Manchester United Boss Sir Alex Ferguson Voted Greatest Manager of All Time!
by Mr Neutral on October 22nd, 2009 598 words | 44 commentsOld Trafford boss considered best boss ever.
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Sir Alex Ferguson may have a trophy cabinet bursting at the seams, but today football fans have awarded him with an extra-special title – the Greatest Football Manager ever.
Ferguson, who has been Manchester United manager for 22 years and scooped an incredible 33 titles in his managerial career there, topped the poll carried out by the makers of cult football management game Football Manager 2010 with 26 per cent of the vote.
Sir Alex is followed by the late, great Sir Bobby Robson, the much-loved ‘gentleman of football’ whose managerial career saw him win over both fans and players at Ipswich Town, Newcastle United, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Porto, Barcelona and of course England.
Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly scored third spot for his efforts in taking the Reds from the Second Division to the upper echelons of English football, while the infamous Brian Clough, whose spell at Leeds United was recently made into film The Damned United, took fourth place with eight per cent.
Another Old Trafford legend, Sir Matt Busby, who despite Fergie’s efforts still holds the record as the longest serving Manchester United manager of all time, was voted into fifth place.
The top ten also included Sir Alf Ramsey, ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Bob Paisley with Jock Stein bringing up the rear.
The creators of Football Manager 2010 polled over 1,000 UK football fans to discover the Greatest Football Manager of all time for their Football Manager Hall Of Fame.
The nation’s top ten football managers of all time making it into the Football Manager Hall of Fame are:
Sir Alex Ferguson – 26%
Sir Bobby Robson – 14%
Bill Shankly – 9%
Brian Clough – 8%
Sir Matt Busby – 6%
Sir Alf Ramsey – 5%
Jose Mourinho – 4%
Arsene Wenger – 3%
Bob Paisley – 2%
Jock Stein – 1%Miles Jacobson, Studio Director of Football Manager commented:
“As the most successful domestic manager in the history of English football and with a legion of fans around the globe and scores of titles, Sir Alex clearly deserves his place at the top of this poll. The fact he can be a bit controversial – this is the man known as the ‘Hairdryer’ for his half-time outbursts – only makes football fans love him more.
“For all you Fergie wannabes, the new Football Manager 2010 game is released 30th October, so you can put your management skills to the test and a free demo of the game is available now from our website at sigames.com – chewing gum is not provided though….”
Football Manager™ 2010 for PC and Apple Macintosh will be released on October 30th.
Football Manager™ 2010 for PSP will be released on October 30th.
For further information please go to www.sigames.com or www.footballmanager.com.
So there you have it. A poll that overall appears to have the right ten managers (not sure how Jose got there) but perhaps in a bid of a muddle? No one can doubt what Sir Alex has achieved and even the most ardent hater of Man United (not me) would have to admit that the Scot has achieved all there is to achieve in the game and has been at the top of his profession for a prodigious period. Theses lists always walk a fine line because clearly this is a very subjective accolade, but who would you have had at the top of the pile?
We will be giving away Football Manager 2010 games to our Facebook Fan Page members this month, so why not join us there by CLICKING HERE!
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anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 4:29 pm
OK, i am a Liverpool fan but I will be honest as I can. I think Sir Alex does deserve the award but Shanks has to be second. I know Bobby Robson has achieved alot and I was devastated when he died but he didn’t achieve as much as Shankly did. Also i agree that Mourinho doesn’t deserve to be there.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
WAT A F**KIN JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Seems a fair list. Not enough European managers given its Greatest Football Manager Ever
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Bullshit!
