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 four is one of Manchester United's greatest managers of all-time. His vision was to make the Red Devils the best in Europe and he achieved it a decade after an overwhelming sense of tragedy.
He was a fighter and a master of the managerial game. This is Sir Matt Busby's story.
4. Sir Matt Busby
TEAMS MANAGED: Manchester United (1945-1969, 1970-1971), Great Britain (1948), Scotland (1958)
HONOURS: European Cup 1968, Football League First Division 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965, 1967, FA Cup 1948, 1963, Charity Shield 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965, 1967
Sir Matt Busby was not only a leader but he was Mr. Manchester United.
When he died in January 1994, the outpouring of sadness but celebration of a magnificent life was more than evident.
He led the ‘Busby Babes’ to the verge of greatness, only for it to be torn apart by the Munich air disaster.
Busby only narrowly pulled through himself in 1958 and though devastated, he recovered from this appalling tragedy to build a new team, one which achieved his aim of winning the European Cup ten years later.
Busby took over as manager of Manchester United in October 1945 and success was imminent. He won the FA Cup in 1948 and finished runners-up in the league in 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951.
On the verge of immortality until disaster strikes
Finally in 1952, the First Division title was achieved and he started to create a new team which went down, not just in Old Trafford history but English folklore.
The likes of Bill Foulkes, Mark Jones, David Pegg and Duncan Edwards came through, to form the great ‘Busby Babes.’
They won the league again in 1956 and 1957 and lost the 1957 FA Cup final to Aston Villa.
A year later, they appeared on the verge of immortality in Europe, until disaster struck.
On 6 February 1958, on the way home from a European Cup tie in Belgrade, the Manchester United plane crashed on the runway at Munich airport in terrible weather conditions.
23 people died, including eight first-team United players. Jones, Pegg, Tommy Taylor, Eddie Colman, Roger Byrne, Geoff Bent, Liam Whelan and Edwards all were killed.
Busby himself was given the last rites twice, after suffering multiple injuries in the crash but he pulled through and left hospital nine weeks later.
An emotional night at Wembley
Considering quitting as he took the blame personally for what happened, he was urged to carry on by his wife and returned for the FA Cup final just three months after Munich.
Devastated but determined, Busby built a new team around fellow survivors from Munich, Bobby Charlton, Harry Gregg and Foulkes.
The great George Best and Denis Law were signed by Busby and gradually, Manchester United started to recover from this catastrophic tragedy.
They defeated Leicester City to win the FA Cup in 1963, 15 years after Busby’s first triumph in this prestigious competition.
Two more league titles followed in 1965 and 1967 and they finished runners-up in 1968. The only ambition left was to win the European Cup.
On an emotional night at Wembley, on 29 May 1968, Manchester United defeated Portuguese giants Benfica 4-1 to win the trophy for the first time, following on from Celtic’s success the previous year.
Charlton scored twice, with further goals in extra-time from Best and Brian Kidd, seeing Busby realise his dream of becoming European champion.
He did it his way
He retired a year later, although there was a brief caretaker role when Wilf McGuinness was sacked in December 1970.
Busby carried on as a club director and was made president in 1982. He managed to witness Manchester United end their 26 year drought for a league trophy, when they won the inaugural FA Premier League title in May 1993.
On 20 January 1994, Sir Matt Busby died aged 84 from cancer. Two days later, a lone Scottish pied piper played out from the Theatre of Dreams, leading Manchester United and Everton onto the pitch for the Red Devils first home game since his death.
The tributes poured in from around the world, Law telling ITN on the night of his passing: “He was probably the greatest manager English football has seen, a visionary who took an English club into Europe when most people thought it unwise.
“He proved he was right. He built great teams in the 1940s, the 1950s and the 1960s but, more important, he was a true gentleman to everyone, from the playing stars to the ground staff.”
Two years later, a statue (pictured) was placed at Old Trafford. A road was named after him too, called ‘Sir Matt Busby Way.’
Ultimately that was Sir Matt Busby. He did it, his way.
By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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