EPL Predictions: Power Ranking Each Club's Manager Heading into Season

The Premiership is one of the toughest leagues in the world and though there are many excellent managers in the world, some are still without a job despite proving their credentials. The job of the manager is very difficult, particularly in English football, where the manager also has an important role in deciding on transfer targets as well.

There were many good managers, like Sam Allardyce and Carlo Ancelotti, who were sacked last season due to them not meeting the expectations of the owners and it could prove to be a difficult season for some of the managers this season as well. As much as teams need quality players to win matches, it is very important that the manager's tactics are right so that they are in a good position to do so.

Though the job of the manager has its difficulties, most managers relish the prospect of managing a Premiership club and enjoy the challenges that come with that. This is an article on my rankings on the managers of each Premiership club heading into the 2011-12 season. 

Blackburn manager Steve Kean was appointed following the sacking of Sam Allardyce, who was recently appointed as the manager of Championship side West Ham United. Kean was part of the staff of Allardyce and the Venky's group decided to appoint him as the manager of the club despite the Englishman having no previous managerial experience.

Though Kean managed to keep Blackburn in the top flight for the next season, Blackburn were perilously close to relegation despite being in a decent position when Allardyce left the club. Also, though Venky's wanted a more attractive style of play than what Allardyce employed, Kean has not altered much in the style of play, which is understandable considering he took over in the middle of the 2010-11 season.

However, to his credit, he has kept the faith in his team and has also helped in the development of promising youngsters Junior Hoilette and Phil Jones, who was recently signed by Manchester United. The manager has not been able to stamp his authority in many issues including new signings, and has not shown to be a strong manager. Kean has a huge year ahead of him and should he have a miserable start to the campaign, there is every possibility that he might not last the full season.

Aston Villa fans were not happy with the appointment of former Birmingham manager Alex Mcleish and it is a surprising decision by owner Randy Lerner considering that Mcleish did not have a good season with Birmingham, though he helped the club win the Carling Cup in the year. The tactician was applauded for his excellent season with Birmingham in the 2009-10 season but had a poor last season.

Despite being in a relatively strong position entering the last few matches of the season, Birmingham failed to win games and had a horrendous run towards the end. After the Carlin Cup final, Mcleish had said that his squad could be fatigued but failed to motivate his team to fight against relegation and were eventually relegated.

His reign as the manager of Villa has also started on a bad note as he will be without Ashley Young and maybe Stewart Downing as well, after it was announced on the Liverpool website that they had agreed a fee with Villa. Also, Birmingham were weak offensively and were predominantly a defensive team and with Gerard Houllier trying to bring a more attacking style of play in the last season, it might be a step back for Villa. 

Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers is one of the youngest managers in the game (though he is still much older to Chelsea's Andre Villas-Boas) and has helped the club gain promotion to the Premier League in his first season with the club, which is the first Welsh club to play in the Premier League. Rodgers had previously worked as reserve manager with Chelsea and also as the manager of Watford and Reading before he was appointed by Swansea City.

He has insisted that Swansea have a good passing style of play and despite their attacking threat, they have also had a solid defence which has helped them in getting promoted to the Premiership by beating Reading in the playoff final. Though it is a great achievement by the 38-year-old, he will understand that the hard work begins from now and will hope to keep the club in top flight.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was appointed as the manager of the club following the sacking of Chris Hughton, who was very popular among the Magpies supporters. Pardew failed in his attempts to keep star striker Andy Carroll at the club but managed to guide Newcastle to a respectable position despite the loss of the striker.

The former West Ham manager has not had good spells with some clubs like Charlton in the past but this is a challenge he will enjoy and he will try to bring in stability to the club. Kevin Nolan has left the club in the summer and Pardew has made Fabricio Coloccini the captain of the club, which is a bold decision considering that Joey Barton is still at the club.

With the club having a good transfer budget following the sale of Carroll to Liverpool in January, they are expected to be active in the transfer market having completed the signing of midfielder Yohan Cabaye from Lille.

Queens Park Rangers have had good players in their team but previously lacked the right direction which has been brought by manager Neil Warnock, who is vastly experienced. When Warnock joined the club in 2010, it was not looking like a club which would win the Championship in the 2010-11 season. However, he turned things around and built the team's attacking play around Moroccan midfielder Adel Taarabt, who was named as the best player in the Championship in the 2011-12 season.

