Manager of The Season

OPENROAD

Well with the season nearly over, what are peoples thoughts on manager of the season.

I have to say for me it would be Roy Hodgson, he has done an incredible job with Fulham, they were all but down last season, he kept them up, has very little money to spend and yet they could well qualify for Europe. For me he is the best English manager around.

Daemonic

I think Zola has done a similar job at West Ham. Has created a good footballing team with a lot of young players in it.

CHD

Sir Alex Ferguson

Hodgson for me too. Done a great job.

Podge2k7

Rafa FTW!!:D

Royale with Cheese

Phil Brown. He has the nicest tan.

token56

Would have to give it to Hodgson to be fair and after just surviving last year,
I also think Tony Pulis has done a great job this year with Stoke.

therecklessone

Hodgson has done an amazing job.

Ardent

Hodgson here too. Nothing short of mind-boggling where they're at in the league.

Liam O

+1 for Hodgson, first name that came to mind. Could've been O'Neill if Villa didn't bottle it

leninbenjamin

it'd be Pulis for me, as if i remember correctly, Stoke were the team written off most at the start of the season.

Hodgson's done a brilliant job though as well equally deserving of recognition.

That_Guy

Joe Kinnear!!!

Hodgson or Steve Bruce for me.

Kinetic^

Zola or Hodgson.

Podge2k7

Yea seriously Hodgson has done a great job!

LuckyLloyd

Martin O'Neill

If you consider the job Hodgsen has done over the past 16 months, it really is remarkable. A lot of his signings looked dodgy on paper, but nearly all of them have turned out to be fine acquisitions as he has managed to get people playing to their strengths and making the system fit around what he has to work with. Hageland in particular has been a revelation.

Hodgsen was always reputed to be great on the training ground and good tactically. But he is now proving that he is shrewd in terms of squad building on a limited budget.

And yet, I think that in relative terms, Pulis keeping Stoke in the Premiership is a bigger achievement. On paper, Stoke have an extremely limited squad - one that I'd argue is worst in the league in terms of technical ability. Their story this year is a true triumph of tactics and motivation. Pulis has consistently got his team fired up and playing to a good gameplan - with the result that they have repeatedly produced much more than the sum of their parts. He has also shown excellent man management skills in handling the Fuller / Griffen incidents.

I mean yeah, Rafa and Ferguson have had good seasons - but in relative terms, Tony Pulis is my manager of the season.

tony1kenobi

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

If you consider the job Hodgsen has done over the past 16 months, it really is remarkable. A lot of his signings looked dodgy on paper,

....and he cashed in on next big thing Jimmy Bullard at just the right time too..

.....I would agree with Hodgson...he comes across as a lovely man too...

...but I'll reserve judgement till the last day because I might just give it to Mowbray.....I will piss myself laughing if West Brom stay up and "giants" Newcastle go down in their place.

kinaldo

Kevin Keegan for sticking to his guns.

Roy Hodgson for performing miracles.

Rafa Benitez for entertaining us.

Ferguson for grinding out results.

Shearer for some sort of managerial merit award IF he keeps Newcastle up.

Zola for being so good and likable.

PHB

I'd give it to Fergie or Hodgson.

Fergie because with any luck he's about to win the premiership for the 3rd year in a row which is an amazing achievement, especially since he overcame Chelsea's dominance to do it.

Hodgson because what he did with Fulham was really outstanding.

Dave!

Yeah gotta agree with Hodgsen really, he's made Fulham into a really difficult team to play against, and to have them in the position they're in after barely surviving last season is incredible

whatawaster

1. Roy Hodgson - I just love the man, and the football his team play
2. Tony Pulis - Don't like Stoke, but they've done terrific
3. Rafa Benitez - for pushing Utd (best team in history) all the way, with a squad with much less quality. And for cracking up completely
4. Alex Ferguson - for probably winning the league
5. Gianfranco Zola
6. David Moyes/Steve Bruce
8. Harry Redknapp - starting to prove me wrong
9. Martin O'Neill
10. Sam Allardyce

shano_88

gotta be pulis, i along with alot of people though stoke were definetly going to be relegated. hodgson has been really impressive as well tho..........