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
what a load of rat shit. hes third at best
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Yes, he is. This is totally deserved – and EARNED. He’s proven himself beyond all others.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
over the same amount of time slur alky has had paisley would of won more
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:46 pm
any half decent manager could have had the same success if not much more had they stayed 22 years with a top club like united, do you really think he could have turned England around as Capello has, never ever.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:47 pm
like him………
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:50 pm
yeah. people are so easily impressed but they forget the might of the club behind the manager.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 6:51 pm
if i was there for so long and with all that money I could also be very succesful
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
wtf he doesnt deserve lets be honest all he does is sit on that box his assistans do all the work for him hes always had money to spend hes probly the shittest at buying players juan sebastian veron 30m? lolol djemba djemba? diego forlan? hes decent now 18m for carrick no class about him at all anderson i think it was 24m? wtf has he done for united nani 16 or 17m? he hasnt done alot even berbatov lol 30m? wow hes bought the serbians tosic and llajic or something what has tosic done lol i think they were bought for 17m then u have the likes of david bellion kleberson miller taibi so when u think about theres only a few good transfers hes pulled of ronaldo ferdinand rooney evra maybe vidic van der saar van nistleroy so is he the best manager ever personally id say arsene wenger if arsene wenger had the money fergies had he would of eclipsed fergie and people go on about rafas shit buys when he took over liverpool he had to build the team he didnt have 30m+ like fergie gets every year look at liverpools great buys mascherano 17m arguably the best cdm in the world,torres 22m i think best striker in the world glen johnson 10m because they owed us 7m on crouchy not the 17m u hear in the press alonso 10.5m turned him into one of the best in the world arbeloa 2m probly the most underated rb around so at the end of the day fergie doesnt deserve people just think he is because of his reputation most of the wins they get at old trafford are usually down to dubious decisions or backhanders for the ref :L u can tell it goes on BEST MANAGER IN THE WORLD? id say arsene wenger or shankley or paisley
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Big deal.
I’m on the computer at the moment completely naked because it feels right, comfortable and natural. I encourage you all to try it because you will love it! You will never feel more free.
...samlfc.... - October 22nd, 2009 at 7:16 pm
I strongly dislike Sir Alex Ferguson but yes he is a good manager
One thing which annoys me about these Manager and Footballers awards is that Lets say Bath City FC had a Manager which took them up to league 1 from the league they’re in now which is the conference south and kept them their for 25 years People would say “wow! he done well” but Managers who have been in charge for 10 years and wins The Title and maybe an FA cup are instantly better and get reconised more!………i understand that as Any team would love it to win the Prem but to get the best manager ever award should go to A manager who has done everything he could do Like win a relegation battle but also won that Contries top League or Took them up a few leagues and then defied the Odds and kept them up for a few years.
Its like footballers aswell If a guy from Cruzerio in brazil Scored 50 goals in the season and won the league for them he wouldn’t beat Messi in the rankigs even if Messi scored 20 goals and not win the league
These awards are a good achivement but whoeveis in charge of these awards are to narrow mnded for the big name mangers,players in Big leagues.
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Hate to say it but he deserves it
Aquaman - October 22nd, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Hmm. This depends entirely on what you base your argument on. If you say “The best managers are those who win lots of trophies” then I’d probably say Bob Paisley first with SAF second. If however you say “A great manager is one who can take any squad and achieve great things” then I’d say Brian Clough first with Shankly second.
Personally I lean towards the latter, as once you have entrenched yourself at the top it’s a lot easier to stay there. Conversely that makes getting to the top more difficult which is what Clough achieved with Forest (I mean Forest of all people) and what Shankly achieved with LFC. The reason I put Clough above Shankly is that he won the European Cup twice (again with this Forest team). Similarly I put Paisley above SAF because Paisley is the only manager ever to win ol’ big ears three times, a feat which SAF has not achieved despite domestic dominance.
Retryboy - October 22nd, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Capello has to be in the list somewhere he won 4 titles in 5 years with milans invincibles gullit, van basten, rijkaard etc champions league in 94 with milan then to madrid won the title to roma re-built the team and won the title only the third in their history, on to juventus won 2 titles with one stripped in the match fixing affair and back to madrid who were going through one of their longest spells without a trophy ever and he again delivered the title.
RaNE - October 22nd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
agree with retryboy after all look what he did with england a completly different team from before he started
anonymous - October 22nd, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Ladies ladies put away ur hand bags!!!!
