Manager of the Season

Icaras

Edit - I made a mess of the pole putting in Bruce instead of Moyes. Please regard "Other" specifically means Moyes. Apologies for the confusion and previous voters but from the thread Moyes is pretty far ahead.

I think this year more than ever there's a great oppertunity for debate on this one. A good few managers in with a shout and probably no real wrong answer (except for Steve Bruce).

Pep - won the leauge without a recognised striker. Changed (Evolved?) style early in the season to start grinding out results. Done the biz once again, in a CL final too, league cup, premiership and champions league winner would make him a shoe in....wouldnt it?

Ole - who would have thunk 2nd at the start of the season. Fred and McT being a regular successful partnership. Fernandes probably their player of the season with Cavani coming very good later on in the season. Got hammered by fans and media at the start of the season but has kept his head down and gotten a place probably better than expected.
Also Pogba being a squad player rather than the guy you build a team around seems to have been accepted but not sure how much Solskjaer was involved in this - maybe Man Utd fans can clarify.

Jurgen - A season of injuries, Van Dyke, Jota, Henderson and others missing major game time. Top 4 was written off Feb/March time (I think), No losses in last 10 games. Probably the best Klopp could have done with the players available to him.

Tuchel - arrived mid season and turned the team around 62% win rate and +21 goals is very impressive. League and CL Final too. His tactic of cancelling out the other team consistently is showing me why/how he is a top level manager. Big neg is he only arrived in Jan but for me if Chelsea win the CL hes my manager of the season.

Rogers - Leister arent a bad team but I think Rogers has brought them on a level. I think without the FA Cup hes not in the conversation but 5th, FA Cup winners some good runs through the season and good football I dont think anyone is way off for suggesting him.

Moyes - I thought it was a disaster waiting to happen at the start of the season but have been proven wrong (is this his highest finish in the PL?). Obviously a good foundation but I think (and could be wrong) has added high work ethic with good skill level. Getting Lingard was a smart bit of business. The only thing I would suggest is I think the empty stadiums helped them a lot. No fans on their back when things went wrong which I think Moyes responds to badly, the stadium is a poor football atmosphere stadium - I cant fully explain this feeling.

Bielsa - 9th finish after being promoted last season while playing fantastic football. Took some decent scalps - City and Spurs, draw with Liverpool. Maybe lucky with injuries but an amazing achievement and Id go out of my way to watch them.

Dean Smith - from avoiding relegation on the last day last season to a solid 11th. Obviously Grealish is a big part of this but was injured for 12 games and less than 30mins in 2 games. I havent watched them much so cant really comment except the position is a lot better than I expected.

Have I missed anyone?
For me if Chelsea win the Champions league its Tuchel, if not its Bielsa with Solskjaer 3rd. Tell me why Im wrong.

Mushy

Would have to say Moyes, some turnaround.

Regarding Bielsa, can't say he was lucky with injuries when seeing the difference in defensive record before and after Llorente got a run in the team (2nd best form team since like March). If Moyes didn't have such a great season, Bielsa be manager of the year (yes I'm biased, but a genuinely great season).

Agent Coulson

He is not on the poll above but for me it's Moyes getting that West Ham squad to 6th in the league and Europa League football is a major achievement.

~Rebel~

I'd pick Moyes, but he's not in the poll... (but Bruce is for some reason? Guessing a little error there?)

doc_17

Tuchel

Pep is the obvious choice if they win next week. But he knows nothing about adversity. 2nd last year amd spends £150m on players, again. They should win it every year. If they don’t it’s failure. So this year he wins it. But given the money they spend he should win it every year.


Could he do what Klopp does? Or Moyes? Or Bielsa?

kippy

Moyes by a distance.
Not in the poll though

RugbyLover123

Smith

Has to be Moyes or Bielsa. I’ll go with Bielsa. I was skeptical of him on here a few months back but what he has achieved at Leeds is remarkable.

Am never able to give Pep kudos.. but there’s a whole other thread for that..

Hammer Archer

Why isn't Moyes in the poll?

klose

I'd go for moyes personally, bielsa behind. Props to ole, I used slag any friends following united last couple of seasons about ole but have been kept quiet this year.

~Rebel~

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Why isn't Moyes in the poll?

I think OP just had a little brainfart when typing the poll and wrote Bruce instead of Moyes - it's the only switchover from what's written in the first post.

rob316

Moyes or Bielsa.

Pep did a great job turning around the team after a bad start, they really looked cooked but his resources are ridiculous. It's a failure if he doesn't win the league though.

