Brian Clough, Sir Alex Ferguson, Graeme Souness and the Top 10 scariest managers

By Fred Palley in Mirror Football Blog

Published 14:23 28/09/09

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Spare a thought for Port Vale's players who, after losing 3-1 to Notts County on Saturday, were told by furious boss Micky Adams that they were all being put up for sale.

Adams may have put the fear of God into his players, but he is not exactly the scariest manager of all-time – not when you compare him to this lot, anyway...

10) David Moyes
The Scotsman hasn't got the most friendly look about him – in fact, many have said he bears a striking resemblance to Gollum from Lord of the Rings ( decide for yourself here ). And, as Mark Hughes has recently found out, he is not a man to be messed with. Moyes branded the Manchester City boss "disgusting" over his pursuit of Joleon Lescott and, in MirrorFootball's book, anyone prepared to take on Sparky must have balls of steel.

9) Barry Fry
Few managers can boast as many cups as big-mouth Barry. Unfortunately, they were the teacups he used to hurl around the dressing room if his team was losing at half-time. In the words of the great man himself: "I had Jeff Astle and George Best at Dunstable Town. We were losing 2-0 at Leamington and the tea arrived at half-time. I booted the tray in the air and told the team to f*** off without tea or a talk. We won 3-2, Astle scored a hat-trick and, when he hit the third, he ran past me sticking up two fingers!"

8) Neil Warnock
The Crystal Palace boss has been known to get caught up in the odd heated row with his own players and indeed the opposition. A full list of those who have incurred his wrath over the years is too long to include here (you can check out his Wikipedia page here for a guide to his disputes), but for evidence of his managerial madness, check out this now infamous half-time team talk whilst he was in charge of Huddersfield Town . (Warning: contains lots and lots of swearing.)

7) Mike Bassett
OK, so he may not be a real manager but, if he was, Mike Bassett would undoubtedly terrify today's pampered stars. We can't think of anyone better prepared for firing up England at the World Cup, especially if he reproduces this legendary half-time team talk .

6) Graeme Souness
Souey enjoyed many scraps during his playing and managerial career and the Scotsman is certainly not one to argue with. He brawled with Craig Bellamy whilst manager of Newcastle, fell out with Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke during his time at Blackburn and provided further evidence of his madness more recently during an under-10s game his son was playing in. After his son was fouled, Souness was reported to have barked at the opposition manager: "If you think this is the way to teach kids to play, you've no f***ing chance".

5) Ron Atkinson
Big Ron may have looked like a genial character, but inside the dressing room he was not a man to mess with. Whilst in charge of Aston Villa, he was reported to have chased Dalian Atkinson into the showers following a row and during the ensuing melee punched Andy Townsend and coach Jim Barron by mistake. He also threw a full cup of tea at Dean Saunders. Bonkers.

4) Roy Keane
Although relatively new to the managerial game, Keano has already made a name for himself as a strict disciplinarian. His first act as Ipswich boss was to put his team through a gruelling two-day boot camp with the Paras at Colchester Garrison. None of this La Manga malarkey for our Roy. Then, just a couple of games into the season, he declared, "Some players won't play for me again. Enough is enough”.

3) John Sitton
Sitton may not have scaled the managerial heights of Clough and co, but he will forever be remembered for one of the greatest half-time team talks of all time, during which he sacked one of his players whilst challenging two others to a fight and telling them they can even "bring their f***ing dinner." Legendary stuff.

2) Brian Clough
The great man didn't particularly worry about slapping misbehaving fans, so under-performing players were definitely fair game. Young striker Nigel Jemson was one victim, reportedly taking a punch to the stomach for not trying hard enough. "Have you ever been hit in the stomach?" Clough was said to have asked him. When Jemson replied "No", Cloughie then unleashed a right-hook and said "You have now, son". Even the fearsome Roy Keane got knocked to the floor by one of Cloughie's blows after under-hitting a back pass against Crystal Palace in 1991. "I only ever hit Roy the once," admitted Cloughie. Oh, that's all right, then…

1) Sir Alex Ferguson
The Old Trafford chief's hairdryer rants have become legendary, with Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane just a few of the big names to have been on the receiving end. He even puts the fear of God into journalists, as you can see from this cringe-inducing clip .

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