Choosing the 50 best footballers of all time? That is easy. You simply take your pick of Diego Maradona or Pele and work your way down the list. But the 50 greatest post-war managers from around the world? That has been a fearsomely difficult challenge. No doubt some of the selections that follow will be regarded as highly provocative.
Expert advice has been taken from foreign colleagues, as well as elders and betters, to try to ensure that it is neither too British-based or too modern. Some names that were unfamiliar to this correspondent proved very deserving of inclusion. Come on down Hennes Weisweiler!
But attempts to establish strict criteria proved almost as difficult as choosing between Clough, Ferguson and Zagallo. After all, you are not just comparing different eras but pitting club managers against some who have only worked in the international sphere.
Do you push for the great one-club men, like Busby or Paisley, or those who proved that they could succeed all around Europe, like Capello and Trapattoni? Do you give extra marks for the game's great stylists and how much should this list reflect the game's tactical innovators?
50. Hennes Weisweiler. Thank him for the fact that Borussia Monchengladbach are a name we all love to roll around the tongue. Weisweiler not only turned the club into a serious force but inspired a whole wave of German coaches including Berti Vogts and Gunther Netzer.
49. Jesse Carver. One league title with Juventus in 1950 might seem scant reason to include the Liverpudlian but Carver, whose peripatetic career saw him manage both Holland and Millwall, was a trailblazer. The distinguished football writer Brian Glanville credits Carver with being the man to show English football that training with the ball might be more productive than mindless running. We should have paid more attention to him.
48. Albert Batteux. There should be one French club manager in the top 50 and those in the know propose Batteux ahead of Guy Roux. Why? For winning nine league titles with Stade de Reims and St Etienne between 1953 and 1970. And he was twice a European Cup finalist with Reims.
47. Carlos Bianchi. Five-times South American coach of the year and Boca Juniors' most successful manager. Which makes it all the stranger that his talent never travelled well to Europe where there were unsuccessful stints in France, Spain and Italy.
46. Sven-Goran Eriksson. His place in the list would not be disputed in Sweden, Portugal or Italy given that he was a club champion in all three countries. But it is hard to see him climbing the charts now that he's at Manchester City.
45. Don Revie. Some England fans would not include him at all for walking out on the national side but there has to be recognition of the builder of the Leeds United team which dominated the early Seventies through good football and a dash of thuggery.
44. Carlo Ancelotti. Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United trampled over Ancelotti's Juventus en route to Champions League success in 1999 but it is the Italian who now has two European Cup medals from his time at AC Milan. But for the miracle of Istanbul, it would have been three.
43. Carlos Alberto Parreira. Probably lucky to be included given that he coached the least-loved of Brazilian world champions in 1994 and then screwed up their 2006 campaign. But it is hard to ignore a man who coached at five different World Cups with four different countries.
42. Otto Rehhagel. Greece's functional football at Euro 2004 shouldn't blind us to the fact that it was an extraordinary success by the 100-1 outsiders. Interestingly, his time at Werder Bremen is remembered for the flashy football. That's called adaptability.
41. George Raynor. Ever heard the one about the English manager who took Sweden to the 1958 World Cup final? Raynor also led Sweden to victory over England at Wembley. Imagine how sweet that must have felt for a man so overlooked in his own country that he was sacked by Doncaster Rovers.
40. Udo Lattek. Included for the hard-luck story as much as the trophies. The German was sacked by Bayern Munich only a year after winning the European Cup and a third successive Bundesliga. He was reappointed in 1983 and again won three German championships and reached the European Cup final. His reward? Have a guess.
39. Bill Nicholson. He won his first game as Spurs manager 10-4 against Everton but not many guessed that it would signal the greatest period in the club's history. A first English double of the 20th century followed and then the Cup Winners Cup, the first European trophy won by an English club. As Martin Jol knows all too well, the Spurs board are rather impatient for a return to the glory years.
38. Sepp Herberger. He took over the German national team when there was a swastika on the tracksuit, but Herberger is widely respected for rebuilding his country's football after the war by coaching the 1954 world champions in the so-called Miracle of Bern against the favoured Hungarians. "If you don't shoot, you won't score," was one of his many pithy phrases still in circulation.
37. Karl Rappan. The game's innovators need to be recognised and, as manager of Switzerland, he dreamed up the the sweeper system. It was originally known as the verrou because he withdrew one player, Verrouieleur, and it was then adapted by the Italians into catenaccio. So now you know.
36. Louis Van Gaal. Not even Clough had Van Gaal's belief in himself and his own methods. They brought him great success at Ajax, where young players followed his orders, but he managed to upset the whole of Catalonia while at Barcelona. How they will have laughed when he failed to reach the 2002 World Cup finals with Holland.
