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 seven was a national treasure in England and had great success abroad too, the much missed Sir Bobby Robson.
7. Sir Bobby Robson
TEAMS MANAGED: Fulham (1968), Ipswich Town (1969-1982), England (1982-1990), PSV Eindhoven (1990-1992, 1998-1999), Sporting Lisbon (1992-1994), FC Porto (1994-1996), Barcelona (1996-1997), Newcastle United (1999-2004)
HONOURS: UEFA Cup 1981, FA Cup 1978, European Cup Winners’ Cup 1997, Portuguese Championship 1995, 1996, Eredivisie 1991, 1992, Copa del Rey 1997, Spanish Super Cup 1996, Cup of Portugal 1994, Texaco Cup 1973
Sir Bobby Robson never won a league title in England but had great success globally, made Ipswich into a continental heavyweight and took England to within a game of winning the World Cup in 1990.
Robson was a much-loved character within football, something that has only got stronger since his death in July 2009, aged 76 after a much publicised and determined battle against cancer.
After a modest playing career, Robson took over at Ipswich in 1969, forging his reputation as one of England’s finest coaches.
Ipswich finished in the top six eight times in the 1970s and silverware followed, with a 1-0 triumph over Arsenal in the 1978 FA Cup final.
He guided the club to runners-up in 1981 and won the UEFA Cup in the same season, defeating AZ Alkmaar on aggregate, to record the Tractor Boys only major honour in the European game.
Following 13 magnificent years at Portman Road, the England job was next. Sir Bobby succeeded Ron Greenwood after a disappointing showing at the 1982 World Cup.
There were difficult times, with the Three Lions failing to qualify for Euro 84 then heading to the 1988 European Championship as one of the tournament favourites, only to leave Germany, having lost every single game in the group stage.
Difficult times with the English media
There was a decent run to the World Cup quarter-finals in 1986 but the English media made life very difficult for Robson, with headlines such as ‘In the name of Allah, go’ and ‘The Sun says OUT!’
In testing circumstances, Robson took the players to Italia 90, amidst a lot of criticism over his tactics, squad selection and leaving his post after the tournament (the FA didn’t offer him a new deal) – which the media reported as him walking out on the country.
It might have been seen as a mental siege operation but the players pulled together in Italy and reached the semi-finals, making English football popular again, following the tragedies at Bradford, Heysel and Hillsborough in the previous five years.
Only an agonising penalty shootout defeat in Turin to eventual winners, West Germany, denied England a tilt at a deserving final place. With that, Robson’s time with the national team was over.
He moved to PSV Eindhoven and won successive Dutch titles in the next two seasons, although a lack of progress in European competition saw him decide to try out another foreign country.
Next destination was Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, with a young Jose Mourinho appointed as Robson’s assistant.
The club was in a terrible state and despite topping the Portuguese league at Christmas 1993; Robson was fired by the chairman, after a shock UEFA Cup exit to Austrian part-timers, Casino Salzburg.
The last laugh at FC Porto
Robson later revealed that the Sporting owner was a ‘loose cannon’ but stayed in Portugal, to take over at Sporting’s bitter rivals, FC Porto.
The Englishman had the last laugh, beating Lisbon in the 1994 Portuguese Cup final and leading Porto to back-to-back league titles.
Barcelona hired him for 1996-97. He won the Spanish Super Cup, Copa del Rey, the Cup Winners’ Cup and signed Ronaldo but failing to win the La Liga title, meant he would only spend a season in charge at the Nou Camp.
After a year in a ‘director of football’ capacity, a brief spell back at PSV followed, then he moved back home to Newcastle United, succeeding Ruud Gullit in September 1999.
He brought the good times back to Tyneside, making the squad more youthful and getting the best out of experienced campaigners like Shay Given, Gary Speed and Alan Shearer.
Despite two top four finishing positions in the Premier League, Robson was sacked by Freddy Shepherd in August 2004 and that was his last main role in football management.
He is still fondly remembered by many and is still England’s most successful national boss since 1966.
By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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