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Tottenham Hotspur has one of the most recognizable brands in all of football and has been a staple of English club play for well over a century. Though the club hasn’t enjoyed a long list of Premier League titles like some of their counterparts, Tottenham has been one of the more lucrative squads in Europe.

Throughout its history, Tottenham has had a long list of managers with a wide range of success. Some were able to break through and win the top league title in England, and even those who didn’t still won several trophies and a lot of matches during their time. Let’s look at the best of the best, ranking the top five managers in Spurs history. Before we start the list, some of the managers who just missed the cut include Jose Mourinho, Frank Brettell, Arthur Turner, and Terry Venables.

Mauricio Pochettino

Argentine Mauricio Pochettino spent 15 years as a professional player, spending the majority of his time with Newell’s Old Boys and Espanyol. After wrapping up his career in 2006, Pochettino took a couple of years off before landing the managerial job at his old stomping grounds of Espanyol. After finding success, he was picked up by Southampton for a year, then was named Spurs manager in 2014, a position he held for five years.

Surprisingly, Pochettino didn’t win any major trophies during his time with Spurs despite having the best win percentage for any manager with 100 matches (54.27%). Pochettino did come close, though, as Spurs finished as runners-up in the 2015 Football League Cup and 2019 UEFA Champions League. 

Arthur Rowe

Arthur Rowe is one of the club legends for Tottenham, spending his entire professional playing career with the club and inventing the push-and-run playstyle. Rowe played for a decade with the Suprs, and after he retired in 1939 went on to become the manager for Chelmsford City for a few years. In 1949, Rowe was named Tottenham’s manager, marking his triumphant return.

Rowe is the first of two managers on the list that didn’t compile a winning percentage above 50, but he did have several honours come his way. Rowe was the first manager (and one of just two) to lead Tottenham to a top league title in England when his squad won the 1950-51 First Division. Rowe had won the Second Division the previous year, and he added an FA Charity Shield in 1951.

Keith Burkinshaw

English defenceman Keith Burkinshaw had lengthy stints as a player with Workington and Scunthorpe United throughout the 1950s and 1960s, spending his final years as a player-manager. Once retiring from play in 1968, Burkinshaw stepped away from football for several years before he was named the manager of Tottenham and he held the position for eight years.

Burkinshaw is the other manager who had a winning percentage under 50, but his clubs came through when he needed them the most. As a manager, Burkinshaw won a pair of FA Cups, an FA Charity Shield, and a UEFA Cup. After parting ways with Tottenham, Burkinshaw held seven more managerial positions but retired from full-time action in 1994.

John Cameron

We have to pull up the very early days of Tottenham for our next manager, who spent time as a player with the club from 1898 to 1907. John Cameron had previously played for Everton, and during his playing career with Spurs was also the manager until 1907. Afterward, Cameron managed Dresdner SC and Ayr United. 

There are several managers who have a higher winning percentage than John Cameron, but only one of them has also managed at least 100 matches. In fact, Cameron is second-all-time in matches managed with 570, and his squads won 296 of them. Despite all of those wins, Cameron won just one trophy with the 1901 FA Cup. However, there weren’t many established trophies at the time, as the club had no problem winning under Cameron.

Bill Nicholson

If you’re discussing the top legend in Spurs history overall, Bill Nicholson would likely take the number one spot, as well. Nicholson spent essentially his entire playing career with Tottenham, and the midfielder had over 300 appearances. Upon his retirement in 1955, Nicholson took a coaching course so that he could return to Tottenham as the club’s manager, doing so in 1958 after serving time as an assistant.

Tottenham was the only club that Nicholson managed in his career, spending 16 seasons in that role. The list of accomplishments during that time is quite long with 11 total trophies. Nicholson’s Spurs won a First Division title to go along with three FA Cups, two League Cups, three Charity Shields, a UEFA Cup, and a UEFA Winners’/Champions League Cup.

Manchester City Football Club is one of the oldest clubs in England after having been founded in 1880 as St. Mark’s. Over time, there have been stretches where Man City has struggled, while at other times the club has been the very best in the country.

Today, we want to honor those managers that led Manchester City through those days of being at the top. Out of the dozens of managers that Man City has had, these five rank as the best. Before we start the list, some of the managers who just missed the cut include Les McDowall, Ernest Mangnall, Peter Hodge, Tony Book, and Sam Omerod.