35. Sir Bobby Robson. A grand old man of the game who is as passionate now as during his 13 years at Ipswich. A couple of penalties away from leading England to the 1990 World Cup final, and not even the Germans would have begrudged him.
34. Helmut Schoen. Under his leadership, Germany were World Cup runners-up in 1966, finished third in 1970, European champions in 1972, World Cup winners in 1974 and European runners-up in 1976. Which is more than the England team has achieved in its entire history.
33. Rafael Benitez. The goatee beard does him no favours but, after impressing at Valencia, the Spaniard need only clinch a Premiership title with Liverpool to go shooting up the list. A bit more flair would be welcome to go with the trophies.
32. Valery Lobanovski. A towering figure in Soviet football for the dominance of his Dynamo Kiev team in the 1970s and 80s. An uncompromising leader, he also led the Soviet Union to the final of Euro 88.
31. Ottmar Hitzfeld. A genial man who has jousted many times with Sir Alex Ferguson. The German lost some of those battles, most notably at the Nou Camp in 1999, but, unlike the Scot, he does have two European Cup medals from his time with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
30. Carlos Bilardo. Went by the nickname of El Narigon (old big nose) and he has always suffered in comparison to the other Argentine World Cup winning coach Cesar Menotti. Bilardo was blessed to have Diego Maradona in 1986 but his players vouch that he was a fine motivator who left nothing to chance in his preparations.
29. Guus Hiddink. Not great with his tax returns but, since establishing PSV Eindhoven as European champions back in 1988, his itinerant career has shown him to be one of the best coaches of his generation. Appears to enjoy the underdog role as shown with his work for Australia and South Korea.
28 Giovanni Trapattoni. He won seven Serie A championships, a Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich and more but has never quite made the top tier of Italian coaches. Known for some combustible moments including a dressing room punch up with Paolo Di Canio while manager of Juventus.
27. Aime Jacquet. Talk about having the last laugh. L'Equipe, the bible of French sport, attacked Jacquet incessantly before the 1998 World Cup finals and even called for him to stand down. His response was to guide Les Bleus to a famous victory in Paris.
26. Nereo Rocco. Twice a European Cup winner with AC Milan in the Sixties, he is perhaps best known for bringing the catenaccio system into Italian football. For which, I guess, we should not really be thanking him.
Expert advice has been taken from foreign colleagues, as well as elders and betters, to try to ensure that it is neither too British-based or too modern. Some names that were unfamiliar to this correspondent proved very deserving of inclusion. Come on down Hennes Weisweiler!
But attempts to establish strict criteria proved almost as difficult as choosing between Clough, Ferguson and Zagallo. After all, you are not just comparing different eras but pitting club managers against some who have only worked in the international sphere.
Do you push for the great one-club men, like Busby or Paisley, or those who proved that they could succeed all around Europe, like Capello and Trapattoni? Do you give extra marks for the game's great stylists and how much should this list reflect the game's tactical innovators?
50. Hennes Weisweiler. Thank him for the fact that Borussia Monchengladbach are a name we all love to roll around the tongue. Weisweiler not only turned the club into a serious force but inspired a whole wave of German coaches including Berti Vogts and Gunther Netzer.
49. Jesse Carver. One league title with Juventus in 1950 might seem scant reason to include the Liverpudlian but Carver, whose peripatetic career saw him manage both Holland and Millwall, was a trailblazer. The distinguished football writer Brian Glanville credits Carver with being the man to show English football that training with the ball might be more productive than mindless running. We should have paid more attention to him.
48. Albert Batteux. There should be one French club manager in the top 50 and those in the know propose Batteux ahead of Guy Roux. Why? For winning nine league titles with Stade de Reims and St Etienne between 1953 and 1970. And he was twice a European Cup finalist with Reims.
47. Carlos Bianchi. Five-times South American coach of the year and Boca Juniors' most successful manager. Which makes it all the stranger that his talent never travelled well to Europe where there were unsuccessful stints in France, Spain and Italy.
46. Sven-Goran Eriksson. His place in the list would not be disputed in Sweden, Portugal or Italy given that he was a club champion in all three countries. But it is hard to see him climbing the charts now that he's at Manchester City.
45. Don Revie. Some England fans would not include him at all for walking out on the national side but there has to be recognition of the builder of the Leeds United team which dominated the early Seventies through good football and a dash of thuggery.
