Zidane poised to emulate Bob Paisley with European Cup treble
Only two coach's have won three European Cup/Champions League titles: Bob Paisley and Carlo Ancelotti with only Paisley claiming his triumphs with the same club, Liverpool FC. Real Madrid did claim five back-to-back titles under the guidance of José Villalonga (two), then Carniglia bagging the next two with Fleitas Solich and Miguel Muñoz claiming the fifth of the run. When Bayern and Ajax had their run of European Cup 70s successes it was under new management with the Bavarian side claiming their first of their three in a row under coach Lattek with Cramer on the bench for the successive wins. In the 1970s Ajax,claimed their hat-trick under Rinus Michels and then with Kovacs. Many coach's have two European titles to their name with Guardiola and Mourinho examples but winning three is a different matter.
Paisley
Bob Paisley is an iconic figure from the past and one I've always admired. He took over as manager at Anfield when his predecessor and mentor Bill Shankly left surprisingly in July of 1974. Paisley initially was reluctant to step into the massive gap left by Shanks departure and after persuasion from many quarters finally accepted the role on the Anfield bench. Legendary Liverpool No. 7 at the time Kevin Keegan famously recalls telling the rest of the squad: “We need to help the new boss as much as we can otherwise we're all destined to fail”.
Management style
Paisley got to work and moved Ray Kennedy into a deeper role and had a lethal strike force pairing in John Toshack and Keegan. The 'Reds' side was strengthened with the acquisition of Terry McDermott and Phil Neal... In Paisley's second year in charge Liverpool won the UEFA and FA Cups with the arrival of new faces such as Hansen, Dalglish, Souness, Rush the squad was further bosltered. Paisley worked in a quiet, discreet manner. Zinedine Zidane was an excellent player but has adopted a mild mannered approach as head coach. He was awarded the Madrid first team job following the dismissal of Rafa Benitez and managed to steady the ship. Carlo Ancelotti is the other coach with three wins under his belt and it's clear that there is a strong argument to get the best from players is not to scream orders at them but use a more persuasive manner.