Wilf Wild

You have to go pretty deep into Man City history to remember Wilf Wild, who got his start as part of the coaching staff with the club back in 1920. For more than a decade, Wild was an assistant who served under managers David Ashworth and Ernest Mangnall, and for most of his pre-managerial days was a secretary in charge of the admin side of operations. Peter Hodge was the last manager for Man City while Wild was still working in the front office, and he assumed managerial duties in 1932.

Wild held the position for 14 years and had a strong showing from the get-go as the squad advanced to the FA Cup Finals. Wild was the manager for 352 matches with Man City winning 158 of those. During his tenure, the club won a Charity Shield, an FA Cup, and one First Division Title. After retiring in 1946, he stuck around as secretary until passing away in 1950 at 57 years of age.

Joe Mercer

Joe Mercer had a legendary career as a player, spending 14 years as a midfielder for Everton and another nine for Arsenal. Mercer made 433 professional appearances and was briefly on the English National Team. He retired in 1955 after 23 years of playing professionally, and immediately went into a managerial role with Sheffield United. After three years there, he spent six managing Aston Villa before being named Manchester City’s manager in 1965.

Mercer has the second-most trophies in club history, winning one each of the major titles throughout Europe. This includes winning the English Premier League, the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the Community Shield. He’s the only manager to win the Winners’Cup/Champions League, as well.

Roberto Mancini

Many will remember Italian native Roberto Mancini’s career from his playing days, most of which were spent with Sampdoria where he scored over 130 goals. He finished his career with Lazio and Leicester City, then became a manager after retiring in 2001. He took over Fiorentina and Lazio for brief stints, then had a four-year stretch with Inter Milan. In 2009, Mancini became Manchester City’s manager for four years.

Mancini had one of the top winning percentages in Manchester City’s history at 59.16% thanks to 113 wins in 191 matches. Mancini’s clubs won an FA Cup, Community Shield, and a Premier League title under his tutelage. He was relieved of his duties to make way for the number two manager (you’ll sense a pattern here).

Manuel Pellegrini

Chilean Manuel Pellegrini spent his entire playing career with Universidad de Chile, making 315 appearances with the club. After he retired in 1986, he managed the team briefly and went on to take a long list of managerial jobs including Real Madrid from 2009 to 2010. In 2013, he finally settled in as he became Manchester City’s manager, finding success in his three years with the club.

Out of all of the managers who have at least 100 matches under their belt, Pellegrini has the second-best winning percentage at 59.88%, winning 100 of his 167. Pellegrini’s Man City squads won the English Premier League as well as two League Cups. Pellegrini left in early 2016 to pave the way for the number one manager.

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola had a fine playing career in the 1990s with Barcelona and retired in 2006 to rejoin the squad as a manager. He took over the Barcelona B squad in 2007 before being promoted the next year. Guardiola could be considered the top manager in the history of multiple major clubs, as he had strong runs with Barcelona and Bayern Munich before joining Manchester City in 2016.

Prior to Guardiola, no manager had won multiple top league champions in England. He wasted little time, however, winning the Premier League in his second season and then winning three more over the next four years. On top of that, Guardiola’s squads have won the FA Cup, several EFL Cups, and multiple FA Community Shields.

Arsenal is one of the English Premier League clubs that has a history that extends back to the 19th century. In that time, Arsenal has a record number of FA Cup titles and more than a dozen league titles in England. Along the way, there have been more than two dozen men in charge of leading Arsenal as the club’s manager.

How do those managers stack up, though? We took a look at the records and honours that each manager had and ranked the top five in club history. The number one spot won’t come as a surprise, though the others might be debated. Before we start the list, some of the notable Arsenal managers who just missed the cut include Bertie Mee, Harry Bradshaw, Terry Neill, and Mikel Arteta.

George Allison

These days, you don’t see many football managers at the highest levels of the sport who didn’t have professional playing careers of their own. In the early 20th century, though, it was fairly common, and one of Arsenal’s greatest managers never played as a pro. George Allison joined Arsenal’s front office in the 1900s and eventually became a member of the board of directors. Following the death of Herbert Chapman, Allison took over as manager and held the position for 13 years.

Allison is the only manager on the list to not reach 300 matches, but he accomplished a lot in his time with Arsenal. In both 1935 and 1938, his squad won the First Division while he also added an FA Cup and pair of Charity Shield titles. For Allison, it was his first and only managerial job.

Tom Whittaker

Aldershot native Thom Whittaker was an Arsenal man through and through, starting his playing career with the club in 1919. Over six years, Whittaker had 64 appearances playing wing half, scoring a pair of goals. After his playing days, Whittaker became a trainer with Arsenal and worked the sidelines for more than two decades. In 1947, Whittaker finally got his chance to be the club’s manager.

