Best Premiership Manager of the Season - so far

jrd

My tuppence - Martin Jol.

Reasons
1) Turned around a sleeping giant, sleeping for 15 years in 2 months with the same players at his disposal
2) Did not do an "Alex" or "Arsene" after the goal the other night
3) Sporting quote of the century

>>Marty: "I told the players that when we score I will check to see if everyone's joining in the celebrations. I won't accept it if there's one player not joining in and sulking on the bench, thus ruining the atmosphere.
The team is more important than the individual, if you're not happy, simply pretend to be happy."<<

Now there's a player's manager. Have this feeling that we finally turned the corner and are on the way back !

Outside big Marty - Moyes and Mourinho deserve a mention.

thegills

Man don't get carried away, he's done a good job but nothing spectacular. When you say the same players did Spurs not sign Mendes, carrick and that Morrocon who are probably the best players at the minute.
Moyes is my manager so far; he lost his best player yet improved the team and may get a CL place this season.

LegacyUser

Mourinho.

He has just been fantastic.

jrd

Dont get me wrong. I still do not believe Spurs will definitely qualify for UEFA this year. (We'll come close). However what he has done is moved from Santini sterility to attractive football. Snapped a 6 match losing streak. Moved from a team with 10 goals in 11 games to one with 23 goals in less. Totally altered dressing room atmosphere. As for an intelligent approach to the media, there are most experienced and more successful managers who could learn lessons.

As for Everton, I saw the 5-2 game and unless they can energise themselves again they could be heading for a Santa season - great before Christmas, and no use for months afterwards. But credit to Moyes so far.

puntosporting

Mourinho has been excellent but look at whats at his disposal!
Jol has done a great turnaround at spurs im happy for the club always had a soft spot for them.
Moyes for me has dont the best job for me this season i was expecting everton to be bottom half of the table hovering around the relegation places!

gandalf

I would actually say Moyes given the sparse resources he has. It must be so nice for the Everton fans to be looking down on the pool.

Spurs actually have a very good team so I think Jol was quite lucky to inherit them but did realise that they wanted to play football not lamp the ball up to the frontmen ala Santini.

Mourinho in Chelsea has done a great job but as stated above he has a blank chequebook at his disposal.

I expect Benitez to reckon by the end of the season as I think he is starting to mold the team that he wants.

Hopefully Arsene will be the top of the pile, he has done well so far moulding the new young players into the team and hopefully will keep the Gooners Juggernaught going to win the league (yes I am biased!).

PHB

Mourinho has been excellent, as has Moyes, Jol has had 6 matches, thats it, hardly a great season since its only 6 matches

p.pete

Martin Jol deserves manager of the month, nothing more yet. Definitely Moyes for manager of the season so far - who'd have thunk they'd be where they are now...

p.pete

gandalf wrote:

Mourinho in Chelsea has done a great job but as stated above he has a blank chequebook at his disposal.

I think he's been quite reserved with that checkbook so far. Most of the players were already in place when he arrived and perhaps he paid over the odds to get a few players since then but these have largely been players that you wouldn't have thought of putting in your world 11.

Imagine what someone like Sven would be doing with the money!!!

WhiteWashMan

p.pete wrote:

Imagine what someone like Sven would be doing with the money!!!

no doubt heskey would be there somewhere

as for manager so far, well i think there has been some really good runs by a lot of teams. everton and bolton come to mind. portsmouth have certainly played some great football and won some big games down south.

i think the arsenal have done a great job in integrating some of the most promising young players around in van persie and fabagast and flamini.

utd have been ever so steady over the last 2 months, proving what we all know as the team to set your standards by.

chelsea have been immense. they are a truely awesome side. remind me of real madrid in their prime, but with an incredible sense of team as opposed to a bunch of footballing prima donnas. except now they are all old prima donnas
definately my team of the season so far, and jose has done such an incredible job in putting the team back into a club where there has been no team for the last 12 seasons. tactically he is very astute. he is a hoot in front of the media. he doesnt take himself too seriously, and lets his football do all the talking. and boy does it talk.

