The debate regarding who is the greatest football manager of all-time was rekindled at the end of the last English Premier League season, when Alex Ferguson retired.
Fergie’s achievements at Manchester United were unprecedented, and inspired us to wonder if he truly is the most successful manager ever to stride the touchline and bark orders from the dugout.
Benni McCarthy has also just hung up his boots, and in his farewell statement he claims he was “privileged to have played under many great coaches, including the very best, Jose Mourinho.”
Now The Special One may have won the Champions League with two different teams and domestic leagues four different countries, but is he really in Fergie’s league?
After all, the gladiatorial Galswegian won a barely plausible 49 trophies during his stellar coaching career.
And what about other managerial luminaries from football’s glorious history, like Liverpool icon Bill Shankly, or the great Real Madrid manager of the 1960s and 70s, Miguel Munoz?
And what defines a great manager? Is it the number of trophies he won? Or the standard of the competitions he won them in?
Is it better to win one World Cup or three domestic leagues?
These are the questions we’ve tasked our researchers with, with the image of Alex Ferguson raising his 13th Premier League trophy as the context. And in the coming days we will reveal to you who we believe football’s greatest ever managers are.
Who do you think is football’s greatest manager?