U can only judge a great manager on what he has achieved???
So name a manager with more awards, titles, cups etc than Fergie???
Ya ul say oh he has been there so long n he manages one of the biggest clubs in the world and yes that is true but is that not testiment to his greatness that he has lasted so long and has been kept as manager of one of the biggest club sides i the world.
Then look back to what he done with Aberdeen???
So come on I want to see facts not ur rnating and raving… Show me managers with the same success??
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 12:29 am
Ok, a fair point. SAF’s work at Aberdeen definitely warrants a mention and may just push him above Bob Paisley on my list.
To be honest I didn’t even know he’d been there since I don’t really care all that much about the life stories of the enemy. That would be like Major Winters reading Hitler’s autobiography just before he invaded Berchtesgaden. But still fair play to the man, and a good point by anonymous #324.
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 3:05 am
shut up anonymous who seems to dislike SAF!!
SAF deserves itttt… u foolss!
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 7:11 am
Wenger has got to be top 3 at least. No other manager would ever have been able to acheive the success he has with negative net transfer spending. Ferguson can buy whoever he wants without consequences. Nani and Anderson for 30 million doesn’t even register as a big purchase by Man United, rather as investing in youth.
Sir Alex is a great manager but the financial backing he has had is second to none, with very few consequences for making large buys on failed players.
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 8:14 am
While you raise some good points (anonymous @ 7:11, why don’t you people register so we can call you by name?), one does have to concede that the reason Man U have so much cash is down to SAF. When he first arrived in Manc-land he only spent 7 mil in 3 years total. Even though times were different back then, that still isn’t all that much.
I do agree about Wenger though. Some may argue that the results he’s had recently show that you can’t win if you don’t spend, which kinda makes sense. After all cash in the bank doesn’t fill trophy cabinets, cash spent does.
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 8:16 am
arsene wenger is the best manager in the world sorry SAF!!!! this is just media and ur spending spree. wenger builds teams of stars from nothing unlike u getting 100 million each yr from the family who owns mu football club. If people get that much amount of money any one can acheive as what u have done. arsene wenger, jose mouriho , capello and hiddink are the best in the west.
Retryboy - October 23rd, 2009 at 9:47 am
Interesting arguement balancing fergusons trophies with Wengers achievements agree with aquaman at the time ferguson took over liverpool had been dominating for decades so breaking the domination we had painfully has got to be one of the best achievements anywhere he did have fortune in the fact that we lost king Kenny and had a string of bad managers going backwards. He also had the most amazing youth team come through the likes of beckham, giggs, scholes how much of that was down to the arrogant scot who knows. Much as i hate to say it fergie deserves to be number 1 seeing off chelsea’s emergence. Wenger’s performance is amazing as well it isn’t the fact that money is in the bank its the fact that basically the whole emirates stadium has been funded off the back of his transfer brilliance he has made arsenal financially able to compete with united single handedly and if now he has done so he starts winning titles then he should move up the list. Think the greatest managers of all time is a hard list because looking at the list the poll took place in england with people under 40
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 10:06 am
no he must certainly is not even in the top 10, firstly he is backed by one the biggest clubs in the wolrd so success will come naturally irrespective of who the manager may be, secondly many top players have left the club grudgingly so he does not have the leadership qualities to keep everyone happy, thirdly when a result goes against him he blames everybody except himself which puts a huge question mark on his integrity. lastly although there are many other reasons as well, his drinking habits are universally known so he is a very poor example for all and sundry.
RaNE - October 23rd, 2009 at 10:09 am
we beat manu last season without gerrard or torres could we do it again?
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 10:31 am
Eventhough I’m an Arsenal supporter,I really think that SAF CLEARLY DESERVED this title..he was Man.U’s life for this while..Although not all of his buys were amazing,and also kinda expensive,but some of them gain world class status..And besides the C.Ronaldo transfer,he certainly knows when to sell the players when they are past their prime..Wenger should be in the Top 5,mainly because do any of u know Arsenal before he came and changed the fate of the club?He brought along the best football ever played and he’s a transfer master..he also has that something in him that makes him able to bring out the best of the players,and the results showed in the 03-04 season when they’re invincibles,and this season they truly have the potential Wenger had believed they had before the start of the season..
