Special Ones

Jose Mourinho is now one of the most successful managers in modern football. While winning trophies will always ensure a place in the public eye, it is Mourinho’s personality that truly grabs our attention. Tab Sports lists some managers who are known for their actions off the field as much as their success on it.

Jose Mourinho

Rated as the 16th greatest manager in history by the Times, Mourinho has the ego to go with his success. The portugeezer refers to himself as the “special one” and has a unique talent for rubbing opposing managers up the wrong way. Whether he’s calling Arsene Wenger a “voyeur” or accusing Frank Rijkaard of influencing referees, Mourinho always has a way of distracting the opposition from their game. As for his views on players, Mourinho has compared academy players to Melons and Didier Drogba and co. to eggs.

Brian Clough OBE

The greatest manager England never had and “Cloughie” made sure everyone knew it. The subject of a best-selling book and film, Clough’s achievements included turning a stalling Derby County side rooted in League two into league one champions, and winning back-to-back European cups with Nottingham Forest .It was not Clough’s success that earned him the disdain of his fellow managers and the FA, but his arguably justified arrogance. When asked how his career rated compared to his contemporaries he replied, “I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one.” The clip below is a classic Clough.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_EHlzd63R8

Alex Ferguson

“Fergie” is outspokenness personified. For example, when debating with journalists about the qualities of Juan Sebastian Veron he wasn’t afraid of calling them “fucking idiots”. Fergie’s most famous incident has to be giving Beckham the “hairdryer”. Many of his former players talk of the “Ferguson hairdryer” treatment but Beckham was on the receiving end of a particularly vicious outburst. Manchester United had just been knocked out of the FA cup by Arsenal and Fergie lashed out at a discarded football boot in the dressing room. The flying boot struck the England midfielder in the face and he required two butterfly stitches to dress the wound. It is believed that Ferguson had not intended to harm anyone in the incident and in 2007 he blamed previous protégé Mark Hughes for instigating the hairdryer myth.

Glenn Hoddle

During his playing career Hoddle was hailed as a midfield magician and when he got round to managing, his connection with the mystical still remained strong. For instance, he included supposed faith healer Eileen Drewery in the England coaching staff for the 1998 world cup. The press had a field day and dubbed the team the “Hod squad.” Hoddle’s bonkers views led to his being sacked by the FA. During an interview with the Times he suggested that disabled people were paying for the sins of past lives. He stated that “You and I have been two legs and two hands and half-decent brains,” whereas “some people have not been born like that. The karma is working from another life time.