Top Managers

Who are Your Top Gaffers in the World ?

With all the buzz around who’s the best player on the planet currently ( three camps Rooney, Messi, and at this point third wheel Ronaldo) it got me to thinking; who’s the best at managing these great players? Now there seems to be a trend where all the best managers, at least from this mans opinion , are seemingly on the club side which if given some thought makes sense seeing as how that’s truly where the big money is especially annually. That being said I picked my top 5 managers in the world at the moment....





Number 5
Pep Guardiola

The current manager of what most people regard as the best club side in the world Barcelona. Pep lead his boys to one of the best single club seasons in history winning every competition and Cup entered by the side. It’s easy to discredit Pep given the star studded and well rounded team he has at his disposal. But anyone who’s ever coached knows many of the most talented players are also the most difficult to mold and control under the greater good of the team. He has helped nurture Leo Messi into arguably the best player in the world all the while keeping the team first. You can noticeably see the pressures of leading Barcelona getting to Pep as he seems to of aged 10 years over the last 12 monthes. Many even speculated Pep might take a leave of absence after this current season, however Pep to the delight of fans and media alike re-upped his contract at the Nou Camp. Few can deny his status as a top manager in the world for he yet again has Barcelona top of the table in Spain and in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, if he can somehow lead the Catalans to another brace he will have lead the first team to defend their Champs League title and solidified his lure at Barcelona . Few managers have more asked of them and deliver like Pep for that he is certainly a top 5 manager at the moment.

( PEP & THE GUS )






Number 4

The Gus is loose Hiddink AKA “The Flying Dutchman” AKA “The Potato”

This was incredibly difficult for me and somehow I think Shimer calling it blasphemy if Gus was at number three sold me on him at Four but I’m still not sure but since it‘s best at the moment I‘ll let it slide. Gus has really done it all as far as managing goes he began his legacy at PSV Eindhoven where he lead them to 3 league titles including the 1987 league title which was coupled with winning the Dutch Cup and The European Cup the first treble in the club’s history . He then went on to manage Fenerbache in Turkey, which would help him find his newest undertaken the Turkish national team Job. Valencia was his next stop where he helped shape a Valencia side that played a highly up tempo offense gaining him the nickname “The Flying Dutchman“. Although he did not lead Valencia to as much success as many anticipated his seeds are still seemingly felt at the club which still plays his high octane countering soccer. He became the Dutch national team coach in 1994 four years later in 1998 he lead them to the semi finals of the World Cup were they lost to eventual champions Brazil (cue the baby cradle goal celebration). He then bounced from Real Madrid to Real Betis never really finding a fit until he wound up landing the now infamous South Korea job. This was a team that had not won a single World Cup game in 5 tries. He lead the team again like his dutch side, only with a quarter of the talent, to the semi finals where they fell to Germany. This is to date Hiddink’s greatest trick in my opinion. He is still considered a “ national hero” in S.Korea and for good reason as one of the hosts of the tournament incredible pressure was on the side to for once play good ball and not get blasted out of the tournament. Hiddink then went back to PSV where he won another 3 league titles two cups and took yet another Gus lead team to a major semi finals in the champions league. At this point its fair to say Hiddink could easily of retired and been one of the best to picked up a clipboard and dish out orange slices. He instead undertook the task of coaching two teams fulfilling his contract with PSV and taking the Australia job, yet another team that had never truly had any great success on the global level. All he did was do what the Gus does ( say that 3 or 5 times fast whichever brings more difficulty for you) put the Soccerroos in the world cup advanced them past the knockout stage and left with nothing but praise. In 2006 he took over the Russia Job and he took the team to the best result they’ve had in any major tourney since the iron curtain was lifted or something like that. Yet again bringing a team to the Semi finals of a major tourney this time the 2008 Euro Cup. He then single handedly saved Chelsea’s and Drogba’s self respect when he finished the last 3rd of the season salvaging a FA cup for them and righting the ship at the Bridge at least for 8 months or so ( golf clap for JT and Ashley Cole classy fellas). Oh ya all the while Gus kept up with his Russian coaching duties. He now turns his sights on another ship that needs to righted the Turkey team which many of us I’m sure remember being one of the better sides in the world. They failed to qualify for this world cup so his task will be yet again to fix a team and get them deep into a tourney, which seems to be the GUS special.