44. Carlo Ancelotti. Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United trampled over Ancelotti's Juventus en route to Champions League success in 1999 but it is the Italian who now has two European Cup medals from his time at AC Milan. But for the miracle of Istanbul, it would have been three.
43. Carlos Alberto Parreira. Probably lucky to be included given that he coached the least-loved of Brazilian world champions in 1994 and then screwed up their 2006 campaign. But it is hard to ignore a man who coached at five different World Cups with four different countries.
42. Otto Rehhagel. Greece's functional football at Euro 2004 shouldn't blind us to the fact that it was an extraordinary success by the 100-1 outsiders. Interestingly, his time at Werder Bremen is remembered for the flashy football. That's called adaptability.
41. George Raynor. Ever heard the one about the English manager who took Sweden to the 1958 World Cup final? Raynor also led Sweden to victory over England at Wembley. Imagine how sweet that must have felt for a man so overlooked in his own country that he was sacked by Doncaster Rovers.
40. Udo Lattek. Included for the hard-luck story as much as the trophies. The German was sacked by Bayern Munich only a year after winning the European Cup and a third successive Bundesliga. He was reappointed in 1983 and again won three German championships and reached the European Cup final. His reward? Have a guess.
39. Bill Nicholson. He won his first game as Spurs manager 10-4 against Everton but not many guessed that it would signal the greatest period in the club's history. A first English double of the 20th century followed and then the Cup Winners Cup, the first European trophy won by an English club. As Martin Jol knows all too well, the Spurs board are rather impatient for a return to the glory years.
38. Sepp Herberger. He took over the German national team when there was a swastika on the tracksuit, but Herberger is widely respected for rebuilding his country's football after the war by coaching the 1954 world champions in the so-called Miracle of Bern against the favoured Hungarians. "If you don't shoot, you won't score," was one of his many pithy phrases still in circulation.
37. Karl Rappan. The game's innovators need to be recognised and, as manager of Switzerland, he dreamed up the the sweeper system. It was originally known as the verrou because he withdrew one player, Verrouieleur, and it was then adapted by the Italians into catenaccio. So now you know.
36. Louis Van Gaal. Not even Clough had Van Gaal's belief in himself and his own methods. They brought him great success at Ajax, where young players followed his orders, but he managed to upset the whole of Catalonia while at Barcelona. How they will have laughed when he failed to reach the 2002 World Cup finals with Holland.
35. Sir Bobby Robson. A grand old man of the game who is as passionate now as during his 13 years at Ipswich. A couple of penalties away from leading England to the 1990 World Cup final, and not even the Germans would have begrudged him.
34. Helmut Schoen. Under his leadership, Germany were World Cup runners-up in 1966, finished third in 1970, European champions in 1972, World Cup winners in 1974 and European runners-up in 1976. Which is more than the England team has achieved in its entire history.
33. Rafael Benitez. The goatee beard does him no favours but, after impressing at Valencia, the Spaniard need only clinch a Premiership title with Liverpool to go shooting up the list. A bit more flair would be welcome to go with the trophies.
32. Valery Lobanovski. A towering figure in Soviet football for the dominance of his Dynamo Kiev team in the 1970s and 80s. An uncompromising leader, he also led the Soviet Union to the final of Euro 88.
31. Ottmar Hitzfeld. A genial man who has jousted many times with Sir Alex Ferguson. The German lost some of those battles, most notably at the Nou Camp in 1999, but, unlike the Scot, he does have two European Cup medals from his time with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
30. Carlos Bilardo. Went by the nickname of El Narigon (old big nose) and he has always suffered in comparison to the other Argentine World Cup winning coach Cesar Menotti. Bilardo was blessed to have Diego Maradona in 1986 but his players vouch that he was a fine motivator who left nothing to chance in his preparations.
29. Guus Hiddink. Not great with his tax returns but, since establishing PSV Eindhoven as European champions back in 1988, his itinerant career has shown him to be one of the best coaches of his generation. Appears to enjoy the underdog role as shown with his work for Australia and South Korea.
28 Giovanni Trapattoni. He won seven Serie A championships, a Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich and more but has never quite made the top tier of Italian coaches. Known for some combustible moments including a dressing room punch up with Paolo Di Canio while manager of Juventus.
27. Aime Jacquet. Talk about having the last laugh. L'Equipe, the bible of French sport, attacked Jacquet incessantly before the 1998 World Cup finals and even called for him to stand down. His response was to guide Les Bleus to a famous victory in Paris.
26. Nereo Rocco. Twice a European Cup winner with AC Milan in the Sixties, he is perhaps best known for bringing the catenaccio system into Italian football. For which, I guess, we should not really be thanking him.