Warnock has managed in the Premier League before and will certainly remember the heartbreak he suffered as the manager of Sheffield United when they were relegated on the last day of the league's season, which was in part due to Fulham's victory over a weak Liverpool side on the same day. He will understand the difficulties he would have to face in the Premiership but his side has the quality to stay in the league if they can hold onto their better players.

The manager has to persuade his best player Taarabt to stay at the club in order to have a better chance in staying in the top flight and despite many recent problems in the board, he would have to ensure that the players are focused on football.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Mick McCarthy has been integral to the recent success of the club having brought the club to the Premiership in the 2009-10 season. He has managed to keep the team in the top flight for two successive years though they were very close to relegation in the last season. He has been frank with issues surrounding the team and has been inspirational in keeping the club in the top flight despite many experts touting them to be relegated.

The former Republic of Ireland international and manager has been with the club since 2006 and has helped the club progress in the right direction. At present, they are in a position where they can further improve considering they are strong financially and have good quality in the current squad. He has also helped young players develop into quality players like Matt Jarvis, who was recently called up for the England squad.

McCarthy knows that his defence was not solid last time, which is why Wolves have made the right move in the transfer window and signed Roger Johnson from Birmingham for a decent fee. Though other clubs could have been interested in the English defender, Wolves manager should be appreciated for moving in swiftly and convincing that the move was good for his career. 

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has been one of the managers with a very consistent record, which is very good considering that he has not managed high-quality clubs. He has guided Stoke City to promotion to the Premiership and has also ensured that they have stayed in the top flight for the last three seasons, which is a great achievement considering that they have remained strong financially as well.

However, Stoke have been criticized by various managers and players because of their very physical style of play and they are not a good team to watch if you are a neutral football fan. This rough style of play has resulted in injuries to some players with Aaron Ramsey being one of the most severely injured players in the last few seasons and they have received their fair share of criticism.

However, it is understandable that Pulis has the best interests of Stoke and wants them to be in the Premiership. He has in the past stated that the club will move forward on a technical level as well and players like Jermaine Pennant are good players in that respect. They have made several useful signings in the last few years and they will hope to continue their good form in the next season as well.

Paul Lambert was not a highly rated manager before two years but his exploits with Norwich City have meant that he is amongst the more notable young managers in football today. The former Borussia Dortmund player was appointed as the manager of Norwich in 2009 in order to help the team to get promoted to the Championship and at this stage, even their most ardent fans would not have been dreaming of them having to lock horns with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal in the Premiership.

However, Lambert guided them to promotion to the Championship in the 2009-10 season but what was to come was even more impressive as the former Scotland international guided his team to gain automatic promotion to the Premiership, which was important considering anything can happen in the playoffs. All the Norwich players showed great commitment while the manager was also intelligent in recruiting promising players on loan like Henri Lansbury, who played an important part in helping them to reach the Premiership.

Though the toughest test for Lambert will be in the Premiership, it would be a mistake by teams if they do underestimate the team because they have shown remarkable character to secure back-to-back promotions. Also, in Lambert, they have a tactically astute manager who can guide them to success. 

The current Wigan Athletic manager is regarded as one of the brightest young managers in the Premiership and the Spaniard has enjoyed a good spell at Wigan since he left Swansea City in 2009. At Swansea, he managed to bring a good style of play to the club and helped them in getting promoted to the Championship and eventually he joined Premier League club Wigan.

He has been successful in proving that it is possible to survive in the Premiership playing good attacking football, with emphasis on passing and good buildup play. Martinez, who also played for Wigan, has also helped in the development of many promising players like Charles N'Zogbia, Hugo Rodallega and James McCarthy, who could be playing for bigger clubs in the future.

Also, he has an excellent relationship with Dave Whelan, who is the chairman of the club and it is important for the club to progress in the right direction. Despite speculation in the media that he could depart Wigan, he has shown loyalty and signed a new contract with the club.

The Sunderland manager has managed to have a good impact on the team and though he has lost important players like Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones in the last season, he helped them finish in a respectable position at the end of the season. Also, he was prepared to take a huge gamble on Asamoah Gyan and it is good for Sunderland that Gyan has been effective for the club as well. 

