Top Five Managers of the Championship Season so far

Who have been the best managers of the Championship season so far?

EFL pundit Gab Sutton picks out his top five with full justifications...

5. Mark Robins (Coventry City)

In contrast with the new names on this list, reliable Mark Robins is a more familiar face.

The Coventry boss has been in his current job for five and a half years, overseeing progression every season.

Under Robins’ tutelage, the Sky Blues won two promotions in three seasons before securing comfortable survival in the first year back in the Championship, followed by an impressive top half finish.

With big hitters Gus Hamer, Callum O’Hare and Viktor Gyokeres staying in the summer, optimism was high of a strong Play-Off tilt after some compelling showings last term.

Coventry weren’t able to hit the ground running because their pitch had been damaged in the Commonwealth Games and, because the EFL had declined their initial request to have home and away fixtures reversed for the first month, they ended up having three games postponed.

That, combined with a return of one point from their first five games made the picture look bleak for Robins, but a September point at both Luton and Birmingham steadied the ship, before they began October with victory over Middlesbrough.

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That triumph prompted a return of 26 points from 12 games, culminating most recently in four successive wins to nil, which catapulted the Midlanders up the table.

Having been bottom of the league and seven points adrift of safety (with games in hand) before the run, Coventry are now 11th and a mere two points off the Play-Offs.

The Sky Blues don’t have the biggest squad and, under different management, the early-season pressure might have got to them, but Robins’ cool-headed leadership has proved crucial once again – maybe those pre-season Play-Off dreams weren’t so fanciful after all…

4. Gary Rowett (Millwall)

The big question for Millwall, heading into 2022-23, was how to replace the creative ingenuity of Jed Wallace – so influential over the previous four seasons.

The Lions had to break their transfer record to do it but, having signed Zian Flemming, they have the answer.

Bringing exquisite quality on the field and an approachable character off it, the Fortuna Sittard recruit is already a hit with locals, who dub him “the Bermondsey Bergkamp”.

Flemming has missed part of the campaign through injury yet has still scored eight goals in 17 league games, scoring a hat-trick in the 4-2 win at Preston North End and is considered one of the stars of the Championship, having been nominated for October Player of the Month.

The 24-year-old brings leadership as well as natural ability, but it would be wrong to forget the contributions of Tom Bradshaw and another recruit, Andreas Voglsammer.

Bradshaw’s movement and work rate makes him a key line-leader for the Londoners, even though he hasn’t been able to add consistency after a hat-trick against Watford, while Voglsammer is incredibly hardworking, has a thunderous strike on him and has not been far off opening his account.

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With so much potential going forward, the task for Millwall has been to get the attack clicking, whilst re-establishing the solid defensive base from Rowett’s first two seasons in charge.

The Lions had kept 44 clean sheets in his first 125 league games in charge, conceding more than once just 37 times in that sequence, up to the end of 2021-22.

This season, the defence started shaky with 16 goals conceded in the first 11 games, and only two clean sheets, but Rowett then switched from the back-five he’s used for most of his Millwall tenure to the 4-2-3-1 more commonly associated with his work at previous clubs like Birmingham and Derby.

Since the change of formation, the Lions have taken a whopping 16 points from nine games, keeping four clean sheets.

With Billy Mitchell starring in midfield, Millwall have a formula that could see them secure a top six finish – sign the right centre-forward in January and who knows? 

3. Paul Heckingbottom (Sheffield United)

In some respects, Sheffield United being second is to be expected.

The Blades, relegated from the Premier League in 2021, were much-fancied for promotion this season after the improvement in form under Paul Heckingbottom last season saw them earn a Play-Off spot, ultimately suffering a Semi-Final defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Morgan Gibbs-White is the only notable loss from that squad, and while the borrowed Wolves attacker was fantastic, fresh quality has been added in the loan market in Tommy Doyle and James McAtee from Manchester City.

So, why the fuss over Hecky?

The answer is injuries. United have suffered 24 of them at various points this season to 19 different players, and they’ve made team selections tricky for the former League One promotion-winner.

Sometimes the Barnsley-born boss has had insufficient left-siders to select with various combinations of Max Lowe, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Jack Robinson, Enda Stevens, Jack O’Connell and Ben Osborn injured.

Sometimes the only right-sided players - Jayden Bogle, Chris Basham, George Baldock – haven’t been fully fit, and the manager has had to pick one or two of them and simply hope they don’t break down.

Other times, he’s been forced to play right wing-back Bogle at left wing-back, or start a youngster like Oli Arblaster in midfield, because Sander Berge, John Fleck, Ismaila Coulibaly and Doyle are all absent.

