The English
Premier League does not only boast of some of the world’s best footballers. It
also parades some the greatest – and best-paid – managers. But who among this
elite team of managers rank among the best dressed?
Why do they
even wear suits when they are overseeing a sport where players end up very
dirty and sweaty after just one and a half hours?
According to
new research by scientists at the University of Portsmouth, the clothing that
coaches wear can have a direct effect on the players’ perceptions of his
ability.
Dr. Richard
Thelwell, who headed the research, said that managers who wear suits on match
days and tracksuits on training days are more likely to get the best out of
their teams.
“In our
study, coaches wearing a suit were perceived as being more strategically
competent than those wearing sporting attire,” he said.
“However, when wearing
sporting attire, they were perceived to be more technically competent than those
in a suit.”
Because the
suits are actually work clothes, many managers don’t really go for designer
suits from Saville Row. However, a few managers have shown that they are men of
style and have taken this opportunity to make fashion statements on and off the
field.
The list would
have been a lot more exciting if the debonair Roberto Mancini, suave Andre
Villas-Boas and urbane Roberto Martinez were still managing Premier League
teams. But, as they say, you can’t have it all.
So, here are the Premiership’s
10 best-dressed managers – according to this blog.
1. Pep
Guardiola – Manchester City
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| Guardiola Picture: GQ.com |
Guardiola’s
perfectly cut slim suits and his trademark skinny tie are as sexy as the
football his teams play. The Spaniard’s dressing also epitomizes his sleek style
on the football field. He is trendy and stylish and his suits fit him like a
glove. He dresses with effortless cool.
Last year the
45-year-old signed a four-year personal endorsement deal with Gore-Tex, a
company renowned for making comfortable and durable outdoor clothing.
For the
duration of the deal, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss will appear
in print and online advertisements as Gore-Tex carries out a global promotional
campaign for its windproof and waterproof jackets and shoes.
Guardiola is
also a brand ambassador for global sports brand Adidas, a testimony to his
appeal.
2. Jose
Mourinho – Manchester United
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| Mourinho Picture: mainlinemenswear.com |
Mourinho can
often be seen sporting Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna and Hugo Boss designs. Little
wonder, he has coached teams in some of the world’s fashion capitals – Milan,
Madrid and London.
Manchester
United’s recent bad run has made the “Special One” ditch his suits for more
casual clothes in the dugout.
However, the Portuguese remains one of the
Premier League’s more stylish managers. His endorsement of huge brands like
Hublot watches, Jaguar, BT Sport, Adidas, Atlantis Hotels, Lipton Tea and EA
Sports is no fluke.
Recently he
also signed a two-year deal with Heineken worth £4 million. This huge portfolio
of endorsements earn him around £10 million a year on top of his £12 million
salary. That effectively makes him the highest paid manager in the world. He
doesn’t have an excuse not to dress well.
3. Mark Hughes
– Stoke City
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| Hughes Picture: Daily Mail |
Hughes,
wherever he is, always looks sharp. He constantly appears in the dugout in
well-tailored suits and brilliant striped ties. From his days as manager of
Blackburn Rovers, the 52-year-old Welshman has always appeared on the touchline looking like a
fashion model.
The former Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona
player never has a hair out of place, even when Stoke is going through a rough
patch – which happens a lot.
Hughes, who won a truckload of medals as a
player, was the first player to win the PFA Player of the Year twice (1989 and
1991). However, Sparky hasn’t won any major trophy yet as a manager. If only
there was a prize for best-dressed manager!
4. Arsene
Wenger – Arsenal
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| Wenger Picture: Daily Mail |
When he is not
struggling with the zip of his over-sized overcoat, Wenger, Arsenal’s longest
serving manager, can appear rather dashing. At 67 he still looks fit and trim,
making his suits sit perfectly on his athletic body.
Those who mock the
Frenchman’s frequent struggles with his zip may not know that he is actually a man
of style. When he was featured on the cover of L’Equipe’s Sport & Style
supplement there were gasps of delight from friends and foes alike.
Wenger also
showed his class by introducing up-market Lanvin suits to Arsenal’s first team
players. The outfit is slim-fit double-cuffed white poplin shirts, Arsenal-red
ties, dark navy cardigans and shiny black derby shoes.
This, says The
Telegraph, makes Arsenal “by far and away the best dressed team in
Britain.”
That’s the same
style the Professor wears on match days. But he really needs to ditch that
overcoat.
