10 BEST IRISH MANAGERS
Hughton up there with the best of homegrown talent after promotion exploits with Brighton
CHRIS Hughton this week joined Mick McCarthy in leading two clubs to Championship promotion.
But where does that feat rank in the all-time achievements by Irish managers in English club football?
Quite high actually, for only one Irish manager has ever won the English League title, while the FA Cup, League Cup and European trophies continue to remain elusive.
In contrast, two Northern Ireland managers, Terry Neill and Martin O’Neill, have lifted major trophies.
Neill reached three FA Cup finals in a row with Arsenal, winning in 1979, while O’Neill won the League Cup twice at Leicester City, in 1997 and 2000.
Away from these islands, Westmeath-born Patrick O’Connell stands in a class of his own.
‘Don Patricio’ famously led Real Betis to their sole La Liga title in 1935 and was also in charge of city rivals Sevilla when they were runners-up in 1943.
Sportsmail’s Top Ten list isn’t definitive but it shines a light into the career of Irish managers who knew more good days than bad as the gaffer.
1 BOB KYLE
Belfast-born Kyle remains the only Irishman to manage a team to the English League title. It happened with Sunderland in 1912-1913 when the island of Ireland was a sole political and sporting entity.
Kyle left a remarkable legacy, first at Distillery where he won three league titles and two Irish Cups, and then on Wearside.
Appointed Sunderland manager in August 1905, he was in charge for a record 19 seasons, during which time the club won the title, were runners-up, twice third and finished in the top 10 13 times.
2 JOHNNY CAREY
After a distinguished playing career, ‘Gentleman Johnny’ led Blackburn Rovers out of the Second Division (1958), and took Everton to fifth in the First Division (1961), their highest postwar position after which he was sacked by director John Moores in a taxi, prompting the expression ‘taxi for...’
Undeterred, Carey won promotion with Leyton Orient to the First Division (1962) — look where Orient are now — before his finest hour at Nottingham Forest in 1966-1967, where his team reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and were runners-up to Manchester United in the league.
3 DAVE O’LEARY
On January 1, 2002, Leeds United led the Premier League and O’Leary’s ‘babies’ seemed destined for glory after previously finishing fourth (1999), third (2000) and fourth (2001) under the Dubliner.
Instead, they fell away to fifth place, missing out on the UEFA riches of the Champions League. O’Leary, who also led Leeds to the semi-finals of both UEFA Cup and Champions League, subsequently took Aston Villa to sixth place in the top flight. His record in the Premier League stands up to scrutiny.
4 JOE KINNEAR
Ridiculed at Newcastle for mispronouncing the names of his players, canny Kinnear earlier achieved extraordinary things at Wimbledon where he was voted the LMA Manager of the Year in 1994.
Between 1992 and 1997, the Dubliner took the Wombles to sixth (1994), ninth (1995) and eighth (1997) place finishes in the Premier League. For a team with a tiny support base and a ramshackle stadium, the Dubliner’s feats were remarkable.
5 FRANK O’FARRELL
Before Claudio Ranieri at Leicester, there was Martin O’Neill and before O’Neill there was O’Farrell, a soft-spoken Corkonian. In his first season at Filbert Street in 1968-69, Leicester reached the FA Cup final — where they lost to Manchester City — and suffered relegation.
The following year, Leicester captured the old Second Division title which prompted Manchester United to appoint O’Farrell in June 1971 as successor to Matt Busby.
An ageing United were 10 points clear in January 1972 but tumbled to eighth, not helped by George Best’s increasingly wayward behaviour. By the end of the year, O’Farrell was sacked. Now 89, he lives in Torquay.
6 MICK McCARTHY
A manager for 25 years, six of which were with the Republic of Ireland, McCarthy is one of the great survivors of the dug-out with over 900 games on his managerial CV.
The former Ireland captain has won the Championship twice, with Sunderland (2005) and Wolves (2009), and kept the latter in the Premier League for three seasons, finishing a high of 15th in 2010.
At Ipswich, he has chalked up three top-10 finishes in the Championship, reaching the play-offs once.
7 CHRIS HUGHTON
After a long coaching internship, Hughton took flight with the Magpies as Newcastle United blew away all-comers to win the Championship in 2010.
The former Irish full-back rebounded after a cruel sacking by Mike Ashley to take Birmingham City to the play-offs before landing the Norwich City job, duly leading the Canaries to 11th place in the top flight.
The following season, he was sacked with Norwich five points clear of relegation but has restored his reputation at Brighton where he survived in his first season, was edged out for automatic promotion in the second, before hitting the heights in his third.
8 ROY KEANE
His first steps into management blazed a trail as he ignited Sunderland on his arrival in August 2006 with the team at the foot of the table. By the following April, they were promoted and Keane was Championship Manager of the Year.
His first season in the Premier League saw an encouraging 15th place finish but the club were mired in relegation trouble when he quit the following December. He returned at Ipswich but began the 2009-10 campaign without a win in 14 games and was on the back foot thereafter.
9 JOHN GILES
What might Giles achieved had he not fallen out with the West Brom board?
Appointed player-manager in the summer of ’75, the midfielder instantly led the club back to the First Division before finishing a fine seventh in 1976-77, the highlight being a 4-0 win over Manchester United.
Giles resigned at the end of the season but returned in 1984 and took the club to 12th place. He won 65 of his 176 games at his only club in English management.
10 OWEN COYLE
Chosen over Noel Cantwell who steered Coventry to sixth in the old First Division (1970) and John Aldridge, who led Tranmere to the League Cup final (2000), Coyle took Burnley to the top flight for the first time in 33 years in 2009, via the play-offs.
He stunned Clarets fans by leaving for Lancashire rivals Bolton half-way through the new season, which saw Burnley relegated and Bolton finish 14th. In 2010-11, Bolton again finished 14th, and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, but the following season brought relegation and Coyle departed the Reebok in October 2012.