However, with the loss of two key players—Jordan Henderson and Bent—for the next season, Sunderland have embarked on a lot of signings in the summer with as much as nine signings completed including deals for experienced players like former Manchester United players Wes Brown and John O'Shea and could further be interested in a few deals as well.

It is certain that Bruce will have a revamped squad next season and it will be interesting to see how they perform next season, though having experienced players in the squad is an advantage. For Sunderland though, it is important that they can keep hold of the Bruce, who has quit a number of clubs in the past to move to higher clubs. 

Owen Coyle is one of the most highly rated managers among teams in the bottom half of the table and though they only managed to finish 14th in the league, their performance in the league was much better than that and they were never in doubt of being relegated throughout the season, which is an improvement considering that Coyle took over at Bolton in January 2010 when the team was fighting against relegation. 

The former Bolton striker has established a good rapport with the fans as well and the chairman Phil Gartside shares a good relationship with the manager. However, the club are in a weak position financially and they might have to sell their better players like Gary Cahill, who is attracting interest from a number of clubs as well.

However, Coyle has made good loan deals and has got the best value from some of them like Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge. It is possible that Bolton will make further loan deals and try to work within their financial means while ensuring their place in the top flight.

Though Roy Hodgson had a spell to forget with Liverpool FC at the start of the 2010-11 season following his move from Fulham, he has played a key role in rejuvenating West Bromwich, who were fading after a bright start to the season under Roberto Di Matteo. Hodgson has an excellent record as a manager including a good tenure as Fulham manager, where he led them to the Europa League final.

Hodgson's teams are generally very organized and he emphasizes on the team maintaining the shape and formation. In his time at Liverpool, he endured a lot of stress and did not have the composure to win the Anfield faithful but at West Bromwich Albion, he has more freedom and has certainly improved the quality of the team.

He will be keen to hold onto his best players like Peter Odemwingie and also sign a few others in order to ensure that the team stays in the Premiership and if possible, finish in the top half of the table as well.

Fulham were rocked by the resignation of Mark Hughes, who refused to commit to Fulham for the 2011-12 season but the club moved fast and secured Dutchman Martin Jol as the manager for the London club. The manager is well known for his efforts as the manager of Tottenham, where he established himself but could not help the team reach the Champions League, which they recently achieved under Harry Redknapp.

Jol was then appointed as manager of Ajax where he was close to winning the league title but left the club before the end of 2010-11 season. The new manager has worked in the Premiership before, which is an advantage for Fulham, and has already managed the team in the qualifiers of the Europa League. It will be a test of his management skills as to how he rotates his squad, which will have to play a lot of games if they do qualify for the Europa League.

David Moyes is currently the longest-serving manager of a single club in the Premiership after Arsene Wenger of Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United and it is a combination of his skill and loyalty to the club that he has remained in this job for so long. The Scotsman is a highly respected manager in the world and despite having one of the smallest transfer budgets in the league, he has managed to build a strong team.

Moyes has provided a lot of stability to the club and though they have sold certain key players like Wayne Rooney in the past, they have got great deals in the past which have been used to strengthen the club. The Everton manager has helped develop excellent young players and they also currently have players like Seamus Coleman and Jack Rodwell, who are considered amongst the best youngsters in the Premiership.

He also has a strong bonding with his players and has persuaded some of his players to stay at the club, despite interest from other clubs. The likes of Mikel Arteta and Phil Jagielka have been linked with moves away from Goodison Park in the past but the manager has played a key role in keeping them at the club.

Though the 2010-11 season did not finish well for Spurs, they will be happy with their first experience of Champions League football and will certainly hope that they can get back to the top four places in the near future. Redknapp has done an excellent job at White Hart Lane making several useful signings like the one he made to sign Rafael van der Vaart,

However, the manager will look to retain his best players at the club and will not be pleased regarding the uncertain futures of some key players like Luka Modric, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea in the summer. Modric is arguably Tottenham's most important player because he links up most of the play and it is difficult to replace a player of his quality.

Redknapp will have to convince the midfielder to stay at the club and help them get back into the Champions League in the 2012-13 season. The Tottenham manager is also one of the candidates to take over from England manager Fabio Capello, though Spurs will be keen to hold on to him. 

Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish was appointed as the interim manager of Liverpool FC following a bad spell of results under Roy Hodgson, who had clearly lost the support of the fans. With the fans not having optimism, Liverpool's new owners turned to the legendary striker to rejuvenate the club. Though the club initially started slowly under Dalglish, he managed to turn around the fortunes of the club as they finished the season with a lot of optimism regarding the 2011-12 season.

Dalglish was appointed as the permanent manager of Liverpool, which was what the fans wanted, and Liverpool have been very active in the transfer window, sealing deals for Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Alexander Doni and Jordan Henderson as they look forward to achieving glory in the near future. He has also helped in the development of youngsters and will look for more talents from the academy as well.

The Scotsman has shown good faith in youngsters like Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly but his problem in the summer would be to offload players who are not part of his plans for the next season and with some players on high wages, Liverpool could struggle to find buyers who could match the wages paid by the Reds.

Andre Villas-Boas was appointed as the new manager of Chelsea following the sacking of Italian Carlo Ancelotti, who won the Premiership and the FA Cup in 2009-10 season with the Blues. Villas-Boas has previously worked at Chelsea FC as assistant to former Blues manager Jose Mourinho and is familiar working with the players.

The Portuguese tactician was signed by Chelsea after meeting the release clause in his contract with FC Porto, who were reluctant to let him leave the club. Villas-Boas had an excellent season with Porto helping them to win the league without losing a single game and also won the Europa League in his first season at the club. 

Though comparisons with Jose Mourinho are inevitable at this point in his career, Villas-Boas does not prefer to be compared to any other manager and is determined to make an impact at Stamford Bridge, which will be a big move in his career. Villas-Boas will look to bring in new additions to the club in the summer because he knows that many of Chelsea's key players are on the wrong side of 30 and they could sustain injuries over the course of the season. 

The Manchester City manager has had a lot of criticism in the past but it cannot be denied that slowly but surely, he has built the foundation of a team that could be successful in the years to come. Though City have spent big on players in the last few seasons, the same could be said about Chelsea or Liverpool in this summer, who have spent a lot on Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam.

City won the FA Cup in the last season and eventually finished above Arsenal in the Premiership which meant that they would directly qualify for the group stages of the Champions League. Mancini is still interested in signing some new players in the summer and they are in a better position to attract better players than they were in the last summer.

Though many have criticized City's style of play, Mancini has built a defensively strong team that is capable of having flair in attack with the likes of David Silva and Adam Johnson in the team and could play with more freedom next season. New signing Gael Clichy will also be an advantage in this regard, as the former Arsenal winger is capable of making bombarding runs down the left and can be an offensive threat as well. 

Though the Frenchman has come under increased pressure following Arsenal's six-year trophy drought, it should be remembered that the Gunners spend much less than any of their rivals and if not for their spectacular collapse following the defeat in the Carling Cup final, they would have finished much higher, having challenged Manchester United for most of the season.

Wenger has become increasingly frustrated after Arsenal's recent failings but according to John Cross on his blog on the Mirror, the Frenchman seems to have rediscovered his smile and is back to his old ways in the tour to Asia and it is good for Arsenal that the manager is in good spirits after their ill-fated campaign last year.

The Arsenal manager is one who does not reveal transfer targets, which is understandable at this time of the summer, but he could be active in the summer after Arsenal's failure to end the trophy drought in the last season. Wenger has confirmed that an agreement has been reached regarding Lille winger Gervinho, who will be the first arrival, though fans will be hoping for many other deals to go through as well.

Sir Alex Ferguson was like a youngster enjoying his moment of limelight when Manchester United won the Premiership in the 2010-11 season and he has finally accomplished his aim of "knocking Liverpool off their perch" by winning the historic 19th title. Ferguson has built many teams in his time at United but he will not like any team of him being outplayed like the way they were by Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley.

He has made changes in the summer and has moved in quick to seal the signings of Ashley Young, David De Gea and Phil Jones, though it is yet to be seen whether United can bring in a creative central midfielder as the replacement for United legend Paul Scholes. The long-serving manager has established himself as one of the best managers in the history of the game and he still has the motivation to succeed.

However, the Scotsman knows that he cannot continue on forever but he has already created the foundation of a team that could be there for the next decade and has shown interest in promising youngsters. Phil Jones, Javier Hernandez, Chris Smalling and David De Gea are all excellent signings by the manager and they are certain to further develop under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson.