Kilmarnock have enjoyed an exceptional turnaround since Steve Clarke took over the reins at the Ayrshire club last October. He’s brought both stability and quality back to Kilmarnock and it would be hard to undermine his efforts.
Clarke has taken the club from relegation battles to assured top finishers, started an unbeaten run that extended into March, won Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month three times since December, reignited a long lost spark among supporters which had lain dormant in the previous few seasons before his arrival…
The list is endless, and now his remarkable rejuvenation of the Rugby Park side has been recognised by him being voted Manager of the Year by the Scottish Football Writers’ Association.
Clarke fought off competition from Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers, who is well on the way to taking the Hoops to a double treble for the first time in Scottish history, and Hibernian’s Neil Lennon, who brought his side back into the top flight for the first time in three years and managed to bring them up to fourth place.
Clarke, Lennon and Rodgers all manage teams in the top six of the Scottish Premier League and constantly have the attention of the media. It’s no wonder one of these managers would have won the Manager of the Year award. But now we’re looking at five other underrated managers who also deserved the accolade.
Ian McCall
After being relegated last season, Ian McCall led Ayr United to an instant promotion back into the second tier this season by winning the Ladbrokes League 1 title. His side were one of the top scoring SPFL teams, racking up 92 goals on their way to the title.
They were predicted to lift the trophy at the start of the season with experienced players like Michael Moffat in the squad and great additions like Chris Higgins and Andy Geggan adding leadership.
Jack Ross
The most obvious one would be St Mirren manager Jack Ross. At the end of April, Ross was named PFA Scotland Manager of the Year after he led the Saints to the Ladbrokes Championship title this season only 18 months after taking over with the club bottom of the same division.
After looking like they were certain for relegation to the third tier of Scottish football, it’s safe to say Ross performed minor miracles with the Paisley side. His story has been popular this season after the height of his success.
Stephen Robinson
Two cup finals for a provincial club like Motherwell is a huge achievement. Stephen Robinson managed to have a fairly safe season with two cup finals on a shoestring and even though they only managed to finish seventh in the league table – two spots higher than last year – Motherwell show that progress isn’t always marked by final standings.
But most impressive thing about Robinson this season is that he managed to do all of that after losing prolific striker Louis Moult, who scored 50 goals for the club, in January. He also managed to bring back more support and backing from their fans.
David Hopkin
Going into the season Livingston were expected to be the worst full-time team in the league and weren’t even viewed as promotion challengers. But they have gone on to secure a place in the Premier League after won in the play offs against Partick Thistle.
David Hopkins has achieved a massive feat for Livingston, and did so by only relying on a small handful of players including Alan Lithgow, Craig Halkett and Scott Pittman. He was also missing last season’s top goalscorer for the club, Liam Buchanan, who left for Raith Rovers in the summer.
Jim Goodwin
Jim Goodwin signed for Alloa Athletic last June and was appointed team manager in October after Ross moved to St Mirren.
He went on the lead the Scottish League One side to promotion to the Scottish Championships after a dramatic play-off win away to Dumbarton. Not only did they get promoted, but it also meant that Dumbarton were relegated to League 1 after spending six consecutive seasons in the Championship.
This is a huge feat for any manager never mind one who spends four days a week working in Cadbury’s chocolate factory.
Yorumlar