- 6 months ago
From legendary tacticians to catastrophic appointments, the Premier League has seen it all! Join us as we count down our picks for the best and worst managers to ever grace England's top flight since its inception in 1992. We'll be focusing on their records within the division, so overall careers won't save anyone here!
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I'm not feeling the pressure, no. You cannot put pressure on me. No chance. No chance.
00:04I read a lot of times during this week that I have to prove a lot in English football.
00:11Sir Alex is the only one European champion in this country. Nobody else. So I have to prove what?
00:17Welcome to WatchMojo. Today we're counting down our picks for the greatest and most terrible
00:21managers and head coaches to take charge of football teams in England's Premier League
00:25since its inception in 1992.
00:26It's taking football to another place. Transferring football in many ways.
00:32We'll be focusing on their history while in the division rather than their careers overall.
00:36Number 10. Worst. Juan de Ramos. After finishing fifth in the Premier League in the 2006-2007
00:42season under Martin Joel, Tottenham Hotspur struggled the following season, finding themselves in the
00:46relegation zone. So in came Ramos, who'd earned a stellar reputation with Spain's Sevilla,
00:51armed with a strict diet for the players.
00:52This is my job. I work always the same. I am working the best for the team.
01:00While Spurs finished 11th, they did win the League Cup. Yet in the 2008-2009 season,
01:04Ramos got the club to open the checkbook as he splashed over 60 million pounds on high-profile
01:09players including Luka Modric and David Bentley. Did it help? Not at all as Spurs experienced its then
01:14worst start to a Premier League season. By the time Ramos was fired in October 2008,
01:18he'd lost six matches, with only two draws putting Spurs at the bottom.
01:22A big change. Some players are out, new players are coming, and I know it's possible to work
01:31continuing with them together.
01:33Number 10. Best. Roberto Mancini. With the Abu Dhabi United Group experiencing its first full season as
01:38owners of Manchester City, they appointed Mancini in December 2009 as the team's manager.
01:42I think that the football is the same in the world.
01:46By the following season, Mancini laid the groundwork that later City bosses would enjoy
01:50by winning the FA Cup and finishing third in the Premier League. Yet the season after,
01:54Mancini and Sergio Aguero would create a memory that City and football fans will always remember.
01:59On the last day of the 2011-2012 season, Aguero fired in a late winner against QPR,
02:05securing City its first Premier League title.
02:07It's incredible for me and I think for all our supporters.
02:10While Mancini was dismissed after losing in the 2013 FA Cup Final,
02:14he managed to develop one of the highest win percentages in Premier League history.
02:19Number 9. Worst. Jan Sivert. David Wagner not only led Huddersfield Town to the Premier League
02:23promotion for the first time in its history, but he also managed to avoid relegation in the 2017-2018
02:28season. However, following a vastly more devastating start to the next season,
02:33he left in January 2019, with Sivert taking over.
02:36I'm very proud to be the new manager of Huddersfield Town.
02:38Yet rather than improve Huddersfield's form, it somehow got worse.
02:41Sivert only managed to collect one win, so the Terriers were relegated with six games remaining,
02:46finishing bottom of the Premier League with a measly 16 points. Amazingly, Sivert kept his job.
02:51However, that quickly changed in the championship when Huddersfield collected one point from five
02:55games before the German was dismissed in August 2019.
02:58And this is a big disappointment, which is the most feeling for me at the moment. It's disappointment,
03:03of course. Number 9. Best. Carlo Ancelotti. One of the greatest managers in the world,
03:08especially with his work in Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga, Ancelotti has had brief stints in
03:13the Premier League. Naturally, I joke. I like to joke in the press conference.
03:18But even so, his class shone through. Faking the Chelsea job in 2009, the Italian immediately inspired
03:23his team to a domestic double by winning the FA Cup and the Premier League. In the latter, Chelsea broke
03:28several records, including most goals scored with 103. Despite coming in a respectable second in 2010-2011,
03:34Ancelotti was fired shortly after the last game of the season.
03:37It was not a good performer, but I think it was difficult to find the right motivation for this
03:43game. After collecting more silverware across Europe, he returned to England in 2019 with Everton
03:48for a brief period, helping the club improve its Premier League position before Real Madrid came calling.