In some cases, Chris Basham, Billy Sharp and Rhian Brewster aren’t having good seasons, but they’ve still played in 48 league games between them, largely because of the shortage of competition.

These issues mean Heckingbottom hasn’t always been able to get the starting XI spot on, and so much has been dictated by circumstance, but he’s still impacted things with his in-game changes and proactive tactical approach.

In fact, the Blades have scored a stunning 21 second-half goals, conceding just the eight, giving them the best post-interval record in the Championship – they hit four past Burnley in that period to storm to a 5-2 victory over the leaders.

The month-long interlude will give United the space to sort out the injury situation, and with a fully fit squad, there could be no stopping them.

2. John Eustace (Birmingham City)

It’ll be impossible for Birmingham City to be a truly united club until there is a new ownership regime, who care about the club and are willing to invest sensibly with a sustainable plan in place.

Right now, Blues are as united as it’s possible to be until that happens, and it’s all thanks to John Eustace.

When the former Ireland assistant was appointed in the summer, there was a mild recognition that he had some good reviews in coaching circles, had a Kidderminster Harriers side once known as the “non-league Barcelona”, and had done some good work at QPR.

Any optimism gleaned from that was overwhelmed by the pessimism that followed an uninspiring 2021-22 campaign, in which Birmingham limbered to safety through the issues with Derby, Peterborough and Barnsley more than their own merits.

They began preparations with a wafer-thin squad devoid of permanent, peak-age performers, with no signs of the change of ownership natives had protested for last season.

All these issues made the job look a poisoned chalice for Eustace, but the 43-year-old has done an incredible job on multiple levels.

Firstly, he’s built a fit, reliable pressing unit: Blues tend to play with a mid-block but they sustain it for 90 minutes because they pick the right moments to be more aggressive, but other times are prepared to stay compact.

Rarely does his team massively drop-off or invite pressure later on in games: they hold firm right until the end.

Secondly, he’s established far clearer, more coherent patterns of play: some of the one-touch football on display has been a delight to witness.

Eustace has also improved individuals: Harlee Dean, Maxime Colin, Troy Deeney, Juninho Bacuna and Scott Hogan tended to be a five or six out of 10 last season, but are now a seven or an eight.

Goalkeeper John Ruddy, athletic left-sided defender Auston Trusty, anchor man Krystian Bielik, all-action midfielder Hannibal Mejbri and speedy winger Emmanuel Longelo have all been hits in B9, which shows Eustace has got players settled straight away.

The Head Coach has also worked wonders with youngsters George Hall, Josh Williams and Jobe Bellingham, who have had to be part of the squad due to the lack of depth at the start of the season.

Added to that, Eustace has galvanized the fanbase through his passion: he’s taken the club to his heart and that’s been reciprocated by Bluenoses.

1. Vincent Kompany (Burnley)

It’s very easy to say that Vincent Kompany’s job has been made easier by having huge parachute payments, and inheriting a side that had just been relegated from the Premier League.

Burnley spent northwards of £25m on transfer fees when, for context, Millwall had to break their transfer record to sign Zian Flemming for £1.7m.

However, recruitment in Sean Dyche’s later years in charge had been short-termist at best, so a big part of the remit was to rejuvenate what had been an old squad with some talent and exuberance, whilst increasing the financial value of the group.

18 of the 22 players brought in are under 24, with the oldest recruit being 26-year-old Josh Cullen.

One can summise, therefore, that if Burnley finished seventh or eighth this season, playing good football and building towards a clear stylistic identity but just fell short through moments of naivety at either end, Kompany would have been judged to have done a good job.

Instead, he’s not only completely revolutionised the playing style, but also built within that an incredibly effective team.

Rather than being a promising but inconsistent work-in-progress, the Clarets are top of the Championship, five points clear of third.

They probe patiently from the back through Taylor Harwood-Bellis, with the potential to play through the press thanks to Jack Cork and Josh Cullen’s bravery on the ball.

Whilst being patient, they can also accelerate play rapidly in wide areas through Ian Maatsen and others, then bring mobile, agile, skilful forwards like Manuel Benson, Anass Zaroury or Nathan Tella into the game in the final third.

Add the smattering of proven Championship quality of midfielder Josh Brownhill and forward Jay Rodriguez and Burnley are significantly outperforming fellow relegated clubs.

Despite, this is, the fact that Watford and Norwich would have been considered to have better squads on paper before the season, which speaks volumes for the quality of Kompany’s coaching and man management qualities.

Listen to Kompany speak and it’s clear he’s a motivator who can capture attention, who commands authority, and can ignite a team into life.