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Why David Moyes should be elected "Premier League Manager Of The Year"

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"Mystical" Mike Norman looks into his crystal ball to try to predict who will win the coveted award and tells us why Juande Ramos, Arsene Wenger, Alex McCleish and Steve Bruce all deserve mentions

Jose Mourinho, Kenny Dalglish, Arsene Wenger, George Burley, and Sir Alex Ferguson: five managers - one great, two excellent, one ok(ish), and one terrible (I'll let you work out who is who) - but nonetheless, five managers who have one thing in common - they've all been named 'FA Premier League Manager of the Year'.

Since the award was first handed out in 1994, on thirteen occasions it has gone to the manager of the team that won the Premiership title - only George Burley of Ipswich Town was the exception (2000/01 season). Either someone at the FA has got an amazing knack of picking the same manager as the one that wins the title, or they are just too pig headed to recognise some of the achievements that are happening a bit further down the table - the FA desperately need to take a leaf out of the League Manager Association's book.

Take Steve Coppell as a case in point. Last season he guided Reading, fresh from the Championship and with no major signings, to eighth in the Premiership in their first season in English football's elite league. He was deservedly named the LMA Manager of the Year, while it was Sir Alex Ferguson (for winning the title yet again) who was awarded the FA's vote.

So ignoring the fact that there is an 92.86% chance that the FA will give this year's award to the manager of the team that wins the Premiership (therefore likely to be Sir Alex yet again), who do you think should be recognised as the manager of the year - or will the last seven Premiership games influence your decision?

For me there are only a handful of managers who deserve a special mention - some I'm sure you will agree with, while others will certainly raise a few eyebrows.

David Moyes

Moyes should have been named the manager of the year in 2005 after he had led Everton to a fourth place finish in the Premiership and qualifying them for Champions League football. All this was just a season after narrowly avoiding relegation, selling Wayne Rooney, and spending just £11m in the transfer market. The FA gave the award to Jose Mourinho, who had spent around £57m on a team already established in the top four!

This season has been very similar for David Moyes. He hasn't spent massively yet he is on the brink of qualifying for the Champions League again, with only arch rivals Liverpool in their way. Everton are also set to reach their highest points total since the canny Scot took over, and Moyes himself has proved undoubtedly that he is a great man manager.

In Sunday's huge Merseyside derby, Everton look a decent bet at [5.2] to heap more misery on Rafa Benitez. Liverpool are favourites at [1.83], while the draw is [3.6]. Everton can still be backed at [4.5] to finish in the top four with Liverpool available at a miserly [1.26].

Arsene Wenger

It looks as though the title is now out of Arsenal's grasp (you can have [15] if you think otherwise), but you still have to praise the way Wenger has got his new look side playing football this season. He hasn't spent anywhere near as much money as some other teams, yet Wenger has put together a team that has challenged for the title right to the death and still have a chance of claiming European glory.

Arsenal can be backed at [8.4] to win the Champions League, while our other English teams are available at [4.2] (Man Utd), [4.6] (Chelsea) and [9.0] (Liverpool) respectively.

Juande Ramos

It wasn't Juande's fault that the majority of Spurs fans thought that Martin Jol was harshly dismissed, but you have to give credit to Ramos for the way he turned Tottenham's season around. They were flirting with relegation when he took over, but in just a few months he has took them to Premiership safety, won them some silverware, introduced a new fitness regime, and stabilised the defence through some decent signings.

Spurs have little left to play for this season, except to hopefully put a dent in Newcastle's survival hopes at the weekend. Tottenham should win this at odds of [1.67], with 'White Hot Lane' providing another deluge of goals: 'Over 4.5 Goals' can be backed at [7.2].

Alex McCleish & Steve Bruce

Raised eyebrow times I know, but the fact remains that both McCleish and Bruce were employed as managers by their respective clubs to do one thing - avoid relegation. If either or both managers achieve this, they will be seen as 'Manager of the Year' in their own fans eyes at least.

Birmingham are [3.3] to be relegated, while Wigan are [8.2], though the market says both Fulham ([1.37]) and Bolton ([1.79]) will join Derby County in the Championship next season.

So that's it - the above (especially Moyes and Ramos) are the managers who I believe should be considered for 'Manager of the Year'. If I was selecting, then I would give it to David Moyes who continues to do a marvelous job on limited resources. Sir Alex has done another great job (and will get the FA award again if United win the title), but being in charge of the Premiership Champions, and with another £50m worth of players at his disposal, then surely he hasn't achieved anything more than expected.

The obvious managers I haven't spoke about are Benitez, Sven, Grant, O'Neill and Redknapp - if any of you readers want to put a case forward for these guys then please feel free - I will be more than happy to respond.