i have been ever so impressed with spurs this year. a good start to the season, followed by a blip during which we lost a manager. i think jol has been fantastic. i think he has done much the same as murinho in that he has installed a sense of team into a club that hasnt had that in years. he has inherited a very gifted and talented bunch of young players, and he has them playing very well for each other. like murinho he is not afraid to make changes at any stage of a game, and tactically, i think he is probably one of the more astute managers in the premiership. 6 wins and 2 draws is an incredible achievment for any new manager in a league when you look at some of the games involved. beating man city in manchester, drawing with utd in manchester, beating everton and middlesbough when both were in spectacular form. and then doing what we havent done in a long time, beat those teams we should beat, like southampton and blackburn (damn you andy johnson!)
now lets see what happens when we play chelsea next week

im still not convinced with benitaz. the still look medicore when i see them play. there still doesnt seem to be that passion that there used to be, except when gerrard is on the pitch. and christ, why do all your players continually break things? maybe you could go and train with newcastle?

Nuttzz

Mourinho has been excellent, though my other half has a serious fondness for him and has become a chelsea "supporter"

BolBill

Steve Bruce. Got the crap knocked out of him and still believes Heskey is premiership standard - a true genius.

The Muppet

Tough question, Moyes has done a great job at Everton , I expected them to be battlleing them at the opposite end of the table. Jol has done a great job at Spurs but he has not been there long enought to see if that form will be consistant. Mourinho has moulded an excellent team and has been relatively co nstrained with the cheque book. The players he has purchased look good.

I think I would pluck for Mourinho as he has chelsea so far in fron at the moment but if either of the other two make it into Europe at the end of the season their acheivement l be just as impressive.

Chong

Mourinho would be my number 1 choice, Martin Jol number 2, David Moyes number 3.

Boro

Toss up between Moyes and Mourinho.

When you look at chelsea's squad and the money available, you imagine than anyone could have got them where they are, but Mourinho seems to be a truly class manager. He has instilled a fantastic team spirit, got them playing great football and seems very tactically astute.

Moyes though has taken an unfashionable team, that seemed to be lacking in quality, rocked by all the off field disruptions in the summer - lost his two main strikers before the season started, and still has them where they are now.

Moyes has definitely had the harder job and deserves to be Manager of the Year.
Mourinho in second.
McClaren in third. Why? Because im a boro fan Also he has moved us on to an entirely new level this season, and has us playing attractive football while getting results in the PL (apart from over christmas that is, when we are traditionally crap) and in europe.

Shred

I would say Moyes too, for the same reasons as above - everyone (myself inlcuded) tipped them for a troublesome season and he's turned it around without splashing loads of cash. He's done a great job with the limited resources he's had.

I really like Mourinho too, I think he's done a great job to motivate the team he has considering the egos he'd be dealing with (including his own ). I enjoy watching Chelsea - he has them playing some really great football and he deserves credit for that, regardless of his unlimited funds.

I don't like Jol, I think he's a bit of a tit tbh. But he does seem to have Spurs playing some good football recently, which is the most important thing after all

Cactus Col

Jol's doing well alright, but it just might be a honeymoon period, a few weeks time, the players might not be performing so well.

but Moyes has got to be the man of the season so far. I would love for Everton to get into Europe, maybe even the champs league.

I will say that apart from Moyes, Keegan is probably the most improved manager.

vorbis

Has to be Moyes. Look at what he has achieved with what is at his disposal!

Boro

Cactus Col wrote:

Jol's doing well alright, but it just might be a honeymoon period, a few weeks time, the players might not be performing so well.

A good point - didnt Santini have a good run of wins at the start of the season too? Before going on a 6 or 7 match run of terrible results, that is.

thegills

It must be so nice for the Everton fans to be looking down on the pool.

Rafa-well Beneath-us is the new chant at Goodison.

PHB

p.s. Mourinho has used a blnak checkbook.
Players he has bought this season

Cech 7 mill
Ferreira 13 mill
Carvalho 20 mill
Robben(does he count?) 12 mill
Drogba 24 mill
New guy 7 mill

Thats 83 million.
I don't think it takes away from his manager of the year status, but none the less its somethign to remember.

Ardent

cheesedude wrote:

Mourinho.

He has just been fantastic.