Whittaker ranks fourth all-time in Arsenal matches managed with 430. Winning 47.21 percent of his matches, Whittaker was able to take home some impressive hardware. This includes winning the First Division twice (1948 and 1953), as well as the Charity Shield in those same years. In 1950, Whittaker’s squad won the FA Cup.

Herbert Chapman

While Whittaker spent pretty much his entire adult life with Arsenal, that wasn’t the case for Herbert Chapman. During his playing career, Chapman had 14 different stints, none of which were with Arsenal. In 1907, Chapman became a player-manager with Northampton Town, then retired from play in 1909. Chapman left the club and managed both Leeds City and Huddersfield Town before landing his final job with Arsenal from 1925 to 1934.

Chapman is just one of a handful of managers with over 400 Arsenal matches under his belt, and the club won 204 of them. Chapman’s squads won two First Division Championships, three Charity Shields, and the 1930 FA Cup. His winning percentage might not be the highest, but he was a true innovator of the game.

George Graham

Scottish star George Graham was one of the top players in England during the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably with Arsenal. Though he had stints with the likes of Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Manchester United, a majority of his time was spent with the Gunners. After managing the Millwall following his retirement, Graham was named the Arsenal manager in 1986, holding the job for nearly a decade.

Graham’s 460 matches managed is third in club history, and Arsenal came away with 225 victories in those matches. Under Graham, Arsenal won the First Division twice in three years, while also winning the 1993 FA Cup and two Football League Cups. Perhaps his most notable achievement was winning the 1994 UEFA Winners’ Cup.

Arsene Wenger

Without a doubt, Frenchman Arsene Wenger is the greatest manager in Arsenal’s history and holds just about every one of the club’s managerial records. Wenger played professionally for a dozen years, then managed Nancy, Monaco, and Nogya Grampus Eight during the 1980s and 1990s, signing with Arsenal in 1996. Wenger would end up sticking around for more than two decades, retiring in 2018.

Wenger was the manager for 1,235 matches, winning 707 of those for a 57.25 winning percentage, ranking him first all-time for managers with at least 200 matches. He has nearly three times as many wins as any other manager, and Wenger’s teams won the Premier League thrice, while taking home seven FA Cups and seven Charity/Community Shields.

When you think of Spanish football, FC Barcelona is the first club that comes to mind for a lot of people. There have been some fantastic players who made their way through the club over the years, and also plenty of managers who have found success at the highest level. Though Barca tends to not stick to one manager for too long, there have still been some all-time greats.

Coming up with a list of the five best Barca managers isn’t easy as there have been more than 70 in the club’s history that dates back to the start of the 20th century. However, we feel that these five stand out above the rest. Before we start the list, some of the more notable managers who just missed the cut include Frank Rijkaard, Enrique Fernandez, Helenio Herrera, and Louis van Gaal.

Jack Greenwell

There are several managers on the list who had spent time playing for Barcelona in their younger years, and that includes Jack Greenwell. Greenwell made 88 appearances, and for his final three years, was serving as a player-manager. He retired from play in 1916 but continued to be the Barca manager for seven more years, giving him a total of a decade in charge.

Greenwell is the only manager on the list to never win La Liga, but that’s only because it was established after he had left. Greenwell won the equivalent that predated La Liga (Campionat de Catalunya) four times during his career, as well as the Copa del Rey twice. 

Ferdinand Daucik

Born in what was then Austria-Hungary, Ferdinand Daucik had a long playing career with KFC Komamo, 1. CsSK Bratislava, and Slavia Prague before retiring in 1942. He then began his managerial career which had a whopping 25 different stints. Among those stops was Barcelona, with Daucik serving as the manager from 1950-54 before heading to Athletic Bilbao, and after coaching the Hungarian national team.

Daucik led Barca to three Copa del Rey titles in addition to a pair of La Liga titles. His other honours include two Copa Eva Duarte wins and a Latin Cup. Daucik managed the club through 148 matches, winning 89 of them and losing just 40. He didn’t have the best exit from the club, but did produce results.

Luis Enrique

Spanish native Luis Enrique just missed being the youngest man on the list by four months thanks to the number one manager. Enrique was a fantastic player for both Real Madrid and Barcelona with his career lasting from 1988 to 2004. Once he retired, Enrique took some time away from football, then returned to manage the Barcelona B team. After stints leading Roma and Celta, Enrique was hired to manage the top Barca squad from 2014 to 2017.

