Former player and expert Chris Sutton and the football correspondent of the Post Ian Ladyman have appointed their Premier League managers of the year on the last episode of the 'It's All Kicking!' Podcast.
The hosts debated which of the four names, Arne Slot van Liverpool, Unai Emery of Aston Villa, Eddie Howe of Newcastle and Nuno Espírito Santo van Nottingham Forest, deserved the most before the crown.
Sutton stated that Nuno was his winner, given the size of his performance when taking a relegation-threatened side to probably Champions League football.
Last year under Steve Cooper, Forest finished 17th, after he had lost 20 of their 38 league games.
They are now in the third position, above large spenders Newcastle and Chelsea, after they have won the same number of games as Arsenal and the scalp of likely title winners Liverpool.
“People are really upset about these things, they all deserve winners,” said Sutton.
'But for me, people could have imagined Liverpool who won the competition, or Newcastle who won a trophy – but nobody could have seen Nuno's forest in the position in which they are now.
“They had most people in a relegation struggle. I personally thought they would just escape the drop.
'A FA Cup semi -final too, what a job that is! Nobody saw it coming, so Nuno would be my manager of the season. '
While Ladyman admitted that there is 'a very strong thing' for Nuno, he supported Liverpool manager Arne Slot for the prize instead.
Slot went a Liverpool side in the transition after the shock output of the beloved coach Jurgen Klopp.
The Dutch manager apparently won the competition with a side that had no income in the summer and had to deal with the speculation around the expiring contracts of club support pillars Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“Come to this country like Arne Slot, to replace a manager like Jurgen Klopp: it is the biggest challenge since David Moyes Sir Alex Ferguson in Manchester United replaced in 2013,” Ladyman said.
'The only thing he had to do was to finish fourth, but to win the Premier League and to end the top of the competition group of those champions, it is a huge achievement.
“As long as Liverpool does not fall before the end of the season of a cliff, I go for Arne Slot.”
The couple then debated which manager would come up with the 'Wooden Spoon', the not enviable distinction of the worst coach of the season.
The candidates they chose were Russel Martin van Southhampton, Erik ten Hag of Manchester United and the Ange Postecoglou from Tottenham.
Pundit Sutton went all the way to Erik ten Hag, with the argument that he had the time, the boardroom and Kitty had transferred to improve Manchester United.
United is likely to register their worst competition position ever and 12 points behind Brentford Kwijnen in the 12th.
Sutton said: 'Erik ten Hag had the time to improve Manchester United. The expectation for them at the start of the season was to really continue.
“He failed and spent an absolute fortune. None of where Manchester United is now confronted is on Ruben Amorim.
“Their fall was all set up by Erik ten Hag.”
Listen to the debate of Chris Sutton and Ian Ladyman completely on the latest 'It's all sticking!' Now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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