Northstander
Well-known member
- Oct 13, 2003
- 14,036
For me (as much as I hate him), Ferguson has to be there at no.1 closely followed by Shankly.
Who in your view has been the greatest Manager (domestically)
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Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
The great Sir Micky of Adams for me. None of those other managers took on a club which finished 91st in the League two seasons running, and then within 2 seasons built a team from scratch which jumped 2 divisions as back-to-back Champions.
THAT was a miracle.
THAT was a miracle.
Smithers-Jones
New member
Got to be Clough. Took an unfashionable 2nd Div side and turned them into European champions.Then successfully defended the European title. Also won the League with Derby.
Ramsey won the league once.
Shankley created the Liverpool dynasty, but Paisley acutally won a whole lot more.
Fergie inherited had a big club with the financial resources to win trophies.
Ramsey won the league once.
Shankley created the Liverpool dynasty, but Paisley acutally won a whole lot more.
Fergie inherited had a big club with the financial resources to win trophies.
Gully
Monkey in a seagull suit.
If you base being the greatest purely on trophies won then I think that Ferguson is absolutely peerless, look at his achievement over the past 18 years and it stands totally alone. There is however far more to being a good manager than winning trophies, how much has that person been able to get from the players available to him, in Ferguson's case he has managed one of the largest clubs in the World with almost endless resources to allow him to strengthen his squad.
If you base it purely on ability to get the most out of a team on very limited resources then I would include Curbishley and Allardice as modern greats, they may both go on to manage other teams and win elsewhere but what they have achieved with Charlton and Bolton respectively is nothing short of miraculous.
If you base it purely on ability to get the most out of a team on very limited resources then I would include Curbishley and Allardice as modern greats, they may both go on to manage other teams and win elsewhere but what they have achieved with Charlton and Bolton respectively is nothing short of miraculous.
If I had a club with the largest turnover in the world, three times as much income as any other club in the Premiership, and a huge marketing machine that creates fans at will, then I would expect to win more than one European Cup in 17 years.
Fergie is a good manager, but for every success story (the class of '92, Cantona, Schmeichal) there is a failure that has been swept upder the carpet because the cheque book allows them to get away with it (Veron, Taibi, Barthez, Forlan, Saha etc.)
So for me it is Cloughie, maverick genius, sometimes a complete arse, but if he had stayed at the Albion.........who knows how many trophies we may have won
Fergie is a good manager, but for every success story (the class of '92, Cantona, Schmeichal) there is a failure that has been swept upder the carpet because the cheque book allows them to get away with it (Veron, Taibi, Barthez, Forlan, Saha etc.)
So for me it is Cloughie, maverick genius, sometimes a complete arse, but if he had stayed at the Albion.........who knows how many trophies we may have won
Ex Shelton Seagull
New member
When Bill Shankley took over at Liverpool they were in Division 2 and going nowhere. A real old fading giant without much sense of purpose nor ambition. He won Division 2 in 1962 and 2 years later he won the League Championship. The following year they reached European Cup semi-finals only to be cheated out of a place in the final after Inter bribed the ref for the 2nd leg.
3 league titles, 2 FA Cups and a UEFA cup may not be as impressive as some of the other managers hauls but Shankley managed to set Liverpool up as a giant of the game. Even now, over 40 years since Liverpool won promotion, they are still viewed as a giant. It's almost unthinkable that they could be relegated. Yet if Shankley hadn't taken over, Liverpool could well look something like Huddersfield Town or Wolves.
Having said that, Brian Clough managed to mould not one but two unfashionable sides into Champions. Derby County had been a struggling Division 2 side, sometimes flirting with relegation, sometimes close to the promotion spots, but mostly mid-table nobodies. They go up as Division 2 champs in 1969 and 3 years later they're League Champions. The following year they reached the European Cup semi-finals.
