21 George Graham

George Graham began his management career at Millwall, with whom he won the football league trophy and also successfully won promotion from division three, turning around their fortunes in a short period of time. His record at Millwall persuaded Arsenal to appoint him to the post of manager and he was very successful at Highbury, leading them to their first league championship since 1971 in the 1988-89 season. His team were known affectionately by their own supporters as "boring, boring Arsenal:" much of their success was based on a very well-organised defence, hard-working midfield and a direct style of play that was physical and incisive. Indeed, Graham was renowned as a disciplinarian and master tactician and he created arguably the most formidable defensive unit in British footballing history at Arsenal, which provided the bedrock of Arsenal's success even years later under Arsene Wenger. Graham soon won a second league championship with Arsenal and picked up an FA cup, two league cups, a UEFA cup winners' cup title and a charity shield along the way. The fact he achieved so much success on a limited budget in a short period of time was all the more remarkable. Signings such as Steve Bould, Ian Wright and Alan Smith demonstrated his shrewdness in the transfer market. Following allegations he received an 'unsollicited' gift from an agent in return for signing John Jensen, which he admitted, Graham was sacked by Arsenal and banned from football for a year. He returned later as a manager with Leeds United, whom he guided to UEFA cup qualification with an exciting, young squad of players and some talented players brought in by Graham. After a period of relative success with Leeds, he left to manage Arsenal's fiercest rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. As for many managers, Spurs became the deathbed of his managerial career: in many ways it was puzzling decision for a man so associated with Arsenal to join Tottenham. Despite winning the league cup with Tottenham, he didn't help them progress from a mid-table position and he was sacked, leaving management altogether to become a TV pundit. On reflection, nothing short of a league championship would probably have satisfied the Spurs supporters due both to his Arsenal connection and his preference for direct football, which is so unloved by Spurs fans and antithetical to their club ethos. One might conclude Graham was on a hiding-to-nothing. Graham will always be remembered as one of Arsenal's finest managers and someone who perhaps could have won much more given another opportunity.

British league champions: 2
Foreign league champions: 0
European cup: 0
European cup winners' cup: 1