Sir Alf Ramsey's achievements with Ipswich deserve a mention let alone what he did with the national team. He took a club that had virtually only ever played in the third tier to First Division champions in a few years. He was tactically very much ahead of his time and invented the almost universal 4-4-2 that followed for several decades after.
I agree with most of the suggestions so far, but I can’t believe no one has mentioned Sir Matt Busby. He built a stellar, double league-winning team which then had the heart and guts torn out of it in the Munich air crash in 1958. He then completely rebuilt the squad, and won the FA Cup, two more league titles, and the first European Cup for an English team in 1968. Given Fergie’s record, Busby may not even be the greatest Man United manager, but he is definitely on the list as one of the greatest of all time in English football.
Probably a bit pedantic but the title says English managers and only one of the above applies, Sir Alf, already mentioned on here and Bill Nicholson surely qualify? Whilst Pep is no doubt a great manager, he's not a candidate for the criteria mentioned. Bobby Robson did a great job too along with Ron Saunders.
I think Ian's post explains the meaning behind the title as being the greatest manager in English football.
I get that but it's interesting to think how few great managers England alone produces when compared to players. It's a fascinating post to read
I read a book several years back about English managers and how slow they were to adopt the formations and tactics used on the continent and in South America. I believe that English coaches were instrumental in taking football to Europe and abroad around the turn of the century but by the 1920s England had been overtaken by Austria which was then at the vanguard of the game. Our coaches have lagged behind for much of the 20th century and only started to dominate again from the late 1960s. Since the Premiership, the pendulum has swung back towards foreign coaches. I had forgotten about Busby and Ramsey although my perception of the latter has been clouded by his post-1966 reputation. It is quite intriguing how English managers tend to fade from recognition or simply eclipsed by the way football and social attitudes have changed. I am surprised that Brian Clough's name has surfaced here although I am pleased to see his name brought up in the discussion. His acheivements at Forest and Derby were incredible but the 1970s were dominated by Bob Paisley's Liverpool more than any other team and I feel that he is probably even more neglected these days. I do not feel that Clough's antics would be acceptable today and probably detract from his management abilities. For this reason, I feel that his inclusion would be more of a nostalgia thing. I agree with many of the comments about Ferguson whose ability, for me at least, far eclipsed anything achieved by Shankly and Paisley combined. Liverpool dominated Europe at a time when it was a knock out competitonas opposed to the hard slog of a league format these days. However, I can see future historians of football citing Guardiola's Man City as being a quantum leep in ability.
It's got to be Clough surely? He took over Derby as a 2nd division (championship) side and within three years they won the 1st division (premiership) title. Derby also reached the semi final of the European Cup. Forest were also a 2nd division team when Clough joined them. After promotion they won the 1st division title in their first season and then the European Cup. The following season they finished runners up in the 1st division and won the European Cup again. He also won the League Cup four times. Although he did spend some money a lot of players in his teams were quite often nothing special but Clough made a team out of them with unbelievable results. They weren't just small town clubs that played above their normal level and got promotion, they were small town clubs that each won the 1st division title and The European Cup twice between them. Phenomenal performances and the common denominator was Clough.
I agree that Clough's achievements are probably the greatest but he needed Peter Taylor's shrewd eye for a player and was never the same manager after they fell out. Sir Alex was a serial trophy winner throughout his long career with several different line ups so he get's my vote.
Allardyces achievements with Bolton deserve a mention. Basically the same as winning the Champs League with Man Utd
When Brian Clough died I saw a headline I think it was in the Daily Mirror saying The Best manager England never had. It was probably the truest headline the Mirror ever had.
For all his brilliance at club level, I think he may have encountered a few problems as England's manager. Some of his antics wouldn't have gone down well with the big team players he would have to deal with. He took pleasure in blunt speaking and putting people in their places as he saw it. He could get away with it with his club players who had to toe the line but the internationals wouldn't have taken that for long.
Don't forget that Fergie had the help of assistant manager Howard Webb who had a shrewd eye for seeing Man Utd penalties before anyone else. Fergie knew his game was up when Webb retired so left Utd the season before Webb hung up his boots.
I'm going to buck the trend and say that I don't rate Guardiola, I never have. He has only managed teams who really should be winning their leagues consistently with huge resources. He was given three of the best players in history at Barcelona. Bayern Munich raided their rivals before he arrived at Bayern Munich and they went backwards. When Man City are facing over 100 charges of financial doping their wealth makes it impossible for most teams to compete. When things don't go his way he is like a rabbit in the headlights and doesn't know what to do. What makes a great manager anyway. Keith Alexander consistently kept teams in the football league when they were all bug relegated. Could Guardiola do that?