03:53Number 8. Worst. Rémy Gárat. When the former Arsenal player came in to manage Aston Villa,
03:58in November 2015, partway throughout the season, the club was sitting in last place in the Premier
04:03League after only one win. I'm here to do my best, to give a lot to this big football club,
04:08so I'm very happy to be here. Gárat had a lot of work to turn it around, so he installed
04:12himself
04:12as a disciplinarian as he drop-starred Jack Grealish for going partying and publicly criticized
04:17the players for a lack of desire. That all went down with the team like a lead balloon. 142 days
04:22after
04:22his appointment in March 2016, Gárat departed Villa, only collecting two wins, leaving the club still
04:27bottom of the league in 12 points from safety. Unsurprisingly, they couldn't recover and suffered
04:31relegation to the championship. How prepared are Aston Villa for the harsh reality of life
04:36outside the top flight, when the financial impact of leaving the Premier League has never been greater?
04:42Number 8. Best. Sam Allardyce. If there were such a thing as a Barclays manager, Allardyce would be it.
04:47I have the experience and the understanding about how to deal with a club that's 54 million,
04:5355 million in the red. I understand the supporters that that doesn't matter, the football team still
05:00has to win. On top of getting Bolton wanderers into the Premier League, he signed iconic footballers
05:04like JJ Ococha, Fernando Hierro, and Yuri Jorkaev, turning Bolton into an exciting team as they qualified
05:10for Europe for the first time. After leaving Bolton, Allardyce developed a reputation as Fireman Sam,
05:15as he was the go-to manager to save teams from relegation, which he did more often than not.
05:19After all, he was a pioneer in implementing modern techniques and technology into management.
05:24All the sort of stuff that football can tend to really shy away from, we would be introducing bit
05:30by bit. As such, no other manager has taken charge of more Premier League teams than Big Sam with nine.
05:35Clubs that called for his services included Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers, and West Ham.
05:40Number 7. Worst. Tony Adams. While he's considered one of the Premier League's greatest defenders,
05:45the same can't be said for Adams' managerial skills. After relegating Wycombe Wanderers,
05:49Adams later arrived at Portsmouth as assistant manager. Following Harry Redknapp's departure
05:54for Tottenham, Adams took on Pompey's top role in October 2008.
05:57Hopefully, I think it's my time. I think I'm ready. And for me, it's the next step.
06:03Following a spell of mixed results, it went drastically downhill in December.
06:07Between then and February 2009, when Adams was fired, Portsmouth collected two points from nine
06:11Premier League games, putting them a point above the relegation zone when they were seventh when
06:15Adams took over. To make it worse, the team was also eliminated from the UEFA Cup.
06:19I haven't had a lot of time here and, you know, certainly I haven't had the financial backing.
06:25So that's tough to take. If we didn't make the mistakes, we would have made the results and
06:30things would have been a bit different.
06:31Adams' managerial fortunes never recovered, later losing all his games at Granada and relegating them
06:36from La Liga. Number 7. Best. David Moyes. At the time of writing, Moyes has managed the third
06:41most games in Premier League history at over 740. In a league that tends to be a merry-go-round
06:50of
06:51managers, that's astonishing. Best known for his work at Everton, Moyes turned the club into a threat.
06:55After all, the Scott brought Champions League football to the Toffees in 2005. As such, Moyes
06:59won the LMA Manager of the Year three times, the second most ever. While Moyes had an ill-fated stint
07:04as
07:05Manchester United boss in 2013 and with Sunderland in 2017, he carved out success at West Ham,
07:10winning the UEFA Conference League in 2023. Back at Everton, Moyes is leading them back to
07:15being a stalwart of the league again. I think the league this year is really tight.
07:18Number 6. Worst. Bob Bradley. After a rough start to the 2016-2017 season,
07:23Swansea City fired Francesco Guidolin and turned to Bradley to safeguard their Premier League status.
07:28Well, first, I'm honored to be at Swansea City Football Club. That's first.
07:33However, while he'd won trophies as a manager and became the first American to manage in the
07:37division, not all the fans and pundits were happy. Swansea had recently been taken over
07:41by a U.S. consortium. As such, critics believed Bradley's appointment was due to his nationality
07:45rather than his skills. And seemingly, they were right.
07:48Tough in all ways. A team that's gone through
07:52a period where nothing goes right. And today just was more of the same.
07:57In December 2016, 85 days after his appointment, Bradley was fired after only getting eight points
08:02in 11 games, putting Swansea second from bottom. Thankfully for Swansea supporters,
08:06Paul Clement came in and kept them in the Premier League for one more season.
08:09Number 6. Best. Claudia Raniere.
08:11I'm very happy. When I come back in London or in England to play, I'm very happy.
