25 Greatest Managers in Premier League History Ranked
· GiveMeSport
The Premier League's greatest managers of all time have been ranked in order.
The Premier League has had some great managers in recent years. Pep Guardiola stands out as the greatest of his generation, but his dominant Manchester City side has been pushed all the way on a number of occasions, usually by Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool , while Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have also kept them on their toes.
Guardiola is one of only four managers in the Premier League era to have won the league on more than one occasion - so how does he stack up against some of the all-time greats since the league's 1992 rebrand? We've ranked the 20 best managers over the last 32 years of top-flight action...
Although tangible success has been few and far between for Eddie Howe , he's proven there's more to football management than just winning trophies. Forever touted as one of the best up-and-coming managers from England, the 48-year-old made a name for himself at Bournemouth as he led the Cherries from League Two to the Premier League all while on a shoestring budget.
His work on the south coast saw him picked up by Newcastle United, who stuck by the Englishman from 2011 before he resigned in the summer of 2026. In a short space of time, the Magpies transformed from relegation fodder to regular challengers of the top six – in fact, the side from the northeast are now viewed as one of the best sides outside of the big six.
Yes, Jurgen Klopp may have left him a squad packed to the brim with talent, but Arne Slot won the Premier League at a canter in 2024/25 as he became just the fifth manager to win the English top flight (post-1992) at the first time of trying . He got the likes of Mohamed Salah firing on all cylinders and the Dutch tactician filled the shoes of the ever-lovable Klopp relatively routinely.
Something that cannot be denied is how seamlessly he settled into life in England. There were some bumps along the road, of course, and his second season has certainly damaged his legacy a little. Nut Slot's clever eye for detail, combined with his winning mentality, is a certified recipe for success. A fourth placed finish in his sophomore campaign led to his dismissal a year after achieving league glory.
A managerial journeyman of sorts, the old and wily Roy Hodgson is a loveable figure among English football circles – and not just because of his colourful personality but with his tactics and in-the-dugout know-how too. His body at work at Fulham is, perhaps, his most memorable stint while being a manager; he was in charge of the Cottagers when they a) finished seventh and b) reached the Europa League final.
There is much less to scream and shout about when reflecting on his spell at Anfield, but he bounced back in charge of West Bromwich Albion, finishing in the top half of the Premier League. Across two stints, the 78-year-old took charge of Crystal Palace on 200 occasions as well – but his best ever finish came with Blackburn Rovers in 1996/97 when they finished sixth.
Having worked in the Premier League for around nine seasons, Martin O'Neill is a name remembered most by those associated with either Aston Villa or Leicester City. The latter were blessed with the charismatic Northern Irishman's skills between 1995 and 2000 as he guided them to an eighth-placed finish in the concluding stages of his tenure.
He was also successful for the former, too, given that he turned the Villans into regular challengers for the top six of the Premier League. Gareth Barry, Gabriel Abonglahor and the like were at their very best with O'Neill in charge; and his 1.55 points-per game record as Villa Park head honcho is only bettered by Unai Emery, who can consider himself unforunate not to make the list.
Still in management, just north of the border with Celtic, there's an argument that Brendan Rodgers did wonders in laying the framework for Klopp at Liverpool. The Reds came whiskers away from ending their wait for a Premier League title in 2013/14 with Rodgers at the helm – they finished two points short, of course, but the football on display was enough in itself for the 52-year-old to earn the respect of the Anfield faithful.
He also managed Leicester City in the Premier League. Albeit less eventful, he still managed to find some sort of success at the King Power Stadium in the form of winning the FA Cup and qualifying for Europa League football twice in 2020 and 2021.
Gerard Houllier managed two teams in the Premier League, but he is mostly remembered for his time in charge of Liverpool. The Reds finished in the top four of the Premier League in four of the six seasons that Houllier was in charge between 1998 and 2004.
Houllier's best season as a manager in England was undoubtedly the 2000-01 campaign, when Liverpool won a cup treble consisting of the FA Cup, the League Cup and the UEFA Cup. Liverpool also won the Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup in 2001, and Houllier was subsequently named as the manager in UEFA's Team of the Year.
Sam Allardyce has managed more Premier League clubs than any other coach, having taken charge of a grand total of nine. The former England manager gained a reputation as a long-ball manager over his time in the top flight, but that is far from the truth.
Allardyce was one of the first managers in England to really pay attention to statistics and analytics – something he picked up on during his time as a player for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the 1980s. Allardyce realised that Americans were generally paying a lot more attention to detail in their sports and, when he became a manager, he decided to do the same.
His stats-based approach may not have led to his teams playing eye-catching football, but it certainly led to success on the pitch, with Bolton and West Ham in particular reaping the benefits of his approach.
Kevin Keegan took over at Newcastle in 1992, with the club on the brink of relegation to the third tier of English football. The Magpies avoided the drop and the following season they were promoted to the Premier League as Division One champions. In Newcastle's first season back in the Premier League, Keegan guided them to a third-place finish, before a sixth-place finish the following campaign.
The 1995-96 season is the campaign that many remember Keegan's Newcastle for, as they blew a 12-point lead at the top of the table to lose the title to Manchester United. On the way to doing so, Keegan came out with his famous "I would love it if we beat them" comment about Sir Alex Ferguson's United, which has gone down in Premier League folklore.
Sir Bobby Robson is undoubtedly one of the greatest English managers of all time. Robson, who managed the Three Lions between 1982 and 1990, won trophies with Ipswich Town, PSV Eindhoven, Porto and Barcelona but there won't be many fan-bases that remember him more fondly than Newcastle's.
Newcastle were bottom of the Premier League when a 66-year-old Robson took over from Ruud Gullit in 1999, but he secured back-to-back mid-table finishes, before achieving Champions League qualification in 2002 and 2003. Newcastle fans fondly remember Robson for implementing an attacking style and bringing joy back to the club after Gullit's dull, brief tenure.
Tottenham made one of the biggest managerial upgrades of all time when they replaced Tim Sherwood with Argentine boss Mauricio Pochettino in 2014. Pochettino may be yet to win a trophy in England, but that doesn't make his achievements any less impressive.
Spurs recorded top-three finishes in three successive seasons between 2016 and 2018, while also reaching the final of the Champions League in 2019. His most recent spell in the Premier League was a topsy-turvy spell at Chelsea, with the Argentine leaving after just one term at Stamford Bridge . Nevertheless, he remains one of the better managers in the league's rich history.