unknown13

Pulis because Stoke have a pritty weak card on paper and managed to get 40+ points

DSB

I'd go for Pulis, mainly because hes done what hes done with a squad full of players who I wouldn't want near any Premiership side I managed. Hodgson will win and you couldn't begrudge him that, because he has done fantastic, but there are good players in his squad to work with, he has definitely overachieved with them extremely. But Pulis has had to work with absolutely nothing. I'm not sure I'd put Zola up there with those 2, but he has still done a great job. Just he has had plenty of top 10 quality to work with, and their league position was aided in a large way by Tottenham and City's ineptitudes. Allardyce comes ahead of him for me though, after cleaning up Paul Ince's mess so well. None of the top 6 managers should be coming close to this. Honourable mention for Steve Bruce.

1)Pulis
2)Hodgson
3)Allardyce
4)Zola
5)Bruce

watman

Been an Stoke City Season Ticket holder for 4 years, saw the rough and the good so i am biased . Proud tho of the fact 3/4 of our midfield for the past couple of months are also irish

For Me

1. Pulis
2. Hodgson
3. Allardyse

leninbenjamin

PHB wrote: »

I'd give it to Fergie or Hodgson.

Fergie because with any luck he's about to win the premiership for the 3rd year in a row which is an amazing achievement, especially since he overcame Chelsea's dominance to do it.

Hodgson because what he did with Fulham was really outstanding.

With respect, Fergie's achievements this season don't really come close to that of Pulis or Hodgson. His squad was already in place (with the exception of Berba really which hasn't turned out to be the greatest buy) and in terms of performances United haven't done fantastic this year compared with previous seasons as no one has put them under serious pressure really.

3 seasons in a row is an amazing achievement, but giving Fergy the management award would be a bit like giving Giggs the PFA award.

CHD

Sir Alex Ferguson

If Fergie wins we riot

DSB

leninbenjamin wrote: »

With respect, Fergie's achievements this season don't really come close to that of Pulis or Hodgson. His squad was already in place (with the exception of Berba really which hasn't turned out to be the greatest buy) and in terms of performances United haven't done fantastic this year compared with previous seasons as no one has put them under serious pressure really.

3 seasons in a row is an amazing achievement, but giving Fergy the management award would be a bit like giving Giggs the PFA award.

Would have been a bit more like giving it to Ronaldo I reckon.

CHD

Sir Alex Ferguson

CHD wrote: »

If Rafa wins we riot

FYP :rolleyes:

Guy:Incognito

CHD wrote: »

FYP :rolleyes:

Did you just fix your own post and roll youreyes at yourself?





I think it's been Roy Keanes season.

CHD

Sir Alex Ferguson

Yup, and im not even drunk for a change.

Chucky the tree

CHD wrote: »

Yup, and im even drunk as usual.

FYP.

Samurai

whatawaster wrote: »

Utd (best team in history)

:pac:

el rabitos

they should give pep guardiola this award too.

hodgson though, making fulham viable is an achievement. hope he can build on it.

carlop

To be fair, Ferguson has overseen a season in which United are on the brink of possibly doing the League/Champions League doublr back-to-back. That is a remarkable achievement. He also organised a defence that broke all premiership records for clean sheets.

I'm not saying he should definitely win, but he certainly deserves to be in the mix, but is largely ignored in this thread. Rafa too may have finally brought Liverpool to the next level, indeed given their current form, as a Man United fan I'm delighted the season is 38 matches long and not 42, as I don't know for how long we could hold Liverpool off.

Its all well and good recognising the achievements of Hodgson and Pulis, but Ferguson and Benitez have also had exceptional seasons.

SWAR

I suppose Roy Hodgson

So many contendors this season...especially Rafa, Fergie, Pulis and David Moyes.

everdead.ie

Sir Alex Ferguson

Hodgson or Moyes
Moyes has a tiny squad of players and the amount of youth he's had to bring in to fill the gaps for injuries think he's done brilliantly.
Don't think Bruce should get much of a mention since heskey and palacios where sold they've been on a bad slide hopefully he can rectify that in the summer.

pickarooney

Moyes shades it for me. Keeping Everton in the top six, and actually improving, over that lean spell before Christmas when he managed to cobble together a team without a single striker and still win games, then getting Jo for free and squeezing goals out of him, along with the risky purchase of Fellaini gives him the nod ahead of Hodgson for me.

spockety

PHB wrote: »

I'd give it to Fergie or Hodgson.