Though he didn’t have as many matches as some of the others on the list, Enrique was a winner. In 181 Barcelona matches, Enrique won 138 of them, good for 76.24% Enrique’s squads also won the Copa del Rey three times and La Liga twice in addition to a UEFA Champions League title.

Johan Cruyff

Born in Amsterdam, Johan Cruyff began his professional career in his home country, playing for Ajax for nearly a decade before heading to Barcelona. He had 143 appearances and 48 goals with Barca and continued playing for six years after he left. Following his 1984 retirement, Cruyff managed Ajax for three years, then took on the managerial spot with Barcelona from 1988 to 1996.

Cruyff became the first manager in Barcelona’s history to win La Liga four times. On top of that, he took home the Spanish Super Cup three times while also adding one trophy each in the Copa del Rey, European Cup, and European Super Cup. In his 430 Barcelona matches, Cruyff’s squads won 250 of them.

Pep Guardiola

As a defensive midfielder, Pep Guardiola was a fantastic player with Barcelona throughout the entirety of the 1990s. He spent the beginning of the 21st century with short stints in Brescia, Roma, Al-Ahli, and Dorados. After retiring, Guardiola immediately got into management and took over the Barcelona B squad in 2007 and 2008. In that second year, he was promoted to the top squad’s managerial spot and held the position for four years.

Guardiola managed Barcelona for 247 matches and put up an impressive 72.47 winning percentage. Despite being a tenure on the shorter side, Guardiola has more honours than any other Barca manager with 14. This includes winning La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup three times, the UEFA Champions League and Super Cup twice, and even a pair of FIFA Club World Cup titles.

No team has spent more time as the best football club in England than Manchester United. Dating back to the early 20th century, Man U has been a premier club and has achieved unparalleled success in just about every decade save for the 1970s and 1980s. Because of its long history and varying success, there have been over 20 men to manage Manchester United, with many of them winning several honours.

Out of those men, though, which ones had the most success? Let’s take a look at Manchester United’s illustrious history and rank the top five managers of all time. Some of the managers who just missed the cut include Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, and Tommy Docherty.

Ernest Mangnall

While the rest of the managers on the list had professional careers as players, that wasn’t the case for Ernest Mangnall, the third manager in Manchester United history. Prior to his time with Man U, Mangnall had managed Burnley for three years at the start of the century and became the only man to manage both Manchester clubs after he left for Man City in 1912, sticking there for a dozen years.

Mangnall is third all-time in matches managed with 373, and Manchester United won 202 of those. His 54.16% winning rate is among the best in club history, and he added a pair of Charity Shields and an FA Cup to go along with his two First Division Titles. 

Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson started his youth career with Aston Villa but played his entire senior career with Oxford United from 1959 to 1971. After retiring, Atkinson managed Kettering Town, Cambridge United, and West Bromwich Albion. He then joined Manchester United in 1981 and stayed with the club for five years.

Exactly half of Atkinson’s 292 matches with Manchester United ended in a victory, while only 67 of them ended in a defeat. Atkinson didn’t win the top league title with Man U, but he was able to propel the club to a pair of FA Cups and the Charity Shield. He then went on to manage seven more clubs during the 1980s and 1990s before retiring at the end of the century.

Jose Mourinho

Portuguese native Jose Mourinho has managed some of the biggest clubs in Europe, though he did have to start small. After a seven-year playing career as a professional, Mourinho managed Benfica for a year then moved on to Uniao de Leiria and Porto before signing on as Chelsea’s manager in 2004. Following stops with Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and another stint with Chelsea, Mourinho became Manchester United’s manager in 2016.

For managers that had at least 100 matches, Mourinho ranks second in Manchester United’s history in win percentage. In 144 matches, Mourinho won 84, good enough for 58.33 percent. Though his time was brief, Mourinho was able to win some significant trophies including the League Cup, UEFA Europa League, and Community Shield.

Matt Busby

You have to go back into the earlier days of Manchester United to find the second-best manager in club history. Sir Matt Busby played for Man City and Liverpool before retiring in 1945, heading right into his managerial career as he took the Manchester United job the same year. Busby led the Man U in the post-World War II days and all the way through the 1960s.

There are only two managers with at least 375 matches managed, and those two went well over 1,000. The first is Busby, who in his two stints managed 1,141 matches, 576 of which ended with a Manchester United victory. Busby’s trophy case includes five Charity Shields, a European Cup, two FA Cups, and five First Division titles (the top English trophy prior to the Premier League).

