Why a manager's head to head record against highly regarded managers is not enough to suggest they are a great manager, or better than the other manager whose head to head record is superior.

-A thread.

A commonly stated argument as to why a manager is good, in particular, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, is their head to head record.

In this thread I will be highlighting why this is absolute drivel and has no substance to suggest he is better than the opposing manager, or remotely good.

Alex Ferguson is widely considered to be the best manager of all time, or at least one of the best of all time.

Here are a list of managers with a better head to head record against him:

-Gerrard Houllier 7-6
-Jose Mourinho 7-3
- Carlo Ancelotti 7-6
-Ottmar Hitzfeld 4-1

-John Lyall 2-1
-Colin Harvey 3-1
-Bobby Campbell 3-0
-Vincente Del Bosque 2-1
-Sven Goran Eriksson 3-0
-Friedel Rausch 1-0
-Luid Aragones 1-0
-Yuri Minorov 1-0
-Pep Guardiola 2-0
-Bob Paisley 2-0
-Denis Smith 2-0
-Marcelo Bielsa 2-0
-Mel Machin 1-0
-Dick Advocaat 1-0

-Sebastiao Lazaroni 1-0
-Steve Tilson 1-0
-David Lowe 1-0
-Franz Beckenbauer 1-0
-Dougie Freedman 1-0
-Antonio Lopes 1-0
-Paulo Sergio 1-0
-Sepp Piontek 1-0
-Stuart Grey 1-0
-Heiko Vogel 1-0

Out of this list, I would like to ask which of these managers are on par with Alex Ferguson, or at least could be compared in terms of managerial ability, let alone the ones you have actually heard of.

It is complete and utter stupidity to suggest a manager is better because of their head to head record alone, or even to show they are good, as I guarantee this list above has various names you have never heard of before, I suppose they are all great?

Now let's get straight into it, what is Solskjær's head to head record against highly regarded managers which is so critically acclaimed?

-Pep Guardiola 3-2
-Thomas Tuchel 2-2
-Mauricio Pochettino 2-0
-Jose Mourinho 1-2 (1 draw)
-Maurizio Sarri 1-0 (1 draw)
-Unai Emery 1-1 (1 draw)
-Julian Nagelsmann 1-1
-Jurgen Klopp 0-1 (2 draws)

As it has been established earlier, just because you have a better head to head record against a manager does not mean you are better.

As of now Pep Guardiola's record against Ole Gunnar Solskjær's is he has lost to him 3 times and only won twice.

Pep Guardiola has the highest trophy to season ratio in the history of Euorpean football at this moment of time and is widely regarded as one of the best of all time.

Even if you do not rate him particularly high, it sheer stupidity to not consider him a good manager.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has not won a trophy since 2013 and not won a league title since 2012, so even if you want to count trophies won in a league not even rated as the 20th best in Europe, there is absolutely no objective metric by which Solskjær is better than Guardiola.

That not enough for you? Okay, if Solskjær beating Guardiola three times means to you that him being good is affirmative, then I would like to here some plaudits for the following managers:

Marco Silva 1-0 OGS
Jurgen Klopp 1-0 OGS
Mikel Arteta 2-0 OGS
Ernesto Valverde 2-0 OGS
Julen Lopetuigi 1-0 OGS

And if you're argument for Solskjær being good is that he won at least once against Guardiola, Tuchel, Mourinho and drew to Klopp twice, not that he is better than Guardiola, I suppose the same must apply to:

Okan Buruk 1-1 OGS
Roman Hryhorchuk 1-1 OGS
Sean Dyche 1-1 OGS
Unai Emery 1-1 OGS
Roy Hodgson 2-2 OGS
Neil Warnock 1-1 OGS
Manuel Pellegrini 1-1 OGS

Not to mention these are only from while he was the United manager, when manager of Norway, I would like to mention Kåre Ingebrigtsen's record against Solskjær:

Kåre Ingebrigtsen 5-0 Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

Hmm strange , why am I not hearing any plaudits for him?

"But what I'm saying is you couldn't have beaten all these managers at one club and not be good11".

Ah I see okay, in which case I would like to see the mastermind Steve McClaren get some credit.

As manager of Middlesbrough, Steve McClaren beat:

SAF x5
Wenger x3
Houllier
Bobby Robson
Mourinho
Benitez
Martin Jol
Spalletti

What a manager he was! Why am I not seeing him get praise?.

In the 14-15 season, Mark Hughes oversaw Stoke do the double over Mauricio Pochettino, beat title winning manager Manuel Pellegrini, beat Arsene Wenger and beat Brendan Rodgers 6-1.

When will Mark get the respect he deserves? .

In conclusion, you're an absolute fool if you think Solskjær's head to head record against Guardiola and Tuchel is remotely an indication of him being good, and even if you are still stupid enough to believe it, I want to hear some respect for Kåre Ingebrigtsen.

#OleOut.