Being a Premier League manager is a stressful job.
But away from the media spotlight, these demi-gods of the dugout are free to let their hair down — that’s just an expression of course, in reality about third of them waved goodbye to their barnet many years ago.
Time to rank them (worst to best) on their value once Sesh Fabregas comes calling…
20 Jose Mourinho
Would have been a decent night out in 2004Getty Images - Getty
The so-called ‘Special One’ sucks up fun like a cordless Dyson.
It takes about 45 minutes to find a bar he doesn’t think is ‘beneath him’ and then he just sits in the corner sipping his wine and blabbering about how tika-taka is a fraudulent tactic.
A hit with the older ladies but he calls it a night by 9:15pm.
Gets the bus home, obviously.
19 Roy Hodgson
Would have been a decent night out in 1984Getty Images - Getty
Falls asleep in his armchair after three cans of John Smith’s — doesn’t make it out.
Still better value than Mourinho.
18 David Moyes
Smiling through the painGetty - Contributor
All my life I have been led to believe the Scots are party-starters.
Moyseh is living proof that’s not true..
He allows a single tear to drop into his whisky on the stoke of midnight and doesn’t even flinch when the DJ drops The Proclaimers.
17 Javi Gracia
Not going to lie, couldn’t pick him out of a line-upREUTERS
Not going to lie, I was expecting Marco Silva to turn up.
16 Arsene Wenger
Plenty of free time for the sesh now, eh?EPA
Stories for days but it isn’t long before he starts repeating himself.
His idea of pres is a five-course meal at a Michelin star restaurant which is nice until the waiter tells me what a good grandson I am.
Petrified of Snapchat filters.
He talks to the Addison Lee driver about the dangers of technology for 25 minutes and then gets out at some traffic lights without paying.
Can’t hate him though — he’s earned the right to do whatever the f**k he wants.
15 Mark Hughes
When you somehow manage to get two clubs relegated in one seasonGetty - Contributor
Belts out a genuinely haunting version of ‘Delilah’ at the karaoke bar.
A quality player, he has good stories and is happy to bellow them in my ear as we queue for the club.
But the nostalgia only makes him realise how harsh the sands of time have been on him in recent years — refuses to pay the £2 to check in his coat and leaves without saying goodbye.
14 Rafael Benitez
Look at that face!Getty - Contributor
Patatas bravas for pres as we stand around the island in his kitchen.
He plans the whole night in fine detail — bowling, pub, guest list and all that.
But nothing kills the atmos like organised fun.
13 Sam Allardyce
Make sure you eat a big lunch before this oneReuters
Pints of wine, pints of jagerbomb, pints of Buckfast, everything in pints.
Big Sam will gobble down a larger with fag butts in it to get a giggle out of a passing stranger.
A good laugh for the most part, but it goes downhill quick once we hit the club.
He’s one of those blokes who calls a girl ‘frigid’ if they pass up his generous offer of a thrust from behind to R. Kelly’s ‘Bump n’ Grind’.
12 Pep Guardiola
The enigmaAP:Associated Press
Don’t get me wrong, he’s an interesting bloke, but his intensity makes me uneasy.
We stop off at Tennessee Fried Chicken on the way into town and he starts putting the condiments out in formation on the table.
I catch him in the kitchen at the afters, mumbling about overlaps in the final third to some poor bloke who hasn’t watched a game of football in his life.
11 Darren Moore
Handy in a scrap as wellREUTERS
Sound bloke.
Extra credit simply for not being being Alan Pardew.
10 Claude Puel
When you miss happy hour by three minutes and the barman is a stickler for the rulesGetty - Contributor
A class act from start to finish.
Perhaps a touch too serious.
Looking through his phone in the morning and all his photos are profile pic worthy, no rotters for the WhatsApp group, shame.
9 Mauricio Pochettino
He’s magic, don’t you know?Getty Images - Getty
Has a touch of the Peps about him but it’s considerably easier to steer him away from boring football chat.
A surprisingly good dancer, the bouncers immediately take his side when some pillock squares up to him at the bar.
Drinks a glass of water in between each bottle of San Miguel, which, while sensible, is f**king weird.
8 Chris Hughton
He works the salt and pepper lookGetty Images - Getty
Downs ten pints and still phones for a taxi without slurring a word — world-class.
A bit too good of a bloke if anything.
Laying fully-clothed on my bed on top of the covers at 3am, room spinning and pizza burning in the oven, I feel a bit inferior.
Maybe a text to the ex will cheer me up?
7 Antonio Conte
Takes an hour to sort his hair because, well, it’s not hisGetty - Contributor
Never had wine like it.
Absolutely steaming and only a 3/10 hangover.
Stuff of miracles.
6 Paul Lambert
Surprisingly good night out this oneGetty - Contributor
A dark horse.
His dry wit grates on you at pres but by the time you’re upstairs at Infernos he’s turned into the funniest bloke in the world.
Knows every ‘The Office’ quote and the optimum time to deploy it.
5 David Wagner
Steins. Steins.Getty - Contributor
Wags just makes you feel good about yourself.
I must have been talking some right rubbish in the kebab shop but he still laughed at every joke as if I were Will Ferrell.
Another one who can put away the beers.
4 Sean Dyche
The rave scene was huge for himAFP or licensors
“Eat this worm.”
“F**k off.”
“Go on, eat it!”
“Alright, give it ‘ere.”
3 Eddie Howe
The only one who still gets his ID checkedGetty Images - Getty
At the risk of flirting with ageism, it’s nice to spend the night with someone who doesn’t type out texts with their index finger.
He leads me to a small capacity club with decent music and Shazams all the belters so I can look them up on Spotify in the morning.
One of those faces you can’t help but yell “I really love you, you know? You’re a diamond bloke, you really are,” at freely and he doesn’t make you feel embarrassed about it.
2 Carlos Carvalhal
So many metaphorsGetty - Contributor
I pay £27.50 for a final release ticket only to spend the whole night in the smoking area listening to Carlos chat s**t.
And I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
The charismatic f**ker even gives me his jacket on the walk home.
1 Jurgen Klopp
HeroGetty - Contributor
Pretty much the same as the David Wagner night but better.
His deafening laughter is infectious and his natural charm procures us free drinks at two separate establishments.
Of course he knows the DJ…
You never seen someone vapourise a hangover like Jurgen.
You wake up in his spare room to the smell of bacon and when to stagger into the front room he turns off the big light and presses play on Shawshank Redemption.
He makes you want to do it all over again.
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