PL Manager of the Year so far?

IMO, the contenders are;

Harry Redknapp: Not everyone's favourite by any stretch, but he has got Spurs playing excellent football and they look like they will comfortably finish 3rd over the course of the season. Only A couple of points behind Man U and well clear of Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal.

Alan Pardew: Made some excellent bargain signings and made us look like a very solid unit. 6th place in mid-January, not many would have predicted that. Getting the very best out of our core players. Scored good results against top sides (4 points from Man U, draws v Spurs and Arsenal). Excellent man manager.

Paul Lambert: Nobody would have put Norwich on 28 points by mid-January. Play very attractive attacking football with a group of relatively unknown players and has an excellent team spirit.

Brendan Rodgers: Swansea have an excellent home record and play some of the best football in the league. Not many will fancy a trip to the Liberty. Again, excellent football on a budget and performing above all expectations.

 

I honestly can't choose between any of them, they've all been class.

 

Just over halfway through the season, its a toss up between Lambert and Rodgers

 

I've gone for Lambert, purely based on what he's achieved with what seems like very limited resources and the style of play Norwich have. It is tough to pick between them.

Obviously Pardew has been terrific for us, I just opted for Lambert because we have a core group of International Class players in the side (Colo, Taylor, Cabaye, Tiote, Ben Arfa, Ba, Jonas, Krul etc) - but Norwich aren't far behind with Championship standard players. Same goes for Rodgers at Swansea.

 

I've gone for Lambert, newly promoted team, spent no money, Championship/League One players punching above their weight. Partridge a close second.

 

as much as i like what pardew has done , i voted for lambert.
you can guess who i would never vote for.........

 

Alain De Pardue

 

Plenty of managers punching above their weight but Pards is nearer to home and he's done an excellent job so far.

Got us playing great football and has built a great team spirit.

 

Rodgers for me, what he's done with Swansea has been miraculous, and the passing football they play at the Liberty is nothing short of brilliant. Very tight defence too.

 

Pardew has been absolutely brilliant, and under normal circumstances would be the top performer, but you can't look past what Lambert has done for me. Let's not forget that he took over Norwich 2 seasons ago when they were in League 1, they'd just lost 7-1 to local rivals Colchester who were managed by... Paul Lambert.

 

Brendan Rodgers for me. The performance against Arsenal yesterday typified their approach and stats suggest their ball retention and passing success is only a couple of percentage points behind Barca . They outplayed Arsenal yesterday and they were, and have been all season, a delight to watch.

 

Redknapp makes a lot of how much City have spent, but Redknapp spent more than anyone a couple of seasons ago when he got there, losing money on deals right left and centre. Pardew has done brilliantly, I hope he can keep it up and isn't derailed by the board like I feel he was at West Ham over the Tevez and Mascherano transfers. Did well in the transfer market to grab Ba, who I knew would be a success, and has put together a good team with spirit.

 

I voted Other. I.e. Mick McCarthy. What a man.

 

Wondered who the 'others' were.....Steve Bruce is one no doubt for his services earlier this season!

 

Aye, probably that !

 

As much as I wanted to vote Pardew, I had to vote for Rodgers.

 

Very tight call but it's Rodgers for me. Others have said it already but just to echo. The style of football he has them playing is marvellous and he has managed to get a team of recent championship players, most of whom we know next to nothing about and get them to outpass and outplay Arsenal, amongst others. At the same time keeping one of the tightest defences in the league.

I can only begin to imagine what he might be capable of if he had a top 4 squad to work with.