Players often have the sensational skill and will normally take the plaudits from the press for a major success.
However, to have a world class player and a team that is a winning success, you need to have a tactical genius, an approachable man-manger and a controlling influence within the dressing room.
There have been some fantastic managers in the last 50 years and Total Football’s Simon Wright has chosen his top ten.
At number eight is one of the greatest managers in Liverpool history, the late Bill Shankly.
8. Bill Shankly
TEAMS MANAGED: Carlisle United (1949-1951), Grimsby Town (1951-1954), Workington (1954-1955), Huddersfield Town (1956-1959), Liverpool (1959-1974)
HONOURS: Football League First Division 1964, 1966, 1973, FA Cup 1965, 1974, UEFA Cup 1973, Football League Second Division 1962, Charity Shield 1964, 1965, 1966, 1974
Bill Shankly is widely respected as one of the most successful and respected managers in the game.
He set the standards at Anfield, which were followed by Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish and Benitez but not so by Souness, Evans and Hodgson.
After winning 12 caps for Scotland as a player, Shankly managed Carlisle United, Grimsby Town, Workington and Huddersfield Town over ten seasons. He did well but never won any silverware for his efforts.
He arrived at Liverpool, with the club struggling badly in the Second Division and in a gradual process, turned them into major winners.
After sorting out training ground procedures and coaching routines, Shankly guided Liverpool back to Division One, winning the Second Division in 1962, with Roger Hunt scoring 41 goals that season.
Two years later, the Reds were champions of England again, with the youth system bringing through the likes of Ian Callaghan and Tommy Smith, helping the academy to gain the reputation it still has today.
Regular success
An FA Cup triumph followed in 1965 and a return to European competition saw a semi-final appearance in 1965 and a famous first leg victory over Inter Milan, which is still regarded as one of the greatest European nights of all-time at Anfield.
Another league championship was secured in 1966, before some difficult years, as the club went through another tricky transition period.
The signing of Emlyn Hughes was seen as a major move in the late 1960s and the club prepared for the 1970s, a decade which Liverpool would go onto dominate.
Shankly added Steve Heighway and Kevin Keegan to his squad and in his final years as manager, they won the league in 1973, the UEFA Cup in the same season and finally, the FA Cup against Newcastle United in 1974.
He decided to retire from his position as manager at the end of the 1973-74 campaign, to be succeeded by Paisley.
Shankly died in 1981 from a heart attack, aged 68. His ashes were scattered at the Kop end of Anfield.
Bill Shankly set the standards at Liverpool, ‘second place would not do.’ Although the club is going through another radical transformation today, there is always the hope that Liverpool will return to former glories and make Bill proud.
By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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