HalloweenJack

Smith

I'd say Moyes or Bielsa, maybe Smith.

Pep has City where they are expected to be and they haven't had as good a season as other years.

Ole has done well but I think Man U have been the least wobbly of the rest, not that they have been overly impressive. I think in a 'normal' season, without all the Covid disruption, they wouldn't have done much better or worse whereas the other teams probably would have.

Liverpool have struggled with injuries so I wouldn't hold that too much against Klopp but I don't think he has done anything exceptional. I'd give Tuchel a full season before judging him properly. He's done well but has also disappointed at times. Rodgers will probably get less stick because they won the cup but they messed up the CL once again.

Moyes has done a brilliant job. Bielsa, too, though I'm not too surprised. Smith has done well to turn around Villa considering how they just barely survived last year. Can't think of much else to say about the rest.

Icaras

Rogers

Mushy wrote: »

Would have to say Moyes, some turnaround.

Regarding Bielsa, can't say he was lucky with injuries when seeing the difference in defensive record before and after Llorente got a run in the team (2nd best form team since like March). If Moyes didn't have such a great season, Bielsa be manager of the year (yes I'm biased, but a genuinely great season).

Balls, total mistake by me. Can I edit the pole?

POKERKING

Ole

Imagine finishing the season with possibly a treble and not winning manager of the season. Mind boggles really.

theteal

Yup, was looking for Moyes on the list. I am a bit biased because of where I live but the effect of West Ham being a decent team has actually raised morale out these parts.

gimli2112

Tuchel

POKERKING wrote: »

Imagine finishing the season with possibly a treble and not winning manager of the season. Mind boggles really.

I think what goes against him is the billions and billions of dollars.

kippy

POKERKING wrote: »

Imagine finishing the season with possibly a treble and not winning manager of the season. Mind boggles really.

The lad should be finishing with a treble every season with the resources at his disposal.

Would love to see him at Leeds or West Ham. See how he faired without the massive budgets and long term planning before he even arrived.

doc_17

Tuchel

POKERKING wrote: »

Imagine finishing the season with possibly a treble and not winning manager of the season. Mind boggles really.

Imagine spending buckets load of cash, more than any other team ever, and yet to win the big prize? He might do it next week but it’s only about time. Massive outlay on players each of the years he’s been there. It’s a complete failure he hasn’t done it to date. If he wins it next week, for his first time in 10 seasons, then he’s par for the course with Man City.

Mr.Nice Guy

Christophe Galtier.

Took over Lille when they were in danger of being relegated. Helped them stay up, then turned them into a CL outfit and has culminated his tenure this season with a title win over a PSG side that boasts some of the biggest stars in world football. He's done all this with a club that has a fraction of the budget and which every season is having its best players picked off, having to constantly rebuild itself. He's worked wonders.

Icaras

Rogers

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Christophe Galtier.

Took over Lille when they were in danger of being relegated. Helped them stay up, then turned them into a CL outfit and has culminated his tenure this season with a title win over a PSG side that boasts some of the biggest stars in world football. He's done all this with a club that has a fraction of the budget and which every season is having its best players picked off, having to constantly rebuild itself. He's worked wonders.

Good shout. World wide Stevie G is high on the list. Undefeated PL season, won a cup i think and completly dominated Celtic (4 wins, 1 draw).

kippy

Icaras wrote: »

Good shout. World wide Stevie G is high on the list. Undefeated PL season, won a cup i think and completly dominated Celtic (4 wins, 1 draw).

Ah come on.

sterz

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Christophe Galtier.

Took over Lille when they were in danger of being relegated. Helped them stay up, then turned them into a CL outfit and has culminated his tenure this season with a title win over a PSG side that boasts some of the biggest stars in world football. He's done all this with a club that has a fraction of the budget and which every season is having its best players picked off, having to constantly rebuild itself. He's worked wonders.

Edgy.

~Rebel~

kippy wrote: »

Ah come on.

Seems a fair enough shout... in any of these leagues dominated by one team (PSG in France, Juve in Italy, Celtic in Scotland) it's pretty bloody impressive to break those monopolies. To do it conceding only 13 goals, going unbeaten, and breaking 100 points is pretty incredible.

Rangers may have been a big deal and an even shout 10+ years ago, but this team were very much second fiddle to Celtic in terms of resources and likelihood of winning the league. Massive achievement.

CSF

Ole

Has to be Pep unless we conclude that City manager can never win it. On the night of the Lyon game last summer I read tonnes on here talking about how he was a busted flush and wasn’t capable of taking them to the CL.