Come on! Anyone can be a great manager when you've got an unlimited transfer fund at your disposal. Last year, Tinkerman almost won the league with them!

Moyes for me.

eirebhoy

Mourinho didn't buy Cech or Robben.

LegacyUser

Ardent wrote:

Come on! Anyone can be a great manager when you've got an unlimited transfer fund at your disposal. Last year, Tinkerman almost won the league with them!

Moyes for me.

Moyes has been brilliant but Mourinho for me. His whole personality is just class.

evilhomer

thats still 64million! thats a lot of money for any team!
even west brom could win the league with that much cash!

Moyes for me too.

Third_Echelon

yeah it has to be Moyes for me as well.... not that im biased or anything

Done great things with the team on a limited budget and has made good intelligent signings for decent prices...

Jol has done good so far, but as others have said, hes only there a month or two, so i wouldn't get too worked up yet... good results though..

I reckon that Mourihno is a good manager. Look what he did with Porto!!! But at chelsea, really any decent manager could do well there with the unlimited back account they have there...

Keegan does seem to be turning things around at man city as well.

WhiteWashMan

ahhh come on.
how can anyone say that kevin keegan has done a good job managing any side ever?

really, id love it! id just love it if they slipped up now....

therecklessone

Boro wrote:

A good point - didnt Santini have a good run of wins at the start of the season too? Before going on a 6 or 7 match run of terrible results, that is.

Not wanting to hijack this thread or 'owt, but a little bit of clarification wouldn't go amiss...

Santini's league record:

Played 11
Won 3
Drew 4
Lost 4
For 6
Against 8

Jol's league record:

Played 11 (including Charlton as caretaker manager)
Won 6
Drew 2
Lost 3
For 23 (24 if you count Mendes on Tues night... )
Against 13 (9 of them in his first three matches, all defeats)

There's a world of difference between the Santini and Jol eras at Spurs, and thats reflected in the sell-out attendances to all our home games since he took over. I'm not saying the man's our saviour, or we're suddenly challengers for the title, but the man knows the English game and appreciates the support from the terraces. For that reason alone I'd say he'll be a success at Spurs.

Now back on topic: David Moyes is head and shoulders above his counterparts to date, and unless Everton collapse in the 2nd half of the season he'll be Manager of the Year at in May as well.

uberwolf

I think Benetiz has done well enough when mitigating circumstances are taken into consideration. The injury list so far this season has been terrible. Truely shocking. And with the smallest squad in the premiership to start with. He has also taken mediocre players like Biscan and had them run teh show in away CL games. Every position on the park has had a long term injury at this stage. Alonso, Gerrard, Cisse, Baros, Kirkland, Kewell, Nunez, Josemi, Garcia, Traore.

To be 3 points of a CL place and have the form to get into it quickly is doing well IMO.

Big Ears

Moyes , anyone who says someone else is simply incorrect .

Ardent

therecklessone wrote:

Now back on topic: David Moyes is head and shoulders above his counterparts to date, and unless Everton collapse in the 2nd half of the season he'll be Manager of the Year at in May as well.

I doubt it. I remember Ipswich's George Burley getting Manager of the Year in 2001 even though Gerard Houllier had guided Liverpool to 3rd in the league and accomplished the cup treble along the way. Whoever decides these things, they're a funny shower of feckers!

Gileadi

PHB wrote:

p.s. Mourinho has used a blnak checkbook.
Players he has bought this season

Cech 7 mill
Ferreira 13 mill
Carvalho 20 mill
Robben(does he count?) 12 mill
Drogba 24 mill
New guy 7 mill

Thats 83 million.
I don't think it takes away from his manager of the year status, but none the less its somethign to remember.

new guy is 3 million btw

mayordenis

Ardent wrote:

I doubt it. I remember Ipswich's George Burley getting Manager of the Year in 2001 even though Gerard Houllier had guided Liverpool to 3rd in the league and accomplished the cup treble along the way. Whoever decides these things, they're a funny shower of feckers!

we came 2nd that year you clod

therecklessone

mayordenis wrote:

we came 2nd that year you clod

You came 3rd you clod.

Final table

Is that egg on your face?