After his spells at Albion and Leeds he takes over at Forest. Forest are almost the same as Derby were in the 60's, in fact they are fighting relegation when Clough takes over. He takes them up in 77 (only just) and a year later they are Champions. Next season they finish 2nd in the League and win the European Cup. Even back then this was amazing, now it seems impossible that a club the size of Forest could even think about winning the Champions League. To retain it the next year almost takes the piss. Throw in several League Cups, an FA Cup final and a UEFA cup semi (which they lost after Anderlecht bribed the ref, bit of a pattern emerging here) and you have an amazing trophy cabinet.
The problem with Clough is that he didn't really set up a Forest or Derby legacy. The success those clubs enjoyed were tied to him. After he left they went downhill very quickly. Derby were relegated to Division 2 5 years after winning the title and went down to Division 3 a few years later. Forest were on the slide during Cloughs later years and they've never recovered. Shankley went out while he was on top and ensured that Liverpool would be set up as one of the big teams in England. That makes him the best in my eyes.
3 league titles, 2 FA Cups and a UEFA cup may not be as impressive as some of the other managers hauls but Shankley managed to set Liverpool up as a giant of the game. Even now, over 40 years since Liverpool won promotion, they are still viewed as a giant. It's almost unthinkable that they could be relegated. Yet if Shankley hadn't taken over, Liverpool could well look something like Huddersfield Town or Wolves.
Having said that, Brian Clough managed to mould not one but two unfashionable sides into Champions. Derby County had been a struggling Division 2 side, sometimes flirting with relegation, sometimes close to the promotion spots, but mostly mid-table nobodies. They go up as Division 2 champs in 1969 and 3 years later they're League Champions. The following year they reached the European Cup semi-finals.
After his spells at Albion and Leeds he takes over at Forest. Forest are almost the same as Derby were in the 60's, in fact they are fighting relegation when Clough takes over. He takes them up in 77 (only just) and a year later they are Champions. Next season they finish 2nd in the League and win the European Cup. Even back then this was amazing, now it seems impossible that a club the size of Forest could even think about winning the Champions League. To retain it the next year almost takes the piss. Throw in several League Cups, an FA Cup final and a UEFA cup semi (which they lost after Anderlecht bribed the ref, bit of a pattern emerging here) and you have an amazing trophy cabinet.
The problem with Clough is that he didn't really set up a Forest or Derby legacy. The success those clubs enjoyed were tied to him. After he left they went downhill very quickly. Derby were relegated to Division 2 5 years after winning the title and went down to Division 3 a few years later. Forest were on the slide during Cloughs later years and they've never recovered. Shankley went out while he was on top and ensured that Liverpool would be set up as one of the big teams in England. That makes him the best in my eyes.
Dover
Home at Last.
I voted Clough, but if had been there I would have voted for Paisley.
Both made some ordinary players become something special.
Both made some ordinary players become something special.
Trufflehound
Re-enfranchised
Frankly, Mr Shankly.
perth seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 5, 2003
- 5,487
Shankly was the best, he set Liverpool on their way to being the most successful club in history.
JJ McClure
Go Jags
Where's the option for Peter Taylor 
Storer68
New member
has to be Sir Alf
how many times have we won the World Cup!!!!
how many times have we won the World Cup!!!!
fatfingers
New member
think Dario Gradi deserves a mention for his loyalty and success with Crewe in keeping them in the first/championship on a shoestring? also having to sell the stars he has continually maid
The Auditor
New member
Cloghie for me ...but what about Steve Gritt ..he performed a real miracle to save us in 97
fatbadger
New member
Clough, with Shankly a very close second. And not Ferguson. Essentially for the very same reasons put forward by Smithers-Jones, EP & ExSS above, so I'll not repeat them.
Kev the Ape
New member
Clough is a LEGEND, derserves the title of the best Manager ever. 
Kalimantan Gull
Well-known member
Ferguson for me, maybe now he is managing a club that can spend fortunes on new players, but in many ways he built this modern Man Utd. His greatest achievement was the side of 'kids' that won, and then won again, and again, and again, the league title. Overhauling Arsenal a couple of years ago was nothing short of miraculous, and everytime Man Utd seem to be slumping he pulls them back up again.
Digweeds Trousers
New member
For me it has to Barry Lloyd. A genius gefore his time and misunderstood by many.