Well he has reinvented them into a defensively solid side and won 2 trophies already, and I think he will win the big one next week.

Moyes and Bielsa have both done great jobs this year, but honestly you hear these kinds of contrarian shouts every year, people were calling for Wilder ahead of Klopp last year in spite of Klopp having one of the best PL teams we’ve seen to date last year.

Overachieving is worthwhile too but what Klopp and Pep have done in the last 2 seasons is hard to repeat for different reasons, whereas somebody overachieves almost every year. If Moyes had finished the job, and gotten top 4, it would have been a much more difficult decision.

~Rebel~

CSF wrote: »

Has to be Pep unless we conclude that City manager can never win it. On the night of the Lyon game last summer I read tonnes on here talking about how he was a busted flush and wasn’t capable of taking them to the CL.

Well he has reinvented them into a defensively solid side and won 2 trophies already, and I think he will win the big one next week.

Moyes and Bielsa have both done great jobs this year, but honestly you hear these kinds of contrarian shouts every year, people were calling for Wilder ahead of Klopp last year in spite of Klopp having one of the best PL teams we’ve seen to date last year.

Overachieving is worthwhile too but what Klopp and Pep have done in the last 2 seasons is hard to repeat for different reasons, whereas somebody overachieves almost every year. If Moyes had finished the job, and gotten top 4, it would have been a much more difficult decision.

Klopp last year isn't really much like Pep this year though... just like Pep this year isn't much like Pep in 17/18 or 18/19. Those two years he wrung every bit of talent and energy out of his incredible squads, getting incredible points totals in the process. This year he's way off that. A points total in the 80's is just not exceptional for City. It won them the league, and that's great for them, but as far as a managerial achievement, it's not a patch on those previous 2 seasons.

If he goes on to win the Champions League, that at least makes it a conversation.

kippy

CSF wrote: »

Has to be Pep unless we conclude that City manager can never win it. On the night of the Lyon game last summer I read tonnes on here talking about how he was a busted flush and wasn’t capable of taking them to the CL.

Well he has reinvented them into a defensively solid side and won 2 trophies already, and I think he will win the big one next week.

Moyes and Bielsa have both done great jobs this year, but honestly you hear these kinds of contrarian shouts every year, people were calling for Wilder ahead of Klopp last year in spite of Klopp having one of the best PL teams we’ve seen to date last year.

Overachieving is worthwhile too but what Klopp and Pep have done in the last 2 seasons is hard to repeat for different reasons, whereas somebody overachieves almost every year. If Moyes had finished the job, and gotten top 4, it would have been a much more difficult decision.

City, Chelsea, PSG managers can never win it.

Icaras

Rogers

kippy wrote: »

Ah come on.

Whatever about the quality of the Scottish league unbeaten in a season is pretty special, with someone with 3 years "top" managerial experiance is almost unbeliveable.

plibige

Ole

Pep got the trophies (may get more) so probably deserves it.

But I came to say David Moyes done a serious job this year. West Ham have been a mess for a long time, loads of playboys and lads collecting cheques. But he's really put a shape and identity to them. Especially considering where Moyes reputation had gone to, I don't think anyone saw that sort of season coming from him or them

kippy

Icaras wrote: »

Whatever about the quality of the Scottish league unbeaten in a season is pretty special, with someone with 3 years "top" managerial experiance is almost unbeliveable.

Maybe I was a bit harsh on the lad.
Apologies to Stevie G.

Trey13

Haven’t watched Lille but by all accounts Galtier has been exceptional.

Gerrard was brilliant. Watched Rangers in Scotland and Europe quite a bit and they were brilliant. Credit is due to him.

In the PL, Pep, Moyes and Bielsa all in the conversation. Honorable mentions to Smith and Bruce. Basing it off the PL alone, I’d give it to West Ham but if City win the CL it’s got to be Pep.

CSF

Ole

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Klopp last year isn't really much like Pep this year though... just like Pep this year isn't much like Pep in 17/18 or 18/19. Those two years he wrung every bit of talent and energy out of his incredible squads, getting incredible points totals in the process. This year he's way off that. A points total in the 80's is just not exceptional for City. It won them the league, and that's great for them, but as far as a managerial achievement, it's not a patch on those previous 2 seasons.

If he goes on to win the Champions League, that at least makes it a conversation.

I think this years one is as impressive, because he had to rebuild the team in a manner that made them able to compete in the Champions League. He signed Dias and completely revamped their style, and turned them into a defensive team who could still attack.

19 clean sheets for the season. A comfortable Premier League titled coupled with the lesser of the 2 domestic trophies. All while achieving the key objective of a CL final.