Alex Ferguson

For most clubs, there would be a debate as to who the top manager of all time is, but that’s not the case for Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson is far and away the top producer, though it took quite some time for him to land the job. After playing professionally for 17 years with six different clubs, Ferguson spent 14 years managing clubs like St Mirren and Aberdeen, landing the Man U gig in 1986.

Ferguson held the position all the way to 2013 and holds just about every managerial record imaginable. Ferguson managed 1,500 matches, winning just under 60 percent of them with 895 victories. Under his tutelage, the Red Devils won a pair of UEFA Champions League titles, four League Cups, five FA Cups, 10 Community Shields, and most importantly, 13 Premier League titles. No other manager comes close to having that trophy case.

In football, a lot of clubs have a short memory when it comes to the success of their managers. Despite winning a long list of honours, managers can get replaced in an instant if the squad starts to show any sign of weakness. There are a few prestigious clubs that have seemingly gone through managers like they don’t cost anything, and Chelsea is among them.

As one of the top clubs in the English Premier League, Chelsea has a high standard when it comes to its managers. If one isn’t living up to those expectations, the next man will come in. Out of the many leaders that Chelsea has had, who ranks at the top? Here are our picks for the five best managers in Chelsea history.

Claudio Ranieri

There are few people in the sport of football that have a resume that’s as long as Claudio Ranieri’s. The Roman played for four clubs during his professional career and has had around two dozen different stints as manager. Some of his more notable stops include Leicester City, Inter Milan, Roma, and, of course, Chelsea. Ranieri led the club from 2000 to 2004, nearly smack dab in the middle of his job history.

Ranieri was just one shy of managing 200 matches for Chelsea, but he still ranks eighth all-time in Chelsea history in terms of matches. He also boasted a solid winning percentage at 54 percent, claiming victory in 107 matches. However, Ranieri struggled to get Chelsea over the hump as the squad didn’t win any of the major honours, but did have consistency.

Carlo Ancelotti

After spending a 16-year career as a player with Parma, Roma, and AC Milan, Carlo Ancelotti began his managerial career in 1995 with Reggiana. After a brief period, he went to Parma for a couple of years, then found his way to Juventus and AC Milan, spending nearly a decade with the latter. Finally, Ancelotti joined Chelsea in 2009, managing the club in three different years.

Ancelotti managed just 109 matches during his Chelsea career, but had plenty of success in that time. He won 61 percent of his matches over that two-year span, which puts him third all-time in club history for managers with at least 100 matches. Ancelotti won the FA Community Shield in 2009, then followed that up in 2010 with an FA Cup title while Chelsea finished at the top of the English Premier League.

Antonio Conte

Italian native Carlo Ancelotti was one of the finest players in Serie A throughout the 1990s, spending more than a dozen years with Juventus until his retirement in 2004. Conte then managed a slew of teams during the late 2000s and throughout the 2010s, including Arezzo, Bari, and a return to Juventus. After coaching the Italian national team, Conte was hired by Chelsea to become the club’s manager.

Conte is just ahead of Ancelotti on the list of winning percentage for managers with at least 100 matches, sitting at second with 65 percent of his matches won. Conte won 69 of his 106 matches, some of which were big-time matches. In 2017, Conte’s Chelsea squad won the Premier League, and in 2018 won the FA Cup.

Dave Sexton

While most of the managers on the list were only around for a couple of years before moving on from Chelsea, Dave Sexton had one of the longer runs as the leader. Sexton spent the 1950s as a professional player, and after managing Leyton Orient for one season, became the Chelsea manager starting in 1967, holding the job for seven years.

There were some managers that held the position for many years without a positive winning percentage, but Sexton was the best of the bunch. Sexton managed 371 matches, winning 164 of them and losing 100 on the dot. Sexton was able to win the 1970 FA Cup and 1971 European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Jose Mourinho

The only member of the list to hail from Portugal is also the top manager in Chelsea history: Jose Mourinho. Mourinho began his managerial career in 2000 with Benfica, then led Uniao de Leiria and Porto before getting hired by Chelsea. He had two stints as manager, with the first coming from 2004 to 2007 while the second was from 2013 to 2015.

Mourinho managed in over 320 matches and won over 200 of them. His first stint was good enough to place him at number one all-time for win percentage by a Chelsea manager while his second stint was still successful at a 59% win rate. Under Mourinho, Chelsea won the Premier League three times (2005, 2006, and 2015), three Football League Cups, the FA Community Shield, and the FA Cup in 2007.