Chelsea are one win away from clinching a first Premier League title since 2010 and a third under Jose Mourinho, but where does the Portuguese manager rank it comparison to English football’s most successful managers inside the first five years in charge.
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6) Gerard Houllier – Liverpool
The former Reds manager led the side to four major trophies between 1998 and 2003, meaning he is placed sixth on the list – higher than the great Sir Alex Ferguson.
Three of those trophies came all at once in the 2000-01 campaign when the Merseyside outfit clinched a unique treble consisting of a domestic League and FA Cup double, while they triumphed over Spanish side Alaves in a dramatic UEFA Cup final.
5) Arsene Wenger – Arsenal
If you ignore the last 10 years it is evident that Arsene Wenger was accustomed to winning trophies between 1997 and 2002.
That successful period saw the Frenchman guide the Gunners to a pair of Premier League and FA Cup doubles in 1998 & 2002 meaning it’s also four trophies in the first five full seasons for the experienced manager too.
4) Kenny Dalglish – Liverpool
Kenny Dalglish won five major trophies in five years with the dominant Reds side of the 80’s.
Dalglish boasts an impressive haul of three league titles and two FA Cup triumphs in his successful spell in charge of Liverpool between 1985 and 1990 and ranks fourth in the all-time list.
3) Brian Clough – Nottingham Forest
Like Dalglish at Liverpool, Clough won five major trophies in the same amount of time with Nottingham Forest, but he is placed higher given that he lead a side from the second division to such great and unexpected success during his first five years in charge.
Clough guided Forest to a League championship 1978, then proceeded to win back-to-back European Cups, and if that was not enough he also led the side to League cup success in 1978 and 1979.
2) Bob Paisley – Liverpool
In Bob Paisley’s first five seasons as manager of Liverpool between 1974 and 1979 he delivered three league titles, two European Cups and a UEFA Cup.
With a brilliant record of six trophies in five years, any other country would surely see him top the all-time list but not on this occasion…
1) Jose Mourinho – Chelsea
If as expected Chelsea clinch the Premier League title on Sunday, then Mourinho will win his seventh major trophy in his fifth season as Blues boss and will join the illustrious duo of Paisley and Dalglish as the only men to have won the title three times in their first five seasons with an English club.
The Portuguese tasted his third League Cup success back in March and lifted the FA Cup in 2007 with an extra-time win against Manchester United.
The only trophy missing from his time with the Blues is the Champions League.