Sir Alex Ferguson voted greatest manager of all time

Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson has been voted greatest manager of all time by World Soccer

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been voted the greatest manager of all time by World Soccer. Regular readers of the blog will remember that less than three weeks ago we questioned the negative approach towards Ferguson’s career at United, with Brain Glanville – a well respected and highly insightful journalist – focusing more so on previous European Cup winners and the 99 questions posed to Ferguson by former shareholders of Magnier and McManus. Glanville indeed voted for Ferguson.

The summer issue takes a totally different viewpoint, with the great man just beating Rinus Michels by three votes to win the greatest manager of all time.


The panel is made up of mainly journalist, however there are a number of ex-footballers who also voted. Fredi Bobic (the Ex-Germany forward), Packie Bonner (the Ex-Ireland goalkeeper) and ex Liveprool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek are all on the panel and all included Ferguson within their votes. Unsurprisingly, Patrick Barclay – who did an interview with us back in 2010 – did not vote for Fergie, something that I’m not sure is based on footballing qualities. Below is a list with votes of the top five managers:

1) Sir Alex Ferguson (49)
2) Rinus Michels (46)
3) Jose Mourinho (21)
4) Helenio Herrera (19
5) Josep Guardiola (18)

Sir Matt Busby received one vote from Nick Bidwell of World Soccer Germany.

Other United players to be included within the votes but sadly didn’t make the final Xi are listed below and I’ve included the categories with the top voted players:

Goalkeeper
Top: Lev Yashin (31)
– Schmeichel (6)
– Van der Sar (2)

Full backs
Top: Paulo Maldini (48) & Cafu (24)
– No United players included

Centre backs
Top: Franz Beckenbauer (68) & Bobby Moore (23)
– Paul McGrath (3)

Midfield
Top: Diego Maradona (64), Johan Cruyff (58), Zinedine Zidane (28) & Alfredo Di Stefano (24)
– George Best (12)
– Cristiano Ronaldo (7)
– Bobby Charlton (5)
– Ryan Giggs (2)
– Roy Keane (1)
– Bryan Robson (1)

Attack
Top: Pele (56) & Lionel Messi (46)
– No United players included

How would you have voted if you were included in the panel? Please drop your suggestions in the comments below. You can read all the votes of the panel over at World Soccer.

2 Comments on Sir Alex Ferguson voted greatest manager of all time

  1. I find this all a little perplexing, whilst there is no doubt that on the home front Fergie is the best manager of British club (So Far), he was a relative failure to Bob Paisley on the European scene, Fergie himself admitted it was one area where he had failed at United.

    The thing is it’s not just about trophy hauls though, it’s about his man management style and the respect he got from players, even after they left United, Peter Schmiechel asking him if it was OK for him to sign for City ? and even Beckham phoning and getting the OK to talk about life under Fergie in a TV interview, it even comes down to his ethics of playing youth giving it a decent chance, and having the stomach to tell a player when his time is up, that all creates respect.

    Respect is not something you get from winning trophies, you have to earn it, and you earn it by being good to the people who matter, and who respect you.

  2. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Fergie admit he was a failure in Europe. Certainly he admitted that he should have done better but that’s a long way from admitting he’s a failure. Two European Cups, two Cup Winners Cups and two further European Cup Finals (in which he was beaten by arguably one of the best teams of all time) doesn’t sound like failure to me.

    I’d agree that he should have had more success though. There’s is a distinction though.

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