Rock of Anfield - October 23rd, 2009 at 11:22 am
Bill Shankly or Brian Clough;
No Disrespect 2 SAF, he is a great manager. But, when he took over Man Utd were still in the top flight. Shanks took a 2nd division side with no potentiol to the top of English Football. As did Clough, he did it with Hartlepool, Derby (not so much Leeds) & of course Forest where he won back 2 back European Cups.
isaac hunt - October 23rd, 2009 at 11:45 am
while i repect fergie as a ‘winner’ and a manager i will never respect him as a person. he is the greatest manager in the premiership but he is nowhere near the greatest in europe. for a club like man u who have been the most successful in the last 20 years or so to have only won 2 european cups in that time is very average.
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
no ways….bill shankly was the greatest……no arguments….rednose is shit
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
how is wenger behind mourinho ??
wenger is a far better manager
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
how can wine breath be seen as a great man after all his petulance and disgraceful childish behaviour down the years, anyone that is impressed by that are no better than he is. No class or diginty at all.
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 3:06 pm
The league would be more decent without him.
Aquaman - October 23rd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I have a sneaky suspicion that Jose was only added to the options so that the Chelsea supporters would have someone to vote for. After all this is run by a business and they’d hate to offend their customers.
anonymous - October 23rd, 2009 at 5:28 pm
MOURINHO should not even be in the top 10, he simply goes to a top side and can do no wrong once there.
anonymous - October 24th, 2009 at 12:15 am
I think I’m going to vomit.
anonymous - October 24th, 2009 at 12:34 am
So the reason Sir Alex was so good is because he’s got a big club behind him.. Weren’t Liverpool a big club when they had Shankley and Paisley at the club? So I guess by that Loserfool fans own view, then they shouldn’t make the list either.
Sir Alex Ferguson: trophies – 1x Scottish First Division, 3x Scottish Premier Division, 4x Scottish Cup, 1x Scottish League Cup, 2x UEFA Cup Winners Cup, 2x UEFA SuperCup, 11x FA Premiership, 5x FA Cup, 3x League Cup, 8x Charity/Community Shield, 2x Champions League, 2x World Club Cup.
Total: 44 trophies. 33 at Manchester United
[Paisley-= 19 trophies., Shankley – 7 trophies…
They were at Liverpool, during the times that Liverpool were the biggest club in England. So any whinging from the Anti Man Utd people that Fergie has only won trophies because of the club he is at is completely unfounded and retarded as an arguement.
Mark G. - October 24th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Congratulions, couldn’t have happened to a nicer person! I understand he was selected the Greatest Football Manager that ever coached in Britain. Worldwide he would have some competition.
Mark G. - October 24th, 2009 at 12:47 am
Congratulations, couldn’t have happened to a nicer person! I understand he was selected the Greatest Football Manager that ever coached in Britain. Worldwide he would have some competition.
Sorry for my typing error.
anonymous - November 30th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
football sucks
anonymous - November 30th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
go back 2 ur baseball or basketball or cricket
anonymous - January 12th, 2010 at 9:51 am
what are some of you saying about fergie havung the backing of a great man united club? he came to the club when united was bottom of the old first division in 1986 and he steered us to 11th. is that the oh so successful united you claim he joined?
he nearly lost his job in 1993 after united had to go through a replay to qualify from the f.a cup 3rd round against CRYSTAL PALACE. is that successful?
face it he has built different united teams from scratch and he has never looked back. fergie is the one who made his success. he did not meet success when he came to united. what is all the money when you have no brain to use it well? if not for fergies brains, all the money would have been wasted. this guy is the best manger of all time face it. it is the truth.
anonymous - January 12th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Don’t like the guy but great manager. Needs to grow up at 68 he is the world’s oldest baby