Ardent wrote:

I doubt it. I remember Ipswich's George Burley getting Manager of the Year in 2001 even though Gerard Houllier had guided Liverpool to 3rd in the league and accomplished the cup treble along the way. Whoever decides these things, they're a funny shower of feckers!

You say potato...

Burley guided his team to 5th in the league that year, only 3 points off 3rd place Liverpool. They were promoted from the 1st Division the previous season. From the play-offs. You can debate which achievement was the more significant, but personally I'd look at budget and squad, and choose Burley as well...

Boro

Well I forgot about Benitez. There have actually been quite a few good managers this year.

I suppose the contenders would be :
Moyes
Mourinho
McClaren
Benitez
Jol

And thats the order I think they should finish in too. Well thats if there was a 4th and 5th place. Although Jol hasnt proved himself yet, just got them playing well. Still it does look like he will do an excellent job there - as will Benitez at Liverpool.

Third_Echelon

uberwolf wrote:

To be 3 points of a CL place and have the form to get into it quickly is doing well IMO.

is that not 6 points???

PHB

The year that Liverpool came second was the 01/02 year if I'm not mistaken.
They were the first team to get over 80 points and not win the title or something.

----

Does anyone find it funny that neither Fergie nor Wenger has been meantioned here.
Both 3rd and 2nd respectivly, both teams having big injury problems this year, both teams into the knockout stages of the CL, comfortably and relativly comfortably.

While you can say Bravo to Moyes definally, and bravo to Mourinho, the rest ahead of these two guys?

Ardent

therecklessone wrote:

You say potato...

Burley guided his team to 5th in the league that year, only 3 points off 3rd place Liverpool. They were promoted from the 1st Division the previous season. From the play-offs. You can debate which achievement was the more significant, but personally I'd look at budget and squad, and choose Burley as well...

It was a remarkable achievment, no doubt about it. (Btw, did they get relegated the following season? I forget.) I was shocked at the time though when Houllier didn't get it, I thought a clean sweep of every cup competition would gaurantee an award like that. I'm telling ya, there's an anti-Liverpool conspirancy going on in the media!!

The English media love Mourinho, if he did something similar you can be gauranteed he'd get the award - even if Moyes wins the league!

therecklessone

PHB wrote:

The year that Liverpool came second was the 01/02 year if I'm not mistaken.

Correct.

PHB wrote:

Does anyone find it funny that neither Fergie nor Wenger has been meantioned here.
Both 3rd and 2nd respectivly, both teams having big injury problems this year, both teams into the knockout stages of the CL, comfortably and relativly comfortably.

So they're performing as they're expected then? See, I reckon the Manager of the Year is somebody who excels himself in a given season, say Fergie's ManYoo winning the treble in 99, or Whinger's Gooners going unbeaten last season. Qualifying for the last 16 of the CL and trailing Chelski in the league ain't excelling yourself IMHO.

Specifically wouldn't give it to Whinger cos of the Gooner's fraility in defence this season, and wouldn't give it to Sir Alco because for a club who can afford to spend £20 million+ on a single player, ManYoo haven't lived up to their own high standards this season. Harsh I know, but they've both set themselves such high standards to date.

therecklessone

Ardent wrote:

It was a remarkable achievment, no doubt about it. (Btw, did they get relegated the following season? I forget.)

Relegated the following season, thats right. Never recovered from their poor start to the season when they were distracted by their UEFA Cup campaign (having qualified from their previous seasons 5th place in the Prem).

Brian017

I'd go for David Moyes.

Töpher

Ardent wrote:

It was a remarkable achievment, no doubt about it. (Btw, did they get relegated the following season? I forget.)

Aye, needed a point against Man Utd and Van Nistelroy dived for a penalty, utd won 1-0, they got relegated.

Anywho, on topic (:D), Moyes is my pick, what he's done with so little is amazing. I think now with Beattie and maybe one or two more new faces they can keep the momentus up for the mostpart of the remainder of the season.

knobbles

davie davie moyes,
he's got red hair but we don't care
davie davie moyes,

2nd jose
3d jol

noone else worthy of a shout

PeadarofAodh

Has to be Moyes but I'd say by the end of the season it'll be Mourinho, its a bigger achievment than people think keeping all those stars in line and happy with their place in the team