Football News: Top 10 British Managers

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Top 10 British Managers

10. David Moyes - West Ham United

After a few recent failures a return to the Hammers, where he did succeed in his aims in his first spell, must be a relief to Moyes. It was a mistake in the first place to let him go, when he had given the board a roadmap to move forward. You have to wonder why they do not want to invest in the club's infrastructure to move it forward? Maybe it is not as exciting as bringing in big names, but it makes more of a difference to the club's long term future. Now Moyes is back, he will be pushing for those infrastructure improvements he highlighted to move West Ham into the modern era.

9. Nigel Pearson - N/A

I initially had Pearson ahead of Lampard for the work he did at Leicester, building the foundations for their league title, but recent weeks have not been good watching for Pearson. His Watford team look devoid of fight in their battle against the drop and are sinking without a trace. Their saving grace is that others are even worse. However Pearson's reputation was sinking along with Watford right now until the owners made the bizarre decision to sack him with 2 weeks left.

8. Frank Lampard - Chelsea

Still early days for Lampard as a manager, but there have been some promising signs, as well as some disappointing ones, such as Derby's flop in the play-offs. It has not been all smooth sailing at Chelsea either, but that should enable him to learn all the more quickly. He now needs to prove he can build a long-term team. He also needs to prove he can win when it matters, as so far his teams have failed at the critical moments in the play-offs and cup final.

7. Steve Bruce - Newcastle United

After spending recent years with his reputation taking a bit of a pounding and only getting impossible missions, he has finally got the big job he dreamt of. So far he is doing well, though it must be said the club have backed him a lot more than previous incumbent in terms of funding, he is doing about as well as can be expected. The big problem he will have is sustaining success, if it can be called success, and building on it.

6. Graham Potter - Brighton & Hove Albion

While he has yet to make his mark properly in English football, his work at Ostersunds was quite simply sensational. To take a small town team up three flights and to a Swedish league title without major financing is a massive achievement. Now he needs to prove he can do it again, rather than just play pretty football.

5. Brendan Rodgers - Leicester City

Rodgers inclusion so high in the list shows you just what a paucity of quality British managers there are in the game right now. A good coach but tactically lacking (to be polite) and too egotistic to truly understand others, as it is always all about him. That is why, when it matters his teams always fail to deliver. If he could stop taking the credit all to himself and blaming others when it goes wrong, then he could finally become a top class manager.

4. Michael O'Neill - Stoke City

Worked what could be considered a minor miracle with Northern Ireland and then turned around a sinking ship in Stoke. His star is rising fast and if he continues to improve Stoke's fortunes there is no doubt he will be higher in the list the next time I do it.

3. Sean Dyche - Burnley

Took over a Burnley side in considerable financial difficulties, sold players to keep the club afloat and still won promotion to the Premier League that season. He was unable to keep them in the Prem, but refused to spend the extra revenue received on players, instead he asked the club to invest in infrastructure, training facilities in particular. Again he won promotion and since then has kept the club in the league and even taken them into Europe despite a smaller investment in playing staff than most teams they are competing with. The big negative is that Dyche's teams do play very basic football, which is not the most enjoyable to watch, but it is difficult to tell if that is the style he wants to employ or just him being pragmatic and playing the way best suited to the players he has.

2. Chris Wilder - Sheffield United

Had some success in non-league and the lower leagues before getting his dream job with the club he supported as a kid. There he won promotion from League 1 to the Championship and now to the Premier League, where they excelled in their first season. It remains to be seen if he can maintain his success, but he has certainly shown he is not afraid to try something new tactically. What we need to see now is how he adapts when his 'overlapping centre-back' system is negated by tactical ploys from the opposition.

1. Roy Hodgson - Crystal Palace

It shows the lack of really top quality British managers that a mid-table manager is about as good as it gets right now. Hodgson's style of football and lack of real success counts badly against him, but his longevity and ability to get good results from mediocre players is very much in his favour. At the age of 73, the biggest question left to answer is how long can he continue in such a stressful job?

Written by Tris Burke August 16 2020 09:51:31