Chris Sutton insists his No 1 pick for the greatest Premier League manager of all time is ‘OBVIOUS’ on It’s All Kicking Off… but does departing Jurgen Klopp make his top five as he and Ian Ladyman debate the best bosses?

Jurgen Klopp is one of the top-five Premier League managers of all time, according to Chris Sutton but he is a long way off the consensus number one pick.  

The Liverpool boss announced that he would be leaving the Anfield club at the end of the season last week, bringing an end to a trophy-laden nine-year stay on Merseyside. 

The Reds ended a 30-year wait for a top-flight title under his management and also claimed the Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and World Club Championship along the way. 

For these remarkable achievements – that earned the 56-year-old the distinction of being the only Liverpool boss to claim the full slate of major trophies – Sutton and Ladyman believe he has done enough to be recognised among the finest bosses in the division’s history. 

On Monday’s episode of It’s All Kicking Off, co-host Sutton went as far as to rank the German in the top three, ahead of Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. Though, he remains behind his Premier League rival, while both hosts were united in their top pick. 

It’s All Kicking Off co-hosts Ian Ladyman (left) and Chris Sutton (right) debated the top five Premier League managers in history 

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‘At number five, I will say Arsene Wenger.’ Sutton said. ‘What he did at Arsenal, the 97, 98 team, the greatest Arsenal team I’ve ever seen, but invincible, as well. 

‘Four, Jose Mourinho. The special one. When he came in, he was cocky, he was arrogant, but boy did he back it up. The Chelsea team, which he was manager of, absolutely phenomenal. 

‘At three, Jurgen Klopp. Got Liverpool back to their glorious best, won a Champions League, won a Premier League, totally transformed the Liverpool team. At two, Pep Guardiola. The brand of football which he’s played with, we’ve never seen the likes of the football which Pep’s Manchester City have played in the Premier League. 

‘He’s won a Champions League now, been such a dominant force with Manchester City. Number one, it’s obvious. Head and shoulders above everybody else. Sir Alex out there on his own, 13 Premier League titles, a couple of Champions Leagues in there as well. So pretty straightforward that actually.’

His co-host Ladyman took the question a step further than the brief and enquired whether the former Man United boss was not only the best in Premier League history but the best of all time, due to his unparalleled 26-year tenure at Old Trafford.  

‘If you were doing your five from all time would Fergie be on top of that list as well?’ Ladyman said. ‘Because I think he would be of mine. 

‘It’s just because of longevity. Klopp is going after eight-and-a-half, nine years because he’s worn out. Guardiola will go in the next two or three years by which stage he’ll have done about 10, which is a lot, but he’s not even halfway to what Fergie did, it’s just the longevity. 

‘Even Wenger couldn’t do the longevity. He tried but he was a shadow of himself by the end. So, Fergie would be top of my all-time list.’ 

To go with his record-13 Premier League titles, eight more than second-place Guardiola, Ferguson also claimed a couple of European Cups, four League Cups and five FA Cups. 

Sir Alex Ferguson claimed a record-13 Premier League titles during an unprecedented period of success at Old Trafford

Only Ferguson has won more Premier League crowns than Pep Guardiola, while the City boss also has three Champions Leagues to his name

Arsene Wenger took the top-flight by storm when he arrived and became the first foreign manager to win the division in 1998. The Gunners also claimed the double

Bolstering Ladyman’s claim, before he joined United he had already collected four top-flight Scottish titles, four Scottish Cups and the 1983 European Cup Winners Cup – achieved after his Aberdeen side prevailed over Real Real Madrid.

‘That’s a great point,’ Sutton continued. ‘Physically, mentally, the toll it takes on managers and it’s remarkable how Sir Alex went on for so long.’

With the top three locked in, the only point of contention was the name in fourth place, who Ladyman believed should be Wenger. The Frenchman’s arrival brought with it a wave of new ideas and training methods that revolutionised the English game. 

For this, he reckons the former Gunners boss should be placed higher than his Portuguese counterpart, despite failing to win the European Cup.  

‘It’s a cliche, but it’s true,’ Ladyman continued. ‘Wenger taught us a lot. He did. He contributed so much more than the success he brought on the field and Jose didn’t really, what did Jose teach us?’

‘It was remarkable what Mourinho did.’ Sutton replied. ‘I played in the Celtic team which lost the UEFA final to him 2003. They then won the Champions League, which was remarkable. 

‘To come over and sit in a press conference and call himself the special one, I mean, whatever you guys were thinking. But then he backed it up. He did. He was brilliant in the early days and then he turned a little bit moody, like us all.’

‘A little bit moody, that’s like saying I’m a little bit short.’ Added Ladyman. ‘He was a force of nature for sure. Fergie was so obsessed with Chelsea. 

Jose Mourinho led Chelsea to back-to-back Premier League titles in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge

Ladyman revealed Ferguson’s reaction to Mourinho’s first sacking at Chelsea in 2007

‘They worried him because of the money they had. Fergie changed a lot of what United did. For example, in pre-season, because Chelsea under Mourinho, hit the ground running every season, win, win. There was no getting into a season slowly. 

‘Fergie saw him as such a threat. The night that they sacked Mourinho [the press pack] were on a plane coming back from a Man United European game when the news broke. 

‘It was the only time Fergie ever came down the back of the plane to see us lot and ask whether it was true because he couldn’t believe it.  He couldn’t believe he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.’