5. David Moyes
– Sunderland
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| Moyes Picture: Daily Mail |
The 53-year-old
manager is under enormous pressure as his bottom-of-the-league team struggles.
But that has not affected his dressing.
The former
Everton and Manchester United manager always looks like he’s going to a
business meeting and not overseeing a struggling Premier League team. The
personification of cool, he manages to look unfazed as his hapless team loses
match after match.
If only Moyes could get his team to play as well as he dresses, Sunderland would be way up
the Premier League table.
6. Alan Pardew
– Crystal Palace
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| Pardew Picture: The Sun |
Pardew is
always impeccably dressed and looks like a perfect gentleman. His slim six-foot
frame makes clothes sit on him comfortably and sophisticatedly. But as they
say, the hood dies not make the monk. The 55-year-old Englishman is feisty and
controversial.
Pardew, who was
described as “a dangerous and distant animal” by the BBC in 2003, has been
involved in several spats with fellow managers, match officials and even
opposing players. Last season he called then Manchester City manager Manuel
Pellegrini “a f*king in old c*nt.”
In 2014 the FA
fined him a whopping £100,000 for head-butting a Hull City player. After all
the skirmishes, the gentleman in him comes out again and he usually apologises
for his misdemenours.
As manager of
Newcastle, he won both the Premier League Manager of the Season and the LMA
Manager of the Year in the 2011-12 season. He can easily win the best-dressed
English manager. After all, he is the highest ranked manager from England in
the Premier League.
7. Slaven Bilic
– West Ham
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| Bilic Picture: famousfix.com |
Slaven Bilic has a degree in Law but he could easily be mistaken for
an actor, courtesy of his piercing eyes and athletic 6ft 2in frame.
Although the
48-year-old Croatian is not particularly trendy, his suits sit rather well on
him.
In 2014, the
former Everton and West Ham defender graced the cover of GQ, an international
monthly magazine known for men’s fashion and style.
On that day he apparently
forgot all about football and turned into a fashion model, posing for a photo
shoot. The result, to say the least, was fabulous.
8. Sean Dyche –
Burnley
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| Dyche Picture: TalkSPORT |
If you hear
Sean Dyche’s voice without seeing him you would be forgiven for not associating
him with top-class dressing. He has the voice of gravel.
But Dyche is far from
rugged. He dresses impeccably always. Even when he’s not wearing a jacket, his
fitted white shirt and tie make him stand out.
He may have
inherited his dress sense from his father who was a management consultant for
British Steel Corporation. And he has a passion for good shoes.
“I don’t have
an Imelda Marcos obsession,” he told the Lancashire Telegraph, “but I love a
good pair of hand-made leather shoes.”
The Englishman,
who has guided the club to two promotions to the Premier League in three
seasons, says Burnley’s team spirit is based on “old-fashioned values.”
However, his dress sense is certainly not old fashioned. After all, he’s just
45, one of the youngest managers in the Premier League.
9. Claudio Ranieri – Leicester
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| Ranieri Picture: Daily Express |
Claudio Ranieri is
Italian. So he must be a man of style – even if it is subtle.
Last season,
Ranieri, a very simple and unassuming man, was promised £1.5 million if he
could keep Leicester in the Premier League. But he ended up winning it, getting
a £5 million winning bonus instead.
He also created
one of the most improbable victories in the history of football, defying
bookmakers’ odds of 5000 to 1. Now he has become the most popular man in the
city.
While endorsing
Leicester-based clothing company Just Hype, he tweeted, “As an Italian man, I
love fashion. Give the guys at @justhype a follow, a very Leicester based
company.”
The 65-year-old
much-travelled Italian made the world sit up and watch his unfancied team win
the Premier League. Now if he gives you fashion tips, it’s better you listen.
After all, he is Italian. And he is a winner.
10. Tony Pulis
– West Bromwich Albion
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| Pulis Picture: www.radiojambo.co.ke |
I know some
people would love to hang me for including baseball cap-wearing and track-suited Tony Pulis in this list. Many actually consider him the worst dressed
manager because of his ubiquitous baseball cap.
But you can
pardon me for including the West Brom boss in this list. Because when he
decides to wear a suit, the 58-year-old grandfather actually looks dapper.
The Welshman
has a reputation for achieving results on small budgets. He also has the
enviable record of never being relegated as a player, coach or manager. Maybe
that’s why he goes for what he is really comfortable in while on the touchline.
But admittedly he also looks pretty comfortable in a business suit.
Someone should please advise him to wear it more often.
