|2-Manager's Ratings |1-For the Premiership 96-97 Season By Pex le Sex/QuI The rating of a manager is not only the placing that the team finish, but it also has a great deal of other things that need to be taken into consideration. For example there is the budget that a manager has, and the way he handles himself in the media as well as the squad of players that he has bought and inherited. I have given them a rating out of a hundred to give them a percentage, and if you disagree with any/all of them then why not do one of your own and put it into "The Word issue 8". Position Team Manager Rating ======== ==== ======= ====== 1st Liverpool Roy Evans 89/100 2nd Coventry City Ron Atkinson 84/100 3th Everton Joe Royle 81/100 4th Arsenal Bruce Rioch 80/100 5th Manchester United Alex Ferguson 79/100 6th Manchester City Alan Ball 78/100 7th West Ham United Harry Redknapp 77/100 8th Newcastle United Kevin Keegan 76/100 9th Tottenham Hotspurs Gerry Francis 75/100 10th Chelsea Glenn Hoddle 72/100 11th Nottingham Forest Frank Clarke 71/100 12th Blackburn Rovers Ray Harford 70/100 13th Queens Park Rangers Ray Wilkins 70/100 14th Middlesborough Bryan Robson 70/100 15th Wimbledon Joe Kinnear 69/100 16th Leeds United Howard Wilkinson 68/100 17th Bolton Wanderers Roy McFarland 67/100 18th Sheffield Wednesday David Pleat 66/100 19th Aston Villa Brian Little 52/100 20th Southampton Dave Merrington --/100 |1-The Reasons Why... 1st Liverpool Roy Evans 89/100 Roy Evans is by far the best manager in the English game at present (apart from Terry Venables - who has tarred his reputation with the picking or should it be non-picking of Matt Le Tissier). Roy is a down to earth, plain speaking Liverpudlian who is one of the "Bootroom boys" that Graeme Souness tried so very hard to dismantle. Is one of the few managers that likes to see flowing, attacking, passing, qualtiy football with the emphasis on scoring goals and sliky skills on the ball. Is bringing along a good crop of youngsters as well, which will save him millions in the transfer market in years to come. With him at the helm Liverpool will again become a force in English football, but not as strong as in the early-mid Eighties. 2nd Coventry City Ron Atkinson 84/100 Another manager who firmly believes in passing, flowing attacking football with an excellent track record with every club that he has managed in the past. Even done well on the continent. Will need to be given a little cash for the transfer market as the squad he inherited is not too good defensively. Could get Coventry up the table and even push for a European place if they go well. However I have written about them in my Premiership96.txt article in this issue also. I felt that he was harshly dealt with at Aston Villa, and they could pay the price for it. Has an excellent relationship with the media also. 3th Everton Joe Royle 81/100 Here is a manager who has proven with Oldham that you don't need mega-millions to get a good squad of players that could more than hold their own at the highest level. You may notice that a pattern is emerging with managers who play football as it should be played (passing, flowing and attacking) at the top and the big boot managers at the bottom. This is a I said earlier a personal note, and you may disagree. If you like watching teams hoof it up the field and chase then fair enough. I however don't care much for that type of football. Joe is another man with excellent media skills and has bought well in the market since going to Everton with players like Ferguson and Kanchelskis. 4th Arsenal Bruce Rioch 80/100 Bruce Rioch has been around a long time and has successfully managed clubs such as Middlesborough, and Bolton (along with Colin Todd) and has taken the big step to manage Arsenal. Has invested heavily in the close season and will need a little luck to get his stars gelling quickly. Has pulled off a major coup in the signings of Platt and Bergkamp. Will get the players playing a more passing style that will need a little settling into for them as they have been used to playing a more physical, tactical game with George Graham/Stuart Hewston. Can he get the best out of the now "new-man" Paul Merson, and can he get Ian Wright and Bergkamp to hit it off up front. I think that he can. Arsenal will prove more balanced, but will not be as good a cup team. Rioch is hampered by his lack of communication to the press. 5th Manchester United Alex Ferguson 79/100 Alex Ferguson has done wonders with Manchester United football club since he came from Aberdeen. There were times when he was close to being sacked in the first couple of years, but since then they have gone from strength to strength. They have the best squad in depth I think, and are always the team to beat (I am not a big Man Utd fan or hater, but am trying to give my opinion on them.) There is no better sight than watching Man Utd when they are on the charge as they can seem awesome. Quick slick passing with speedy movement being the key. Alex has bought well in the past like Cantona, Hughes, Schmichael and Cole to name but a few. However in the past few months he has started to go alittle off in my opinion selling Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis as I thought that they were 3 of the best players last season. I am sure that he has his reasons. A little quiet for the media's liking and always seems to be blaming things other than him and his team. 6th Manchester City Alan Ball 78/100 Manchester City have got themselves a very good manager with Alan Ball, but he will need a while to settle into the new team. Did extremely well with Southampton on limited resources, and will need to be at his very best as City don't have the cash than neighbours United have. Must get his players motivated and have pride in their club as this seemed to be lacking last term. Another who is a little too quiet for the media. 7th West Ham United Harry Redknapp 77/100 Harry Redknapp has done wonders with "The Hammers". Once big guns, now little fish in a big pond. Harry has got a set of players that have no real superstars, but all play as a team, and fight tooth and claw for every minute of the season. Will be the suprise team of this campaign for me. He is a lively, bubbly, totally committed manager who wears his heart on his sleeve. I would love to see him get a little cash for the transfer market. 8th Newcastle United Kevin Keegan 76/100 Keegan is probably the most high-profile managers is Europe, let alone England and has a tremendous respect from both players, managers and pundits alike. His low score is due to the fact that he is still relatively new to management and has still a lot to learn. Has got together one of the best squads in the country, and could do very well next year. The selling of Andy Cole was a mystery, but has got himself a good replacement in Les Ferdinand. A few trophies will get his percentage rising as Newcastle haven't actually won anything as yet. 9th Tottenham Hotspurs Gerry Francis 75/100 Took Spurs from a freefalling rollercoaster side with loads of goals at both ends, and made it a more balanced team. Has taken some stick for pre-season results, but all teams go through their bad patches. Is a good media man, and a plain talking, sensible, no theatrics manager. Spent well, but will need to buy some more class defenders after selling Nick Barmby. 