Number 3

To the Delight of Shimer

Arsene Wenger



Arsene Wenger is at this point very much a one club guy. He’s made his name at Arsenal and will more than likely never accomplish what he has there anywhere else. He began his senior team managerial career at Nancy ( chuckle) where it would be fair to say he had very little success over the course of his three seasons. He followed that up with a very success stint at AS Monaco , the club that Wenger began to put his name on the map at points being linked with a move to German giants Bayern Munich ( Shimer loves it ). Instead in true Wenger fashion he took his own route and found himself in the Japanese J League with Nagoya Grampus Eight where he had great success. He became the first ever foreigner to claim the manager of the year award for the league. After Bruce Rioch was sacked in 1996 Wenger headed the list for the vacant Arsenal Job and in September of 96 the Wenger era for the gunners began. In just his second season at the club they enjoyed a English double the winning the FA cup and League title. The following season was that of near misses in league and cup alike. The following year with some key additions wenger once again brought the double back to the gunners. In four seasons Arsene had put Arsenal atop the premiership. His crowning season came two years later where his gunners won the league title without losing a single game the entire season, this was in many ways the end of one era and the beginning of the new age gunners. With the budgeting of a new stadium the major transfer funds afforded to Arsene dried up in comparison to the big spenders in Europe. Wenger began to mold what his club and he as a manager truly epitomize even now frugality with a keen eye. He not only has a keen eye for young talent but he seems to know exactly how long to hold onto talent and when to get rid of them when their stock and talent seem at the perfect apex. He according to many in the know is one of few managers who turns a profit on key signing for any major club spanning Europe. He approach insists on playing the game in a dare I say majestic fashion that more of a Spanish side than English. Generally having very few English born players in his side which of late has cast the ire of the FA on him. The FA are Pondering the implementation of a rule demanding each premiership side has a certain amount of UK born players on it. Wenger has never walked to the beat of anyone else and this is why he still is one of the best managers in the world.




Number 2

Sir Alex Ferguson

Wait he’s not first ? Nope sorry Alex I guess your just not ‘ Special’ enough for my top spot. Where does one even start when considering the accolades and credentials of the King of Manchester. Do we start with the 11 Premier League titles ? Or how about the 5 FA cups ? Perhaps the 5 league cups ? No , no it’s the 3 champions leagues he’s won . Perhaps it’s the almost second to none youth academy ( Wenger is somewhere with a Cheshire smile) that he’s incredibly hands on with that groomed that 1999 golden age squad that won the treble, a team almost hand grown by Alex and staff. Or maybe we should go back further when he managed Aberdeen for 8 seasons winning 3 league titles, 4 Scottish Cups, 1 Scottish league Cup and a UEFA Cup ( old champions league ). Yea he did this with Aberdeen not exactly Rangers or Celtic. This is already tiring….. I think we get it about this guy he wins a lot. Its easy to see that Sir Alex is probably the greatest coach ever to do it. But my list is all about now and for now he’s number 2 sorry gaffer but you get all the talent easy because your you and that works against you here.

So without further Freddy Adu the Best Manager in the world …..



Number 1

There’s Only 1 Special One Jose Mourinho

One word to begin any conversation about Jose, Charisma, an abundance of it actually. Jose’s never lacked confidence at least what I can remember of him and judging from what I’ve seen there’s no evidence of him lacking self belief. He’s perhaps the best sound byte in the business, easily the greatest sideline antics of any coach you tube his famous celebrations. But showmanship is not all he brings to the table. His managing credentials are up there with anyone in the world. Leading the Portuguese side Porto to the Champions league title against Sir Alex’s Red Devils is still his best trick. A team on paper that was indeed over matched came in tactically stronger, sounder and more driven, the result one of the biggest upsets of recent memory in the biggest tourney annually. The year prior he won the league title along with the UEFA cup. Jose made an even bigger splash at Chelsea where he put them on top of the table two years in a row along with winning an FA cup and a league cup within 3 seasons Jose had won everything possible in England. He moved his circus to Inter Milan in Italy where he won the league his first season and has a firm grasp on not just the title but another shot at the Champions League title having brought his Inter team to the Quarterfinals this season. Jose has won 14 Cups and league titles in his 8 years of coaching hard to argue with that type of success. His tatical approach and getting the most out players coupled with his media savy give him the edge over every other coach for me in the world.