.
Late last year, Mourinho launched another verbal barrage at Wenger, taunting the Frenchmen for not having won a trophy for the last five years and stating Wenger should personally explain this to Gunners' fans.
The was in response to Wenger's criticism of Mourinho's Real Madrid side wasting time against Ajax, by having two of their players strategically sent off and Mourinho also mocking Arsenal's loss to Braga.
The Portuguese ace was also quoted as saying that the excuse of the Arsenal kids still maturing was getting old, as they were no longer kids.
As long as these two manage teams playing in any football league, they will always have a reason to continue their long running feud.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez
8 of 9
In January 2009, then Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez launched an attack on Sir Alex Ferguson that became so famous it became known as "The Rafa Rant."
In a live television interview, Benitez dug into his pocket and produce a sheet of paper upon which he stated were "the facts." He then proceeded to reel of a list of "facts" concerning Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United team.
Without going into the details, this poured fuel on to a fire that had been raging for years. The two were at each other from the get-go.
However, since The Rafa Rant relations between the two grew from bad to worse, with Benitez not congratulating Ferguson and United for winning the league that season and at time failing to talk to him during and after matches.
Actually, many managers came out in support of the Liverpool boss stating that much of what the Spaniard had said about Ferguson was true, but no one had ever come out, or maybe had the guts, to voice these facts.
Later, Ferguson jumped on comments made by Benitez when he described Everton as "a small club." The United manager had no right to interfere but did so with a verbal attack on Benitez and words of support for his Scottish countryman, David Moyes.
Needless to say, Benitez leaving English football has not meant that they have cooled their relationship, it remains as heated as ever. Ferguson laid the blame for the decline of Liverpool Football Club squarely at the feet of Benitez.
He claimed that Roy Hodgson had been left a squad that was shallow and short on quality and that Benitez's transfer dealings were the root cause of this.
With Benitez looking for a way back into the Premiership, their feud will continue, if not intensify, for seasons to come.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger
9 of 9
The most vicious of all and the most long standing and ongoing feud is that between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
It goes as far back as the 1990s, and till this day, the two are quarrelling away.
It is all about who has the better footballing philosophy and who created the greatest team of its era. Arsenal had their team of unbeatables, that was eventually beaten by Ferguson's Manchester United.
The distain for each other spilled on the pitch, with their players picking up the sticks when the games ensued. No two players epitomised the fractious relationship of their respective managers than United's Roy Keane and Arsenal's Patrick Veira.
These two carried on the war on words and ideals their managers fought in the media, onto the pitch in their own special ways. Crunching tackles, heated arguments and sometimes even more.
Both Ferguson and Wenger declared that one rants about officials more than the other, when in fact they are both at it all the time.
Both have been at the pinnacle of the English game; when one was not winning the title the other was, apart from the odd Chelsea win. It was and still is this overwhelming desire to be the best that stokes this particular feud.
However, the longer Arsenal go without a trophy and without the title, the more agitated it seems that Wenger gets and the more he seems to lash out at Ferguson.
Without doubt, this is the top of the list of Premier League manager feuds in recent times.