08:17Despite being Italian, Raniere is a national treasure in England. Following lots of success
08:22managing in his home country and in Spain, he arrived in the Premier League in 2000 with Chelsea,
08:26helping set the stage for Roman Abramovich to come in and funnel cash into the team and turn
08:31them into a success. After departing Chelsea in 2004, it was Raniere's work at Leicester City
08:35that turned him into an incredible Premier League manager. At the start of the 2015-2016 season,
08:40the Foxes were 5,000-1 to win the league after finishing 14th the previous season. Yet with
08:46Raniere at the helm, Leicester did what seemed impossible, causing one of the biggest upsets
08:50in football history by lifting the iconic trophy.
08:52Leicester City! Leicester City are the champions of England!
08:58Number 5. Worst. Steve Wigley. As one of the original Premier League teams, Southampton had a long
09:04tenure in the division. However, early in the 2004-05 season, manager Paul Sturek departed after six
09:10months, resulting in Wigley being promoted from within the club to take over. His last full-time
09:14managerial role was at non-league Aldershot Town, where he was one of the few to not win promotion
09:19with the club. With that in mind, it's not surprising this appointment was a disaster.
09:22Before his firing in December 2004, Wigley only won one Premier League game in 14, and that was
09:27against rivals Portsmouth. The legendary Harry Redknapp replaced Wigley, but was unable to save
09:36Southampton, who finished bottom of the league and were relegated.
09:40Number 5. Best. Jurgen Klopp. After turning Borussia Dortmund into Bayern Munich's biggest
09:44threat in Germany's Bundesliga, Klopp arrived in Liverpool in 2015.
09:48So it's not a normal or usual club, it's a special club. While the club had often challenged for the
09:55Premier League, the Reds hadn't won a major trophy since the FA Cup in 2006. After a blip in the
10:00first
10:00season, Liverpool began to rise. By the 2018-2019 season, the club finished a point behind league
10:06winners, Manchester City, and incredibly won the Champions League. The next season, Klopp won
10:10three trophies, the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and most importantly, the Premier League
10:15title. This was the first time Liverpool won it since the division's rebrand and their first division
10:19title since the 1989-90 season. After eight trophies, Klopp departed Liverpool in 2024.
10:25But I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.
10:34Number 4. Worst. Les Reid. Before taking the top job at Charlton Athletic in 2006, Reid had worked
10:40in many coaching and consultancy positions at various clubs, international teams, and the FA,
10:44yet never as a manager. After being assistant to Iwan Dowie, following his sacking in November
10:49after a poor start to the season, Reid took over.
10:51Does Les Reid have the experience to manage at this level?
10:54Well, people are going to throw that at him. We think he has. We think he's an exceptional
10:58coach with a wide range of international experience particularly.
11:01And boy, did that not help the addicts. Nicknamed Les Miserables, Reid was replaced after 41 days,
11:06one of the division's shortest managerial reigns. During that time, Charlton were knocked out of
11:10the League Cup by League Two's Wycombe Wanderers and plunged further into relegation. With Reid only
11:15getting one win in eight games, Charlton was unable to save themselves as the club was relegated at the
11:20end of the season.
11:20Time ran out for Les Reid. Little more than a month in charge at the Valley saw no upturn in
11:26their fortunes. And Charlton, once a byword for managerial stability, now party company with two
11:32in quick succession.
11:33Number 4. Best. Jose Mourinho. After winning the Champions League with Porto, Mourinho strolled
11:39into Chelsea in 2004 and declared himself the special one. And he was right. With his legendary
11:51arrogance, the Portuguese manager turned the London side into one of the most successful
11:54Premier League teams, earning six trophies including winning the division twice. After
11:58stints abroad collecting more accolades, Mourinho returned to the Premier League with Chelsea in 2014,
12:03immediately winning the league title again and the League Cup. He even managed to win silverware
12:18with Manchester United, which was difficult at the time and sparked Mourinho to label himself the
12:22world's greatest manager, as well as having a stint at Tottenham. In his English managerial career so
12:26far, Mourinho has amassed a stunning 11 trophies.
12:29Number 3. Worst. Terry Conner. After developing himself as a coach and as a
12:33assistant manager at Wolverhampton Wanderers for over a decade, Conner was promoted once
12:37again in 2012 to be the club's caretaker manager after a disappointing spell under Mick McCarthy.
12:54However, Conner was only handed the job after the board unsuccessfully searched for a replacement
12:59for 11 days. Often a new manager will at least spark a mini-revival for a team.
13:03For Wolves under Conner, that was far from the case. Altogether, he took charge of 13 league
13:07matches, winning none of them and only earning 4 draws. As a result, Wolves finished last in the
13:12Premier League, causing them to be relegated to the championship, resulting in Stola Solbach
13:15in replacing Conner.
13:17Do you regret taking it?
