In a Premier League of managers, Howe would be Europe-bound and Bruce would be bottom of the pile
- Paul Okey
- 26 May 2022
Planet Sport reconfigures the 2021/22 Premier League table based on managers rather than teams and it makes encouraging reading for Newcastle fans. Everton supporters not so much.
Steve Bruce must look at the riches afforded Eddie Howe at Newcastle and wonder what might been. Wor Steve could have been in charge of the wealthiest team in the Championship!
As it is, he could only look on from afar (from the second tier ironically) as Howe fashioned a remarkable recovery which lifted the Magpies from the foot of the Premier League table to the dizzy heights of 11th.
It places Howe an impressive sixth of the 29 managers who took charge of at least five games in the top flight in 2021/22.
And while his impact at St James' Park was impressive, he still finished behind another in-season appointment when it came to our Premier League managers table.
Conte turns Tottenham around
Tottenham were eighth when Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked but turned their season around under Antonio Conte.
Averaging 1.5 points per game prior to his appointment, Spurs went on to pick up two points per game under Conte, rising to fourth as a result and putting the Italian third in our league table of managers.
2021/22 Premier League of Managers
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | PPG | ||
| 1 | Pep Guardiola (Man City) | 38 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 99 | 26 | 93 | 2.45 |
| 2 | Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool) | 38 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 94 | 26 | 92 | 2.42 |
| 3 | Antonio Conte (Tottenham) | 28 | 17 | 5 | 6 | 60 | 21 | 56 | 2 |
| 4 | Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea) | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 76 | 33 | 74 | 1.95 |
| 5 | Mikel Arteta (Arsenal) | 38 | 22 | 3 | 13 | 61 | 48 | 69 | 1.82 |
| 6 | Eddie Howe (Newcastle) | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 35 | 43 | 1.65 |
| 7 | Ralf Rangnick (Man Utd) | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 33 | 37 | 1.54 |
| 8 | Nuno Espirito Santo (Tottenham) | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 15 | 1.5 |
| 9 | David Moyes (West Ham) | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 60 | 51 | 56 | 1.47 |
| 10 | Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Man Utd) | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 21 | 17 | 1.42 |
| 11 | Mike Jackson (Burnley) | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 1.38 |
| 12 | Brendan Rodgers (Leicester) | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 62 | 59 | 52 | 1.37 |
| 13 | Graham Potter (Brighton) | 38 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 42 | 44 | 51 | 1.34 |
| 14 | Bruno Lage (Wolves) | 38 | 15 | 6 | 17 | 38 | 43 | 51 | 1.34 |
| 15 | Steven Gerrard (Aston Villa) | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 38 | 34 | 35 | 1.3 |
| 16 | Patrick Vieira (Crystal Palace) | 38 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 50 | 46 | 48 | 1.26 |
| 17 | Jesse Marsch (Leeds) | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 1.25 |
| 18 | Thomas Frank (Brentford) | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 48 | 56 | 46 | 1.21 |
| 19 | Frank Lampard (Everton) | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 19 | 31 | 20 | 1.1 |
| 20 | Ralph Hasenhuttl (Southampton) | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 43 | 67 | 40 | 1.05 |
| 21 | Xisco Munoz (Watford) | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| 22 | Rafael Benitez (Everton) | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 19 | 1 |
| 23 | Marcelo Bielsa (Leeds) | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 29 | 60 | 23 | 0.88 |
| 24 | Sean Dyche (Burnley) | 30 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 25 | 44 | 24 | 0.8 |
| 25 | Dean Smith (Aston Villa/Norwich) | 38 | 7 | 6 | 25 | 32 | 78 | 27 | 0.71 |
| 26 | Claudio Ranieri (Watford) | 13 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 16 | 30 | 7 | 0.54 |
| 27 | Roy Hodgson (Watford) | 18 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 37 | 9 | 0.5 |
| 28 | Daniel Farke (Norwich) | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 26 | 5 | 0.45 |
| 29 | Steve Bruce (Newcastle) | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 3 | 0.38 |
Howe's appointment transformed Newcastle's fortunes and another team who experienced a sharp pick-up in form under a new manager were Burnley.
Eleven points from eight games, gave acting manager Mike Jackson an average of 1.38, far superior to outgoing manager Sean Dyche's 0.8. Sadly, it wasn't enough to stave off the drop.
Everton safe but not sound
Staying around the relegation zone, Everton were celebrating after Frank Lampard led them to safety in their penultimate game of the campaign.
It saw Lampard finish with a points per game average of 1.1, remarkably similar to his predecessor Rafael Benitez, who averaged a point a game. Still, much better to have someone who failed to get Derby out of the Championship than someone who led Liverpool to European glory.
Another manager to have been chugging along at a point a game was Xisco Munoz at Watford (17th), who was nevertheless relieved of his duties to be followed by Claudio Ranieri (0.54ppg) and Roy Hodgson (0.5ppg).
Of the managers still in a job, and still in the Premier League, Ralph Hasenhuttl finished the lowest, coming in at 20th.
And, despite what Manchester United fans might tell you, Ralf Rangnick has also been an improvement on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford, with the interim manager sitting seventh in our table. Solskjaer is down in 10th.
Not surprisingly the top four managers are the ones in charge of the Premier League's top four, with Pep Guardiola leading the way with an average of 2.45 points per game.
