Is Sir Alex really the greatest manager of all time?

Fergie and Guardiola

Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to retire at the end of the season got us thinking how he compares with other managers in the pantheon of all time greats.
He won 38 trophies in a 26-year spell at Old Trafford. That included 13 league titles, two Champions Leagues, five FA Cups and four League Cups. Prior to that Fergie tasted glory in Scotland, first with St Mirren where he won the first division title in 1977, and then Aberdeen, with three Scottish Premier Division titles, four Scottish Cups, three League Cups, and that famous European Cup winners Cup victory over Real Madrid in 1983.
There can be little doubt that he is very high on the list, but who else can lay claim to be "the greatest manager of all time"? How do the rest measure up to Sir Alex, and how does he measure up to them?

Let's look at the statistics, and you can make your own minds up...

Jose Mourinho

Jose M

The Portugese began his coaching career as a translator under Sir Bobby Robson at Barcelona. Since then, the self-proclaimed "Special One" guided Porto to two domestic titles, as well as the 2004 Champions League. He followed that by winning two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups with Chelsea, Serie A twice with Inter Milan, once again claiming the UEFA Champions League, and a Coppa Italia. Success in Spain quickly followed as he led Real Madrid to the Liga title in 2012, as well as the Copa Del Rey in 2011.

Bill Shankly

Bill Shanky

A Scot from the same mould as Ferguson, Shankly led Liverpool to the Second Division, and rebuilt the team into a major force in English football. Shankly won three First Division titles, two FA Cups, four Charity Shields and one UEFA Cup.

Bob Paisley

Bob Paisley

Paisley carried on the famous "boot-room" legacy as successor to Shankly and in his nine years in charge, won a trophy every season. The Reds were League champions on six occasions, won three League Cups, one UEFA Cup, one European Super Cup, five Charity Shields and the cherry on the cake, Paisley led Liverpool to European Cup glory on three separate occasions, one more than Fergie. Paisley remains the only coach to have won that title three times.

Brian Clough

Brian Clough

Unique in his own very special way, Clough will long be remembered for leading Nottingham Forest to back-to-back European Cup wins. Alongside that he added a first Division title, four League Cups and a European Super Cup. Prior to that he led Midlands rivals Derby County to a first and second division title.

Jock Stein

Jock Stein

Stein became the first British manager to win a European Cup when he led Cetic to victory over Inter Milan in 1967. Remarkably and uniquely, all of the players were born within 30 miles of Glasgow. Alongside that, Stein added 10 Scottish League titles, eight Scottish Cups and six League Cups.
Outside Britain, there are many deemed worthy to be included. Here is just a handful...

Giovanni Trapattoni

Giovanni Trapattoni

Ireland boss Trapattoni has overseen seven Serie A titles, six with Juventus and one with Inter. He's also won the German, Portugese and Austrian titles with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Red Bull Salzburg respectively. With Juve he also won the European Cup and the UEFA Cup, as well as the UEFA Cup winners' Cup twice. Add a UEFA Cup with Inter, and the German Cup and League Cup with Bayern and you have one outstanding CV.

Fabio Capello

Fabio Cappelo

Like his countryman, Capello now presides over a national team in Russia, having spent time as England coach. Domestically his record is exceptional - four Serie A titles and three Supercoppa with AC Milan as well as a Champions League and a European Super Cup. Capello won La Liga twice with Real Madrid and with Roma he won Serie A and a Supercoppa.

Ottmar Hitzfeld

Ottmar Hitzfeld

The German has 18 major titles to his name as a coach and is one of only three managers to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League with two different clubs, ironically this year’s two finalists, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The current Switzerland coach won the Bundesliga with Bayern on five occasions and twice with Dortmund.

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola

The jury is still out on Pep – let’s see what he does with Bayern without Lionel Messi – but the manner in which he turned Barca into the dominant club in world football was exceptional, not least because of the style of play. Spain have reaped the benefits of his club management, which changed the way coaches approached the game. Oh, and with two European Cups he did in three years what Fergie needed more than 20 to accomplish.

Manuel Jose de Jesus

Manuel Jose de Jesus

Undoubtedly the least well known of the 10, the Portuguese has been hugely successful in African football, winning the Champions League a record four times and guiding Al-Ahly of Egypt to four consecutive Champions League finals between 2005 and 2008, winning three of those. To give him a global context, he was the first manager to take an African team to the medal positions in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2006, the same year they won a domestic and continental treble.

Additional mentions go to Ernst Happel for winning the European Cup twice, with Feyenoord and Hamburg, and current PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti, who will probably have won league titles in three countries by the summer, and the Champions League twice.

culled from: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/the-rundown/sir-alex-really-greatest-time-142410104.html