So, the time has come to reveal my top five Premier League managers of the season.
Whether you agree or not, I think they make a compelling case.
So, in no particular order:
Erik ten Hag – Manchester United
This time 12 months ago, English football’s biggest club was hopelessly adrift and in desperate need of leadership on and off the pitch. The team’s performances were regularly shameful and a number of its players embarrassed themselves.
It all ended with the team finishing sixth, a massive 35 points behind champions Manchester City.
That has not been allowed to continue under the management of Erik ten Hag who witnessed a disastrous start to 2022-23– they lost their first two games of the season for the first time in 30 years (the latter a drubbing at Brentford) – and quickly acted.
United are now back in the Champions League following a fine third-placed finish (a position few saw coming), have won the League Cup and were runners-up in the FA Cup.
It was quite a turnaround and this tangible progress means United are on the up, although there remains a big gap to the top and now need to back their manager this summer. A new owner would help.
Roberto De Zerbi – Brighton
There is a phrase I learned of last week which is referred to as ‘doing a Brighton’.
The Brighton’s model appears to be the ideal example of how to operate a club when you are not blessed with untold wealth.
In recent years, their impressive scouting structure has seen them identify targets in countries where they feel they can gain greater value for money than shopping around in Europe.
Look no further than Moisés Caicedo, Liverpool-bound Alexis Mac Allister and their highly promising teenagers Julio Enciso and Ewan Ferguson.
They have delivered plenty of other stand-out stars too.
That the south coast club is likely to lose at least a few of those players this summer – less than a year after being unable to keep hold onto other key men to bigger fish (in both the summer and January transfer window) – is a real shame after a record-breaking campaign which means they will play in Europe for the first time next season.
If their progress under the shrewd Graham Potter, since recruited and sacked by Chelsea, was laudable, their development under Roberto De Zerbi has been even more so and he deserves all the plaudits.
If Manchester City do not win the Treble this weekend, De Zerbi will be my manager of the year.
Pep Guardiola – Manchester City
Of course, whether that achievement is secured or not, City boss Pep Guardiola needs to be included on this list.
Yes, City’s wealth is unmatched and unparalleled by anyone else and there remains a huge question mark about how they have reached this stage.
The Premier League’s investigation into City’s internal affairs means the sword of justice hangs over the club and, if proven, an array of charges threaten to undermine the entire edifice of English football’s dominant power of the last decade, not to mention call into question the entire basis and motivation of the nation-state club ownership model.
For now, though, an array of Premier League highlights has led to a fifth league title in six years and a league and FA Cup double which cannot be dismissed.
I addition, to those Liverpool supporters and wider pundits who, after a slow start in the Community Shield, wondered if his arrival would prove a mistake, no-one is questioning double player of the year Erling Haaland any more.
Thomas Frank – Brentford
Ok hands up? Who thought Brentford would suffer from second-season syndrome?
Not a chance.
At no point did the Bees look like going down.
They thrashed Manchester United in August, proved too hot for Liverpool to handle in the New Year, won at Spurs on the penultimate weekend of the campaign (meaning they have now beaten all of the established top six since promotion two years ago) and finished the season as the only side to defeat the champions home and away.
Defying the SBOTOP Premier League betting odds and the many doubters, Thomas Frank has, quite simply, worked wonders on a limited budget and limited income from gate receipts.
Gary O’Neill – Bournemouth
There is one club which receives even smaller attendances (and gate receipts) than Brentford that completes my list, although my word Marco Silva at Fulham pushed him close, and that is Gary O’Neil at Bournemouth.
The low point of their season came very early on.
They had already lost 4-0 to City and 3-0 to Arsenal when they were hammered 9-0 by Liverpool at Anfield in August. After that drubbing, manager Scott Parker expressed his concern that the team was ‘ill-equipped’ and not ready for the Premier League.
‘I feel sorry for the fans and the players,’ he said. Three days later, the former England man was out of a job.
O’Neil was appointed as caretaker and it looked like the 39-year-old would keep the hotseat warm until a long-term replacement was found. Yet, after an unexpected upsurge in form, the Cherries were unbeaten in O’Neil’s first six games in charge and he was given the job on a permanent basis, signing an 18-month contract just before the World Cup.
The gamble didn’t seem to be working when the club went on a run of seven games without a win after the World Cup, and they were rock bottom in early March.
However, notable victories over Champions League-chasing Liverpool (in the return game) and Tottenham proved vital and wins in April against Leeds, Southampton and Leicester – the three sides that went down – ensured they were safe long before the end of the season.
To have taken a team that was essentially a dead cert for relegation to safety is a huge achievement for anyone, let alone one in his first job as a manager.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
