Top Managers Who Shaped Manchester City’s Destiny

Manchester are undoubtedly one of the most historic and successful clubs in domestic club history. They have won numerous titles and collected some notable achievements throughout the years. Most of Manchester City’s recent accomplishments include winning the Champions League during the 2022-23 season as part of an historic treble. This was the very first time Manchester City won the European Cup, and it also strengthened the legacy of Pep Guardiola as one of the best managers of all time. But you must know about some of the other finest managers in Manchester City who helped them to be more successful and dominant than other clubs.

Let’s have a look at some of the top-graded Manchester City managers, their achievements and accolades, and their huge impact on the direction of the club’s future. Current Manchester City manager Guardiola has undoubtedly shaped and developed one of the finest and most successful teams in the history of domestic football. However, some other popular managers like Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini also generated a big impact and played an important role in the journey of Manchester City. We will discuss the club’s manager and analyze their key roles, which are responsible for the club’s great and successful run.

• Pep Guardiola: 2016 – Present

Pep Guardiola is considered one of the greatest managers not just in recent times but of all time in the entire history of football. It’s fair to acknowledge that Pep ranks a lot higher than any other manager of Manchester City. 

The present Man City manager has directed them to become one of the finest and dominant forces in the whole football world. His accomplishments include winning 5 Premier League titles, four League Cups, one FA Cup and the Champions League. Having all these trophies in the cabinet of Man City is the result of countless hours of hard work done by Guardiola, and that’s the reason why he is the greatest manager of all time. 

Moreover, his biggest accomplishment is helping Manchester City win the treble in the 2022/23 season, when they won the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup. They also become the first-ever team to win all the English trophies that are available in one season. These achievements include winning the Community Shield, League Cup, FA Cup, and Premier League in the season of 2018-2019. 

• Manuel Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini is the man who is responsible for bringing up a new and fresh culture to Manchester City after the club went through months of challenges and struggles with Robert Mancini. Pellegrini became in charge at Malaga, where he proved himself to be a game changer and aided the ordinary Spanish team, which arrived in further stages of Champions League football. 

After taking over the management at City, Pellegrini established himself as a top coach, turning City into a prolific goal-scoring team. Manchester City scored 151 goals in their 2013-14 campaign in all competitions; breaking the record of Manchester United’s “Busby Babes,” which was set in the 1957-58 season. 

Pellegrini helped the club to win the Premier League title in his very first season at the helm. These reasons made him the first non-European manager ever to win the big competition, the English Premier League. When he left the club, Pellegrini had successfully managed to conquer the fifth-highest winning percentage in the entire history of the Premier League.

• Tom Maley 

Tom Maley is also a huge name among the finest managers and also one of the most important managers for Manchester City. His guidance and footballing brilliance helped the club to dominate and reign in the domestic clubs. He is the brother of the Celtic legend Willie Maley and took the responsibilities of manager role at Man City in 1902. He worked rapidly on the players’ style of playing the game and came up with a unique style that became famous in those times. 

He guided City back to the First Division by getting victorious in the Second Division with just three points but with an impactful 95 goals and 24 conceded in just 32 games. Afterward, in their first year on the top of the list, they finished in the 2nd spot of the league to The Wednesday, which was well known as Sheffield Wednesday, where this time they also got 3 points. Apart from knocking out of the League, Maley aided Man City in accomplishing their first-ever major trophy by winning the prestigious FA Cup in 1904.

Maley was also involved in the dark scandal of English football bribery in 1905, but here we are aiming for the good. Well, we can say without any doubt that he was mainly the first manager to bring massive honors to the club, and that’s the reason why Maley is on the 3rd number of this legendary list.

• Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini was the man who was responsible for the transformation of Manchester City after it was sold out in the late 2000s. He was signed after the departure of Mark Hughes, and he started his work to turn the club to be more tactical, ambitious, and technical both on and off the field. He previously worked as the coach for Inter Milan. Manchester City consists of a number of top-grade managers from their club in history. The latest ones have contributed massively to the current success of the team, but you should not forget about the former days of glory. 

In his first summer when he was in charge, Mancini brought in many talented and emerging players like David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov, and Yaya Toure. All these players later became the main and important players for the club for many years. Manchester City got their Championship League Football qualification in the very first season of Robert Mancini, and afterward, they rapidly became a dominant force to be reckoned with. 

In 2012, Mancini helped City win the Premier League title in a glorious manner when they shockingly stole away the title from Manchester United after a brilliant last-second goal by Sergio Aguero against Queens Park Rangers. Robert Mancini was undoubtedly a hero in the City of Manchester because of his contributions and the capabilities he had to accomplish with the club. 

He conquered an FA Cup and a Community Shield when he was giving his services as a manager, but he was relieved from his duties, and Manuel Pellegrini was appointed as the new manager of Man City. 

• Kevin Keegan

In 2001, football legend Kevin Keegan arrived in Man City at a very unfortunate time. The team, under the guidance and leadership of Joe Royle, has just been downgraded to Division One. Morale was understandably low.

Regrouping both players and staff, Keegan successfully recruited emerging and world-class talented players like Stuart Pearce, Ali Benarbia, and Eyal Berkovic. All these players had enough international experience to maintain and forward the team. Just one season later, Manchester City were back in the Premiership, where it successfully scored 108 goals and showed its brilliance on a big stage.

In the second season of Keegan, he watched the club qualify for the UEFA Cup by winning the Manchester Derby for the very first time since 1989. The club went from being downgraded to finishing dominantly and comfortably in the top half of the Premier League table. If you are planning to watch Manchester City’s charisma live on the ground, Seatsnet Marketplace can be your best bet, as all the tickets listed on their website come from trusted sellers only.