Look, we all know the resources available at Man City, and it’s certainly not taking AFC Wimbledon to the Champions League, but I think Pep’s work was the most impressive and repeatable, as opposed to having the right things go right in the important moments, which I think was a big feature of West Ham’s season.

Underground

Smith

Klopp with 8 votes and Tuchel with 9. People are just voting for the team they support.

Realistically it has to be one of Pep, Rogers, Moyes or Bielsa. All four are deserving imo.

klose

Worn out cliché and all that but pep is a victim of his own success, everyone was expecting City to challenge/win the league and they've pretty much made the league Cup their own the last few years. So them doing that is par for the course. Was anyone expecting moyes to have west ham finish 6th? I doubt it. Which is more impressive in terms of the clubs and managers on offer?



On the opposite end of the spectrum how much of a stinker did hassenhuetll have in the second half of the season? That team really did check out months ago.

Fitz*

Expectations is a big deciding factor for me.

Man City go into every tournament they are in as favourites because of the vast squad depth available to them. That became even more pronounced this season when the season became more congested and rotation and resting became more important. It was a lot more noticeable the deeper the season went and they could rotate so easily and not drop quality. Of course the manager has to keep all these players in unison etc, but they had the player resources available to do this when others don't.

Which leads me onto my selection. A team who were expected to battle relegation and barely hang on to their star player for one final season. A sometimes laughing stock of a manger who had previously been sacked from the same position. Had his fan a dreaming of Champions League football and delivered European football. A far cry from relation battles. Didn't have the same luxury of replacing Rice with a £60m player when Rice missed a period of time with injury or Creswell was injured etc.

David Moyes for me.

~Rebel~

CSF wrote: »

I think this years one is as impressive, because he had to rebuild the team in a manner that made them able to compete in the Champions League. He signed Dias and completely revamped their style, and turned them into a defensive team who could still attack.

19 clean sheets for the season. A comfortable Premier League titled coupled with the lesser of the 2 domestic trophies. All while achieving the key objective of a CL final.

Look, we all know the resources available at Man City, and it’s certainly not taking AFC Wimbledon to the Champions League, but I think Pep’s work was the most impressive and repeatable, as opposed to having the right things go right in the important moments, which I think was a big feature of West Ham’s season.

Hugely disagree with this... they added yet another very expensive defender, and became more defensive as a team - all to concede just 3 fewer goals than last season.

This is one of those years where I think a lot of managers with that City squad would have won the league with similar numbers. Couldn't ever say that about his 17/18 or 18/19 teams. They had a massive advantage over every other team in the league this year by having a gigantic squad of brilliantly talented players with a tightly compressed fixture calendar, which he rotated hugely to keep everyone nice and fresh - anyone with City players in their FF teams can attest to this. It's lovely to be able to keep lads like Foden (17 starts), Fernandinho (12 starts), Mahrez (23 starts), Jesus (22 starts), Gundogan (23 starts), Bernardo Silva (24 starts), Torres (15 starts), Zinchenko (15 starts), Walker (22 starts), Laporte (14 starts) etc etc in great nick for the whole season while everyone else struggles.

Pep's a brilliant, brilliant manager, and he did well to get them going again after an absolutely woeful start, but this is definitely one of his less impressive league campaigns.

osarusan

Tommy Barrett!

But apart from him, maybe Rodgers. It's been a weird season, I'm not sure that it's easy to gauge improvement in any side as eveybody is so inconsistent. Moyes did well but I think we will see West Ham flop next season, relative to where they are now. but Leicester have done so well to finish where they did, and whoever is their head of recruitment deserves a raise.

Bounty Hunter

If they win the champions league, it has to be Pep.

You don't win a treble including the league and Champions League without getting the Manager of the Season award. I understand people saying Moyes but honestly West Ham hugely underachieved last season and although they have done extremely well this season I think the comparison has potentially colored some peoples opinions. I would also suggest some people don't want to vote for a manager managing a team with all the money. They (West Ham) have been great this season but finishing 6th as much of an achievement isn't the same as winning a treble.

Guy:Incognito

Other

osarusan wrote: »

Tommy Barrett!

But apart from him, maybe Rodgers......... but Leicester have done so well to finish where they did, e.

Did they? Meh. They pretty much had the same season they had last year, same disappointing finish to the league and all. They won the cup, that's about it. Everyone dismisses the fa Cup, then Leicester win it and it becomes a big achievement.

joeguevara

Surely Rogers is not really a candidate? Hate saying it but is there anyone else who constantly falls at the final hurdle?