Fergie because with any luck he's about to win the premiership for the 3rd year in a row which is an amazing achievement, especially since he overcame Chelsea's dominance to do it.

Chelsea dominance? lol.

Chelsea had two seasons in the sun where they won the league. They only got a sniff of a Champions League win, and that was after they lost Mourinho.

Chelsea overcame themselves, Fergie didn't overhaul them. 4 managers in two seasons, bad transfer policies, an ageing squad and no coherent looking plan to replace it (except maybe chuck a wheelbarrow load of money at the problem again).

Fair play to Ferguson alright, unbelievable manager, but let's not pretend like the last 3 seasons have been his most difficult.

PHB

Well I was talking in general, since I think the first of those wins, after Chelsea had done the double, was possibly his greatest achievement.

Chelsea raised the bar massively and catching up with them was a huge achievement. After we caught up with them the first time, they crumbled in the following seasons.

David Moyes for me.

Cup final and a top six finish with fcuk all cash available is a remarkable acheivement.

Added to this was playing a substantial part of the season with no striker !

mike65

Roy Hodgsen for me, I'd back date it to when he took over - the first team squad almost entirely overhauled, from a side that couldn't defend a lead to save their lives to one that can match any team on a good day.

ROCKMAN

For me Moyes has been outstanding this season.

yabadabado

for me it has to be roy hodgson.he saved them from the drop last year and has really pushed on this year .overhauled the squad and has them pushing for a european spot.

Unearthly

David Moyes

Lots of Roy Hodgson bumming.

and I'm joining in. What a job he has done. People gave him a hard time this season that he rolled over for Man Utd, yet his team went out and played United off the park like no other team did for the first 45 minutes of their 2-0 win.

Shanotheslayer

David Moyes for me

yahoo_moe

Hodgson's done great - but I think a lot of people are underestimating the job Zola's done. Squads are of a similar-ish quality, but West Ham have been missing key players (Ashton, for one) for large parts of the season and have had to rely on young breakthrough players a lot more.

And while it's always too easy to overlook people doing a brilliant job when it's not the first time they've done it, I agree that Moyes deserves huge recognition again.

Mikeyt086

Tony Pulis. With a mid-table Championship squad he is looking at a mid-table Premiership finish. Remarkable. Even if the football they play is ugly, it brings home the bacon.

Zatman

Tony Pulis hands down. No money to spend written off by the media and Paddy Power paid out after first day of the season.
also for the fact he has made Rory Delap an unlikely superstar

Nuri Sahin

Hodgson. No doubt.

Pulis close second.

Charlie

Keegan for outing Mike Ashley and Dennis wise for the ***** they are.

In serious terms though, it's hard to look past Hodgson or Pulis. Pulis probably shades it for me, as his team have showed alot of strength in character in sticking to their guns, and sticking to their way of football, despite the strong criticisms that we're leveled at them in the first half of the season.

Have a funny feeling though that Stoke will capitulate next season.

Unearthly

David Moyes

Charlie wrote: »

.

Have a funny feeling though that Stoke will capitulate next season.

Not sure. I reckon they might follow Big Sams Bolton model and gradually keep adding better players and just become a very awkward team to play.

Chucky the tree

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Tony Pulis. With a mid-table Championship squad he is looking at a mid-table Premiership finish. Remarkable. Even if the football they play is ugly, it brings home the bacon.

What? They are no where near a mid-table championship team. So your saying the team who finished 2nd in the Championship in 07/08 and then spend nearly £17m in the summer of 2008 are a mid-table championship team?



Anyway if Hull stay up Phil Brown deserves a mention. He took over in 06/07 when they were in the relegation zone, kept them out of trouble and gets them promoted the following season and then for him to keep them in the premiership would be an unreal achievement. He only spent £7m the summer of 2008.