Championship 2023/24: Top Five Managers of the Season

EFL pundit Gab Sutton picks out his top five high-performing managers from the Championship in 2023/24...

• Read: League One Managers of the Season
• Read: League Two Managers of the Season

5. Enzo Maresca

Some will argue it’s unfair for Enzo Maresca to only be number five, when so many title-winning managers also win Manager of the Year.

Others, meanwhile, will argue Leicester’s success says very little about Maresca’s coaching credentials, when their embarrassment of riches is such that £7.5M striker in Tom Cannon, who would have been first-choice for Play-Off contenders Hull or West Brom, is their own fourth-choice.

Reality lies somewhere in between.

Yes, Leicester have had very obvious advantages that it would be pointless to shy away from, yet it still takes a certain level of skill to implement his ideas, like using Ricardo Pereira as an inverted right-back.

Pereira himself is familiar with the remit from his time with Portugal, but the implications for the team are that there is no full-back or wing-back available in possession on either side, with James Justin or Callum Doyle tucking into a back-three from left-back.

The players needed to grasp the nuances of asking Wilfred Ndidi and Abdul Fatawu to share wing-back duties on the right, with Wout Faes supporting from behind.

Without Maresca’s ability to communicate his ideas effectively, the players might not have grasped the nuances and perhaps the team would have ended up being too narrow, and vulnerable to being pounced on with quick turnovers.

For that reason, the Italian does make our top five – though executing his plans in the Premier League is another matter. 

4. Carlos Corberán

Shilen Patel’s takeover of West Bromwich Albion, bringing with it the prospect of a whole new dawn for the Black Country club, is now the main source of optimism at The Hawthorns – but it wasn’t always that way.

In an era of financial uncertainty, Corberán delivered competitive results with the Baggies – both in last season’s turnaround and a top six finish in this one – despite numerous structural issues.

In fairness to The Albion, they were getting sharper off-the-field just before Patel took charge, with Mark Miles doing some good work as Managing Director – but there were plenty of issues remaining from the mess Lai Guochuan created.

Without a coach of Corberán’s quality, West Brom might have finished midtable, but instead they’ve achieved a Play-Off spot with 18 clean sheets – only Leeds recording more – speaking to excellent organisation.

Goalkeeper Alex Palmer’s heroics have helped, sure, but the former Leeds assistant’s guidance has made Cédric Kipré one of the most progressive centre-backs in the league, and one of the most effective.

3. Martí Cifuentes

It became clear in Autumn that, for all the financial, structural and cultural challenges Gareth Ainsworth inherited at Loftus Road, and for all his motivational and inspirational qualities, that more technical and tactical nous was needed in the dugout.

Even so, many doubted whether, even with a more astute coach, QPR had enough quality in their squad to stay up – and in terms of domestic recruitment, they wouldn’t even be able to pay a transfer fee for the top performers in League Two that January, let alone League One.

In short, the Rs looked doomed – but Cifuentes proved everyone wrong.

The Spaniard was able to implement his ideas with limited personnel straight away, the mark of an excellent coach, while for January recruitment, he used the loan and European markets superbly.

Isaac Hayden and Joe Hodge strengthened the Hoops’ midfield after joining on loan from Newcastle and Wolves respectively, while Cifuentes used his contacts book to reunite with Lucas Andersen, who chipped in with a goal and four assists from attacking midfield.

Cifuentes’ stock has risen exponentially for his work in West London, and the challenge for QPR will be retaining his services this summer.

2. Danny Röhl

Exceptional escapology has been a theme of the Championship in 2023/24, and like Cifuentes, Danny Röhl has breathed life and hope into a club that once looked doomed.

The 35-year-old has a high-end coaching background, but had never been a number one before inheriting a team that had endured worst start in Championship history, and many feared the worst with natives protesting against Dejphon Chansiri’s ownership.

Röhl worked wonders, though, and delivered top-10 form with the Owls thanks to energetic, detail-driven coaching, after the structural shambles served up by Xisco Muñoz.

Getting the best out of defenders Bambo Diaby and Akin Famewo, right-back Pol Valentín, midfielder Will Vaulks and powerful wide runners in Anthony Musaba and Djeidi Gassama, Wednesday looked an entirely different side.

Natives are quietly confident of Röhl remaining at Hillsborough, and the reports are that talks with Chansiri are progressing well, but there’s clubs who will be interested in his talents with a stronger structural base and greater financial resources to offer him.

1. Kieran McKenna

We live in an era of Championship football that has felt increasingly predictable, especially in terms of automatic promotion races.

Before 2023/24, five of the previous six sides to finish in the top two were ones who had just come down from the Premier League the year before, and the other was Sheffield United, who were into their second season of parachute payments.

There hasn’t been an enormous shift to trends this season, either, with Leicester, Leeds and Southampton all in the mix for an instant return – but with one crucial difference.

Ipswich have stunned everyone by achieving back-to-back promotions, as the first team reach the Premier League via that route since Nigel Adkins’ Southampton went up in 2011/12.

In doing so, McKenna has established himself as one of the most exciting young managers in world football, with a long-term future among the game’s elite.

The Northern Irishman has cultivated an attractive brand of football at Portman Road but, crucially, what separates him from other talented coaches is his eye for detail, and his appreciation of the need for balance.

As such, while Russ Martin’s sides, for instance, are so befuddled with their style that they can’t always address basic defensive needs, McKenna’s sides have an equilibrium.

Even when the Tractor Boys have the ball, they have a plan for what to do should they lose it.

Leif Davis, for instance, is an extremely attacking left-back, and although he does have more than enough stamina to get back when needed, there’s a strategy to cover him.

If Massimo Luongo gets on the ball as the left-sided central midfielder in the duo, Sam Morsy as the starting right-sider will shuffle across to cover behind, while right-back Harry Clarke will tuck into his vacated midfield spot.

While this can mean much of their play gets concentrated down their left side, the right winger will stay wide as an outlet – Wes Burns can offer a threat if used in that role, but perhaps especially Isaac Hutchinson, who is a real livewire and deadly in 1v1s.

As such, Ipswich always have balance, which is why they have a reasonable defensive record whilst also being a great attacking side.

Town haven’t invested much to achieve the success they have, and the bulk of their squad were signed in League One, which speaks to excellent recruitment, strong man management and outstanding developmental qualities.

McKenna may have to prove his worth in the Premier League before earning a big move, but this guy will win a Champions League one day – you heard it from us first…