Carcharodon

Smith

As a Leeds fan I voted Bielsa, I think it’s a toss up with a few managers, I’d nearly say Moyes deserves it because of the expectations they had, the drama at the club, the reputation he had of not being a good manager, a lot of stuff going on

doc_17

Tuchel

joeguevara wrote: »

Surely Rogers is not really a candidate? Hate saying it but is there anyone else who constantly falls at the final hurdle?

He won about 10 trophies with Celtic.

irishguitarlad

Manuel Pellegrini, took a team that was nearly relegated last year to finish 6th in la liga. Although I am a bit biased being a bético.

joeguevara

doc_17 wrote: »

He won about 10 trophies with Celtic.

Agreed.

Without getting into a discussion on the quality of the SPL I was only talking about his PL results.

Tom Mann Centuria

For pure entertainment Bielsa, for trophies Guardiola but I'd vote for Moyes because he's over achieved by a country mile.

Ole

Guardiola must be up there.

If he wins the champions league he's a shoe in.

doc_17

Ole

doc_17 wrote: »

He won about 10 trophies with Celtic.

Can't take that league serious. He hadn't any credible competition up there during his time.

Winning the FA Cup with Leicester was arguably a bigger achievement.

HalloweenJack

Smith

6 wrote: »

Can't take that league serious. He hadn't any credible competition up there during his time.

Winning the FA Cup with Leicester was arguably a bigger achievement.

Regardless of the league, any manager that wins every domestic trophy going for three years and had an unbeaten league season is performing above expectations.

Not every manager is guaranteed success just because there's less competition. PSG and Juve didn't win their leagues this season and they have far greater resources than their domestic rivals. Even in places where one team stands out above the rest, like Greece, Austria or Croatia, they don't win all the trophies every year or go unbeaten.

Scottish football.might not be the highest quality but it was still an impressive achievement on his part.

CSF

Ole

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Hugely disagree with this... they added yet another very expensive defender, and became more defensive as a team - all to concede just 3 fewer goals than last season.

This is one of those years where I think a lot of managers with that City squad would have won the league with similar numbers. Couldn't ever say that about his 17/18 or 18/19 teams. They had a massive advantage over every other team in the league this year by having a gigantic squad of brilliantly talented players with a tightly compressed fixture calendar, which he rotated hugely to keep everyone nice and fresh - anyone with City players in their FF teams can attest to this. It's lovely to be able to keep lads like Foden (17 starts), Fernandinho (12 starts), Mahrez (23 starts), Jesus (22 starts), Gundogan (23 starts), Bernardo Silva (24 starts), Torres (15 starts), Zinchenko (15 starts), Walker (22 starts), Laporte (14 starts) etc etc in great nick for the whole season while everyone else struggles.

Pep's a brilliant, brilliant manager, and he did well to get them going again after an absolutely woeful start, but this is definitely one of his less impressive league campaigns.

I mean it is probably worth a mention that nearly 20% of the goals City conceded this season were conceded in the 2 games before Dias joined and Pep built the team around him. 26 goals conceded in the 36 games played after that point which I think is quite remarkable for normally such an attacking coach. Its a better defensive record than Klopp's Liverpool from last season (both over the 36 I mentioned or the 38) which I think is remarkable because Klopp's Liverpool last season had also set something of a precedent for defensive record from an attacking team.


Comparing other team's defensive records to Liverpool last season or City this season isn't always that instructive, because the teams in question are usually naturally defensive teams. The last 2 seasons we've seen great teams achieve the best of both worlds, which I think puts them ahead of the flavour of the week overachiever managers whose achievements generally end up being not repeatable



Wilder from last season is a good example, all those 1 goal wins started to become 1 goal defeats this season as they went from a season where everything went their way to a season where nothing went their way.

StupidLikeAFox

I vote Steve Bruce

event

Smith

Icaras wrote: »

Bielsa - 9th finish after being promoted last season while playing fantastic football. Took some decent scalps - City and Spurs, draw with Liverpool. Maybe lucky with injuries but an amazing achievement and Id go out of my way to watch them.

Gonna have to explain what you mean here

Icaras

Rogers

event wrote: »

Gonna have to explain what you mean here

I don't remember any of their main player missing for a long period of time through injury. Bamford and Dallas played in every game, Harrison missed 2, Ayling played 90mins of every game except 1, Alioski missed or played less than 10mins in only 6 games etc.
I could be wrong, I didn't know the team last year but did know Bamford, Dallas and the keeper were highly rated (for a just promoted side) at the start of the season.