Winning the Premier League is tough for any manager including some of the best ones. No matter how good they were, they still had to keep their teams motivated in order to win the title.
Whilst there have been some great managers to have won the Premier League like Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, there have also been some top managers who have never won it.
Some of the managers on the list went very close to winning the league with their respective sides, whilst some of the others were nowhere near but did an overall good job at some of the teams they managed.
I would like to add that not every manager who went close to winning the league is on the list. Kevin Keegan is the only one who missed the cut and he probably should've been on it as his Newcastle side did spend most of the 1995/96 season at the top before blowing their 15 point lead.
Now it's time to reveal the list:
Rafa Benitez
Sir Bobby Robson
Brendan Rodgers
Mauricio Pochettino
David Moyes
Gerard Houllier
Martin O'Neill
Harry Redknapp
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Nuno Espirito Santo
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Solskjaer brought the feelgood factor back to Man United when he returned to the club as manager and he's arguably been their best manager post Fergie.
He lead United to a second place finish in 2021 during which they did spend some time at the top of the league. But they finished 12 points behind eventual champions Man City who ran away with the title in the second half of the season.
He had a few spells where he was under a lot of pressure at United and despite overcoming them and doing a decent job during his time as manager, his United team were nowhere near to challenging for the title.
Nuno Espirito Santo
Nuno is currently working wonders at Nottingham Forest who he has got pushing for Champions League football next season. There was even a brief talk of them being title contenders, but those hopes never materialised.
Before working his magic at Forest, he did a great job at Wolves as he led them to back-to-back 7th place finishes in 2019 and 2020 respectively. He put them in contention for Champions League football during the latter, but they soon fell out of contention.
He soon got himself a big job after leaving Wolves when he took over at Spurs. But despite a good start after winning his opening three league games, the move didn't work out for him or the club as he was sacked a a couple of months later following a poor run of form and criticism over his brand of football.
He never got close to winning the league with any of the clubs he managed as they weren't at the level of the bigger clubs.
Martin O'Neill
O'Neill worked wonders during his time at Aston Villa as he made them consistent European contenders.
He led Villa into Europe for three straight seasons but got them nowhere near winning the Premier League as he was managing them in the era of the then-big four which was made up of Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
He was never going to finish above all of those teams during his time at Villa as his team did not have the quality that those sides had.
David Moyes
Moyes got his chance of managing a big club when he replaced Alex Ferguson at Man United where he was known as the chosen one after being chosen by Fergie himself. But he never got close to winning the league with them as he was sacked after finishing 7th in his only season in charge.
He was never cut out for that job in the first place as he lacked experience in managing big name players and big clubs. It was always going to be a tough ask for him though as he was replacing such a legend in Ferguson.
He did have good spells at Everton and West Ham though as he turned both into consistent European contenders. But he got neither of them anywhere near to wining the league.
Harry Redknapp
Redknapp was a manager who would keep clubs in the Premier League before going on to establish them as a Premier League club.
He did however lead Spurs into the Champions League and to a Champions League Quarter Final the following season. He also briefly put them in a title race during the 2011/12 season.
But they were never serious contenders as Man City and Man United battled it out for the rest of the season, and Spurs faded away badly. They were talked about as potential contenders at some point during that season, but I think they were seen more as outsiders.
He had an incredible team at Spurs which included the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor. But he got them nowhere near to winning the title as there were teams better than his Spurs side that were more equipped.
Gerard Houllier
Houllier won a treble with Liverpool in 2001 which involved the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup. They finished 3rd in the Premier League that season, finishing 11 points behind champions Man United.
The closest he got to winning the Premier League was in 2002 where his reds side finished 2nd and 7 points behind Arsenal.
He was a manager who both brought through and developed young players like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen, who he more developed after he broke into the team under the previous manager Roy Evans.
His ability to develop and promote young players is what he'll be remembered for best from his time at Liverpool.
Sir Bobby Robson
Robson is one of the true icons of the game and arguably one of the finest managers of his generation.
He arrived in the Premier League towards the end of his managerial career when he took over at Newcastle in 1999. He spent five seasons at St James' Park but got the Magpies nowhere near to winning a Premier League title.
He did lead them to two top four finishes in 2002 and 2003 where they finished 4th and 3rd respectively. But the Magpies were miles away from the top on both occasions.
He still deserves a place in my top five though because of the man he was and how good a manager he was at Newcastle.
He did win league titles abroad at Porto and PSV, but not in England.
Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers went very close to winning the league with Liverpool during the 2013/14 season where he had the dynamic duo of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge leading his attack.
The goals that pair scored played a huge role in the reds nearly going all the way and especially Suarez's. Suarez got 31 that season was absolutely unplayable all season.
The reds had the title in their sights heading into the final few games of that season, only for Steven Gerrard's slip against Chelsea and the collapse against Crystal Palace to stop them.
That was the only season Rodger got close to winning the league and after winning back to back SPL titles with Celtic, he returned to the Premier League with Leicester but couldn't lead them to another unlikely title.
Mauricio Pochettino
Pochettino went close to winning the league twice with Spurs in 2016 and 2017 respectively. They blew it in the final month of the season the first time whereas the second time, they put the pressure on too late as Chelsea had already pretty much wrapped up the title.
Pochettino was a manager who would both promote and develop young players and he did that at both Southampton and Spurs. He brought through the likes of Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers at Southampton, who both later got moves to bigger clubs, and at Spurs he brought through Harry Kane and Harry Winks, the former of whom he developed as well as promote into the first team.
He put Spurs on a map during his time there as he made them one of the best teams in Europe and took them from being a top four chasing team to an established top four side in the Premier League.
He had an incredible team at Spurs including the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Heung Min Son and Christian Eriksen. But despite having those quality players, Spurs didn't win anything and they really should've done because of the quality they had.
Rafa Benitez
Benitez takes the no.1 spot for in my list because he's the biggest name manager on the list.
He won the Champions League and FA Cup with Liverpool in 2005 and 2006 respectively winning arguably the greatest finals of those competitions. But he wasn't able to win the Premier League.
The closest he got to winning the league with Liverpool was in the 2008/09 season where they finished 2nd to Man United, despite being top at Christmas.
The team he had that season was probably his best team at Liverpool as he had the likes of Pepe Reina, Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres. Had they not drawn as many games that season and if Torres didn't have as many injuries as he did, the reds might've won the title. But we'll never know.
MY TOP 10:
Rafa Benitez
Mauricio Pochettino
Brendan Rodgers
Sir Bobby Robson
Gerard Houllier
Harry Redknapp
David Moyes
Martin O'Neill
Nuno Espirito Santo
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
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