Who are the greatest managers of all time?

Since we’ve already gone back and forth on which players we value most, let’s see what everyone thinks about managers.

Just speaking purely from my own perspective right off the bat, Elvis Presley stands out—you can clearly see the ambition and the expertise there. Looking at domestic options, I’d also say Joe Karacic, Bogdan Bogdanović, Dragan Petković, and even Pamić, though he is a bit of a contrarian. 🙂

As for international names, I can't ignore José Mourinho. He has that arrogant streak that seems perfectly suited for a good old-fashioned shouting match, but he’s an incredible coach; you can tell just by looking at his trophies and track record. Then there's Zdeněk Zeman, though more for his football philosophy than anything else.

Still, for the long haul, Tomislav Ivić remains my number one choice. 👍

It’s useless trying to talk tactics with Ivić when he can't even get half of our American surnames right, let alone foreign ones. If only Cut had communicated with the players back in Porto the way he did 😁
.
Cosmi is the man! He has such a recognizable image and character. All that shouting and jumping reminds me so much of Lina Cervara. Plus, his tactical knowledge is never in doubt. He stuck to his 3-5-2 regardless of the pitch or how strong the opponent was—unlike one of his much more hyped colleagues (Carlo Macone), who once played with seven defenders during an away game in Milan and got absolutely hammered!!

Scoria already proved he knows his stuff back at Uljanik. He's easily our most promising coach.

I can't pick just one from our side, even though I really admired what Pokupković did with Osijek back in the day before he moved on and eventually got fired because he thought Hajduk would call him to coach...

As for foreign managers, Martin O'Neill, Pierre Le Guen, and Rafael Benítez—and that last one isn't even subjective because of Liverpool. I loved what he achieved at Valencia, and I hope he does something similar with Liverpool too. If I think of anyone else, I'll let you know.

José Mourinho and Bora Milutinović.

nimblemarlin17 said:José Mourinho and Bora Milutinović.

😁

He’s a legend, really. Five World Cups with five different national teams across four continents. I guess you could say the guy has seen it all. 🙂

Sean Nguyen4 said:😁

The guy's a total legend, though. Scoring five goals in five different World Cups across four continents? That’s basically saying he’s seen it all. 🙂

He only failed to make it out of the group stage against China because they dumped the Brazilians into his bracket. If that hadn't happened, he would've cruised right through. 😁

In our neck of the woods, Srećko Bogdan is hands down the best coach out there. The man is a straight-up magician. Close behind him would be Elvis Presley. When looking at international managers, I’ve always had a lot of respect for José Mourinho and Fabio Capello.

Otto von Barich 😬

Radomir Antic—literally the only manager on the planet to ever coach three of Spain's biggest clubs—has this incredible way with players. He just knows how to squeeze every bit of potential out of them. He basically "invented" stars like Fernando Hierro, Carles Puyol, and Andrés Iniesta. Even Gheorghe Hagi only reached his legendary status because he had Antic leading him.

Then there’s Ivica Osim. The man was a true football philosopher. He might actually be the only coach in history to turn down the Real Madrid job when it was offered to him. He wasn't interested in playing the hero just to get kicked to the curb 😁 like we've seen happen in Madrid lately. He’s exactly what our game needs: no gimmicks, no improvising on the fly. He lives and breathes systems and long-term plans. If you need to grind through a couple of seasons of patient work to get a real result, he’ll do it. Just look at Zeljezničar or Sturm Graz; they might seem small on the European stage, but give them time and discipline, and the results are guaranteed.
He turned Zvonimir Boban into a world-class player.

As for Bora Milutinović, honestly, a few sentences barely scratch the surface of what he was about.

And Valeriy Lobanovskyi—that absolute 🙏 legend. He was probably the best coach in the world during the final decades of the 20th century. Dynamo Kyiv was essentially the masterpiece of his career; he practically built icons like Rinat Dasayev, Andriy Shevchenko, and Oleh Protasov from the ground up.

Alex Ferguson
José Mourinho
Fabio Capello
Ottmar Hitzfeld
Rafael Benítez
Guus Hiddink
Louis van Gaal—man, that Ajax Amsterdam squad he had was easily the most impressive team I've ever watched.

It’s pretty obvious you can't have a serious debate about managers without bringing up Miroslav "Ćiro" Kožić or Fabio Capello. If you really wanted to complete the list, you might as well throw Lončarević in there too.

Torcida said:Back home we had Vulić, Ćiro, and Ivić—though he’s not active anymore.

Over here—there's Sir Alex Ferguson, and that German guy whose last name escapes me... H, H, H, H... something starting with H. 🤔

Man, my brain is just fried. 🙂

Ottmar Hitzfeld, if that's how you spell it—

Look, I respect José Mourinho (even if I don't particularly like him),

but my absolute favorite is Frank Rijkaard. The guy has the guts to always play attacking football; he loves beautiful, attractive play and isn't arrogant about it. He puts so much emphasis on the attack—their defense always seems a bit leaky, sitting about 35 yards out from the keeper when they're pushing forward.
Even when he was leading the national team, they played beautifully (like that Netherlands vs. America match, 6-0).

👍

Local legends Elvis Presley and Joe Karacic

🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

When you look at the international heavyweights—guys like Guus Hiddink, Otto Rehhagel, José Mourinho, sir Bobby Robson, Carlo Ancelotti (ugh, don't even get me started on him, but whatever...), Zdeněk Zeman, and Luigi Delneri...

Hiddink, mostly because of how he handled PSV this season and what he did with Korea
Rehhagel, because of his work with Greece
Mourinho, honestly, does he even need an explanation?
Zeman, just because of that wild style of his and the way he plays in Italy

🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

Arsène Wenger, Frank Rijkaard, Rafael Benítez, Miroslav "Ćiro" Kožić....
😁 👍

Yeah, Korea played an incredible game to clinch 4th place🙄

José Mourinho is a genius, but he really let me down tonight.

Did you catch the Korean team during that tournament? Seriously, it was the first time I’ve seen an East Asian squad look that organized on the big stage—they were the absolute breakout stars of the whole thing. Now, you can try to come at me about the officiating all you want, but let’s be real: those refs didn't make them play that well!

coppernomad4 said:Did you catch Korea during that tournament? For once, a team of underdogs actually looked organized and became the absolute sensation of the whole thing. You can try to lecture me about the officiating all you want, but let's be real—bad calls didn't make them that good.

No, not at all.☕

coppernomad4 said:Did anyone actually watch Korea during that tournament? It was the first time a team of Asians looked truly organized, and they became the breakout stars of the whole event. You can lecture me about the officiating all you want, but bad calls didn't make them that good.

The referees decided they were moving on, so nothing else really matters.

Did the refs maybe pull some shady moves against Poland, the USA, or Portugal, and even Italy? That game against Spain was a total mess, but it doesn't change the fact that nobody at this World Cup ran more than the Koreans did. Every single one of their opponents felt it. Guus Hiddink is a top-tier coach, and he proved it once again this year.

coppernomad4 said:Did you catch the Korean team during that tournament? For once, an East Asian squad actually looked organized, and they were easily the breakout stars of the whole thing. You can try to lecture me about the officiating all you want, but I highly doubt the refs had anything to do with how good they played.

They played quite well against the Italians, I suppose. They essentially neutralized their scoring chances and managed to shut down Francesco Totti as well.🙄