13:19No, not at all. It made me, certainly, I think it made me a better assistant when we worked at
13:26Ipswich. I understood more the stuff that managers have to do.
13:31Number 3. Best. Arsene Wenger. When the Frenchman walked into the Arsenal job in 1996, which perhaps
13:37he took due to the similarities to his first name, not many had high hopes for him.
13:41Unknown. French. No history of success.
13:46What you want in life is a chance, and I got the chance.
13:50Yet he'd go out to be not only the club's most successful manager, but also one of the best to
13:54grace the league. With 22 years in the role, Wenger transformed English football, generating a
13:59rivalry with Alex Ferguson that helped turn the Premier League into one of the most exciting divisions
14:02in the world, as well as introducing legendary players like Thierry Henry, Ashley Cole, and Robin Van
14:07Percy. Wenger collected 17 trophies, including three Premier League titles. The most impressive was the
14:132003-2004 Invincibles edition, when Arsenal went unbeaten throughout.
14:17When I look back at it today, and how the whole season went, I really feel I was crazy.
14:23Number 2. Worst. Paul Jewell. While in charge of Wigan Athletic, Jewell led the team to promotion to
14:28the Premier League and kept them there for multiple seasons. Yet when he resigned and later took charge of
14:32division rivals Derby County for the 2008-2009 season, all that goodwill evaporated.
14:37I'm absolutely delighted and excited to be here. I'm really looking forward to the challenge.
14:41The team was already struggling, achieving only one league win under Billy Davies.
14:44With Jewell installed in November, it got much worse. Derby didn't collect a single league win
14:49in 24 league matches, and had only a few draws. Officially relegated by March 2008,
14:54Derby ended the season with a record low 11 points, having scored only 20 goals.
14:58Is it good riddance to that campaign?
15:01Yeah, it's been a horrific time, isn't it, as far as the football club's been concerned,
15:05football team's been concerned. You'd ask them to try and show a bit of dignity on the last day
15:10of the season, but same old problems. The team's not good enough.
15:13Jewell remained Derby's manager in the championship, finally earning the team a win
15:17after 32 league games. However, he resigned in December.
15:20Number 2. Best. Pep Guardiola. Every club Guardiola has managed, he's added multiple shelves to their
15:27trophy cabinets. With his success, many managers adopted similar tactics to the Spaniard,
15:31especially after he took charge of Manchester City in 2016.
15:35In order to get results, do you need to change what you do?
15:38We'll bust it. We'll do bust it.
15:41While Guardiola had the aid of massive finances, his skill as a tactician helped solidify the club
15:46as one of the best in the world. At the time of writing, Guardiola has won 18 trophies for City.
15:51This has included a record four consecutive Premier League titles from the 2020-2021 season,
15:55to the 2023-2024 edition. Not once, but twice has Guardiola won a treble with City.
16:01In the 2018-2019 season, the team won a domestic treble, followed by the 2022-2023 season,
16:07which included the Champions League.
16:09Guardiola is a genius.
16:10He's a genius, isn't he? He invented different positions for footballers.
16:14In a game that's been played for over 100 years.
16:16Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about
16:21our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
16:26If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
16:32Number 1. Worst. Franck De Boer.
16:35Considering it's happened twice in the video, it's strange how being one of the best defenders of all
16:39time has led to a massive struggle as a Premier League manager. This time, it's the Netherlands' De Boer.
16:44He joined Crystal Palace for the 2017-2018 season. However, De Boer was desperate to implement
17:00a certain style, despite not having the right players for it. After 77 days in which he took
17:05charge of four Premier League games, not only did Palace lose every one, but they didn't score a
17:10single goal. The team only won once in the League Cup against Ipswich Town in the championship.
17:15With that dreadful run, De Boer was swiftly fired with one of the shortest reigns in the division.
17:19The problem is we didn't get the good result.
17:23Number 1. Best. Alex Ferguson. From 1986 to 2013, Ferguson was in charge of Manchester United,
17:29helping turn the club into not only one of the league's best, but also one of the world's most
17:33popular teams. Ferguson, armed with his infamous hair dryer, inspired United to win the first Premier
17:38League title in 1992-1993. On top of winning a startling 38 trophies during his time at United,
17:50including two Champions Leagues and 13 league titles. He also led the team to winning England's
17:54first ever treble in 1998-1999. Fergie claimed the Premier League manager of the season 11 times,
18:01over double second place Guardiola with five so far. As such, even over a decade on since his
18:06retirement, Ferguson is still the greatest Premier League manager.
18:10Sir Alex Ferguson. He never gets tired of winning.
18:13Who was the greatest manager in English football before the Premier League existed? Let us know below.
Comments