1. Billy Davies (Nottingham Forest): Whilst not everyone will be a fan of his rather direct style of football, Davies is a master of getting his teams organised to play as a unit. He has shown in his time at both Preston and Derby that he excels in getting the most out of his team and his players to play 'for him'. For me there is no better example of this than looking at the Playoff Final which he won against West Brom for Derby - if you look at the two squads on the report, there is an obvious gulf in class with the Baggies having much more quality all over the pitch. However, we all know the outcome with the Rams being victorious before Davies was harshly sacked the next season in the Premiership, perhaps a victim of his own unexpected success.
The Scot returned to management last season at local rivals Nottingham Forest and in a short period of time has turned them from relegation battlers to genuine promotion contenders. There can be no doubting that he has had a fair amount of money to spend this time around, but the seeming ease with which Davies has managed to yet again mould a team capable of playing with his ideas in such a short period of time is the reason why I have him as my number one pick.
2. Gordon Strachan (Middlesbrough): It was a close call for me between Davies and his Scottish counterpart in deciding who came first. Strachan endured a rather rocky start to his managerial career at Coventry City, where he was forced to sell prized assets such as Robbie Keane, eventually succumbing to relegation and being sacked at the beginning of the next season (2001/2). 'Wee Chesney' as Celtic fans called him, was not to be deterred though and made an almost immediate return to football at Premiership strugglers Southampton.
Over the next three years, Strachan was to transform the Saints' fortunes, finishing 11th in his first season then 8th the next year, reaching an historic FA Cup Final against Arsenal in which they narrowly lost 1-0 at Millennium Stadium and earning them a place in the UEFA Cup. Strachan resigned in February 2004, the next season, with the club in a much healthier position than when he took over. After turning down a host of jobs following his voluntary break from football, Gordon Strachan succeeded Martin O'Neill as manager of Scottish giants Celtic in 2005 where he spent 4 years, winning 3 SPL titles, 1 Scottish FA Cup and 2 Scottish League Cups. Of course, he resigned in May this year and recently took over the reigns from Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough. Strachan for me is another manager capable of organising his teams well and getting the most out of minimal resources - very good traits to have at a time where the financial gap between the Premiership and Football League appears to be widening more by the year.
3. Sean O'Driscoll (Doncaster Rovers): If ever there was a manager capable of working miracles on a budget, it was this guy. He got Bournemouth playing some excellent football after taking over in 2000 at the club where he'd spent most of his playing career under tight financial constraints, narrowly missing out on the playoff berth after failing to beat Reading in an entertaining 3-3 draw at Madejski Stadium on the last day of the 2000/1 season. The lack of funds were to take their toll though, with Bournemouth being relegated the following season, although O'Driscoll took them straight back up the next year. Despite having to sell key players like Carl Fletcher along the way and being cheated by Stephen Hunt , O'Driscoll managed to keep Bournemouth afloat at League One level playing attractive passing football thereafter, until he was approached by Doncaster Rovers in 2006.
In his first season at Doncaster (2006/7), O'Driscoll managed to win the Football League Trophy at Millennium Stadium with a 3-2 win over League One side Bristol Rovers and the fans began to warm to him. He was to build upon this success in the next year as he managed Donny to victory over the mighty Leeds United at Wembley in the League One Playoff Final as the underdogs caused a huge upset. He has since continued to do a good job for the Yorkshire outfit, establishing them as a Championship outfit who are easy on the eye and yet don't spend a lot of money, much like his previous club.
4. Simon Grayson (Leeds United): Grayson's still a fairly young manager, but has made a big impact so far in his managerial career. He took over as player-manager until the end of the season at Blackpool when they were struggling at the foot of League 1 in November 2005, having been promoted from reserve team boss. The next season Blackpool went on a run which saw them lose just one game in 16 early on, qualify for the 5th Round of the FA Cup for the first time in 17 years and then round it all off by winning promotion via the playoffs against Yeovil - quite some achievement given the Seasiders were battling relegation 12 months before.
Grayson went on to consolidate Blackpool's position in the Championship, before being approached by his boyhood team Leeds United last season. Although this was a drop down in division, the lure of the team he's always supported and the potential proved too much to turn down. Grayson has since turned Gary McAllister's stuttering team of underachievers into a force to be reckoned with, with United all but certain to be promoted to win League 1 this year and sensationally beating arch-rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup last Sunday.
5. Paul Tisdale (Exeter City): Another bright young manager, Tisdale's remains unknown to many who only take in the upper tiers of our game, but there is certainly no doubting his talents. He began his managerial career at minnows Team Bath (university team), where he achieved three promotions in four years in non-league football and even qualified for the First Round of the FA Cup in 2002/3, where their home defeat against Mansfield Town was televised. This brought Tisdale to the attention of the nation and although he remained with the university side for three more years, Exeter City were to come calling.
When Tisdale took over at St James Park, Exeter were a club in crisis, having fallen out of the Football League and found themselves struggling in the Blue Square Premier. Like Sean O'Driscoll, Tisdale is renowned for getting teams to play decent passing football on a budget whilst still achieving good results - two things which do not always necessarily go hand-in-hand. The new boss quickly stabilised the club, before earning promotion back to the Football League via the playoffs in his second season (2007/8), defeating Cambridge United - another club which had fallen from grace. His work was far from done though, as he guided the club to back-to-back promotions by finishing second in League Two the season after, capping a miraculous turnaround in the club's fortunes and leading to him being touted for the vacant Reading manager's job at the time, although nothing came of it. Exeter are trying to consolidate this season and at the time of writing, find themselves two points clear of relegation in 18th place.
So there are my five...I'd be interested to hear people's views on who they think should be nominated as the best managers outside the top flight!
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