10th Chelsea Glenn Hoddle 72/100 Glenn Hoddle is thought of highly as he was an excellent player. Also did well with his first management post in Swindon. Used all his charm and know how to get Ruud Hullit and Mark Hughes to Stamford Bridge. Still new to management and has a few rough edges to iron out, but good with the media. 11th Nottingham Forest Frank Clarke 71/100 Has done a good job getting Notts Forest from a average second division (now first of course) team to a good Premiership side. Had a cash injection when he first went there and was able to spend 2.3 million on Stan Collymore. Total opposite to predicessor Brian Clough as Frank is a quiet humble man with his own beliefs and keep them to himself and his team. Needs to get the youth policy going to keep up with the big boys I think. 12th Blackburn Rovers Ray Harford 70/100 I don't really rate Ray too highly as he is more of a backroom man and didn't like the pressure of manager when at Luton. Has a good tactical brain, but can't handle the media too well. Might struggle if the team gets off to a bad start. Is well respected by those who "are in the know", but the general public are not sure of him. Needs a more high profile line to get known. 13th Queens Park Rangers Ray Wilkins 70/100 Ray "Butch" Wilkins was always known as a hard man, but has got his team playing passing football, not trying to kick lumps out of each other. Knows his stuff, and has a good reputuare with the press. Is still new to management and will need a few years to find his feet and get accustomed to the new outlook. Has had to buy small, and sell big as previous QPR managers have also found out. Sold Les Ferdinand, and Trevor Sinclair looks like he is going too. Will need to use his skill to keep hold of him, and other stars of the future like Kevin Gallen. 14th Middlesborough Bryan Robson 70/100 Another new manager with an very good reputation with players and pundits, but will find life a little bit harder in the Premiership than in the Endsleigh league. Has just got Nick Barmby, and that was an excellent deal as Barmby had the pick of the big clubs. Inherited a good club, but will still need to attract more class players and use his know how to get them to Middlesborough. 15th Wimbledon Joe Kinnear 69/100 Not a big fan of Wimbledon's style, but still respect their achievements in the past 10 years or so. Joe has got them playing a little less of the big boot style, but still insists on a physical attitude. Done well in the transfer market as he has not had a lot to spend. Too outspoken for the media's liking, and can get into trouble too often for my liking. 16th Leeds United Howard Wilkinson 68/100 I am not a big fan of Mr Wilkinson although he did get Leeds the league championship a few seasons ago. Whines too much and doesn't seem to get the players highly motivated enough. Has brought in class players like McCallister and YeBoah to name but 2, but has signed an awful lot of average players that just don't seem like Premiership quality. Needs to get a few new faces into the squad, but has he got what to takes to persuade them? 17th Bolton Wanderers Roy McFarland 67/100 Roy has been around for a number of years at lesser clubs, and had a stab at sleeping giants Derby County. He spent 12 million or more, but never got the team of stars to gel together. Plays good football, but needs more experience at buying players. It is not enough to buy big, and hope that they get on at your club. Not too good with the press so he doesn't score too well overall with a slightly disappointing 67 percent. I would have liked Bolton sign a better manager, but who... 18th Sheffield Wednesday David Pleat 66/100 A manager with a proven track record, but plays too direct for my liking. Not done anything as yet to sort out the club and he has been there for a while now. Needs to get it done and get Sheff Wed back to former glory as I would like to see them back. Good with a tight budget, but never really got it right at Luton, or in the big time with Tottenham. Third time lucky maybe? 19th Aston Villa Brian Little 52/100 I am not a fan of Mr Little's style or persona. I think that Aston Villa made a terrible mistake getting rid of Ron Atkinson. Brian plays the long ball style of football, and has better class players, so there is no need to employ such an awful style. Seems to lack real leadership and the players don't seem properly motivated either. Didn't fair much better at Leicester either. Not very good with the media also. 20th Southampton Dave Merrington --/100 I hope that Dave Merrington gets Matt Le Tissier playing in the sort of form that gave him so much success last term. Needs a free role behind the 2 strikers to perorm to his best. Also I haven't given this guy a rating as I don't know anything about him. It would be unfair for me to rate him when I don't know what sort of man he is, how he handles the media and what style of football he wants Southampton to play. I assume that he has been brought in as manager from within the club as I can't remember anything being in the paper about a manager from a lower division going to Southampton. His rating will go up with the Le Tissier situation, how he handles it and more importantly if he gets him to stay at The Dell. |1-Final Words... This article was finished on August 18th, and so by the time you read this the facts maybe a little out of date, please take that into consideration. For example, the Kanchelskis affair is still not sorted out, and could go either way, with him going to Everton, or another club, or even staying with Manchester United. This is just one example, and you may find a few more facts that don't quite add up. As I say though I have done this article to the besst of my knowledge at the time, so no moaning about errors please, cheers doods... These ratings may be a little harsh to some of the managers as they have only just taken the reigns of their respective clubs and will need time to settle into them. I have however taken into account their previous track record and how I have rated them in the past. It has to be said that I do indeed have a few favourite managers that I do rate higher than some others (as everyone who has a view on football, and is honest has), but I have tried my best to be as objective as possible, and hope that you all appreciate this. |2- Pex le Sex/QuI |1-Cheers