The League Managers Association will recognize outstanding managers at its annual awards dinner. This season, Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola are highlighted for their impressive campaigns with Arsenal and Manchester City, respectively.
Key points
League Managers Association holds annual awards dinner
Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola are standout managers this season
Arsenal and Manchester City are the top teams in the Premier League
Only four managers outside the top have won the award since 1993
Mentioned in this story
League Managers AssociationMikel ArtetaPep Guardiola
ArsenalManchester CityCrystal Palace
Many moons ago I received the great accolade of being named Premier League manager of the season - withCrystal Palacein 2014. Along with the same award I won with Gillingham for Division Three (now League Two) in 1996, it's one of my most treasured memories over the many years I have been in the game.
So, who do I believe deserves recognition this year? The League Managers Association (LMA) holds its annual awards dinner on Tuesday, recognising achievements across the men's and women's game. For me, there are several names that stand out.
In the Premier League, the divisional award invariably goes to the manager who has finished top of the table - since the awards started in 1993 there have only been four occasions when it hasn't, which is why I was especially proud when one of them was me.
Over the years I have often voted that way myself too, but I have also always respected the managers lower down the Premier League who have over achieved and on many occasions voted that way instead.
This season, Arsenal and Manchester City have been the two outstanding teams and I am sure Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola will have a great run at this prestigious individual award to go with their team's impressive campaigns.
Take a look below them, however, and there are more managers worth a mention.
What Keith Andrews has achieved at Brentford, in his first season as a manager, is amazing. The Bees were many people's favourites to get relegated at the start of the campaign and Keith was top of the bookmaker's list to be the first manager to be sacked - but came within a whisker of securing European qualification for the first time.
That prize was achieved by Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola, who was close to a Champions League place but ended up in the Europa League.
Iraola has managed my old club since 2023 and, despite having to consistently sell his best players during that period, he has put together a team that has gained momentum, not lost it.
His success is not just in a one-off season - instead it has been built over that three-year period, by consistent improvement year after year.
Andoni did not make the best of starts to his time on the south coast - he took 10 attempts to register his first league win, which did not arrive until the end of October - but in an era where managers get less time than ever before, he has proven that, if you do get it, then success can and will follow good managers.
Q&A
Who won the Premier League manager of the season award in 2014?
The Premier League manager of the season award in 2014 was won by the manager of Crystal Palace.
What teams are considered the standout performers this season?
Arsenal and Manchester City are recognized as the standout performers in the Premier League this season.
When does the League Managers Association hold its annual awards dinner?
The League Managers Association holds its annual awards dinner on a Tuesday, though the specific date varies each year.
How often do managers outside the top of the table win the LMA award?
Since the awards began in 1993, there have only been four occasions when the LMA award did not go to the manager finishing at the top of the table.
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Daniel Farke has shown that at Leeds this season too - turning their fortunes around when he was under real pressure at the end of November.
Along with Regis le Bris at Sunderland, Farke bucked the trend with Leeds by retaining their Premier League status - something we no longer expect from promoted teams.
Andoni Iraola waves at the Bournemouth fans following his side's draw with Manchester City on TuesdayImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Iraola has secured European football for Bournemouth next season, for the first time in the club's history. He is set to leave the club this summer
All managers who over-achieve deserve recognition
I am not allowed to reveal my three nominations for this year's awards, but two of them come from lower down the leagues where, as I know only too well, budgetary constraints are a huge factor for most managers.
Every manager who has over-achieved in those circumstances must - and is - recognised in our profession, but so are those who gain promotion from any division.
The overall LMA Manager Of The Year award reflects that - in the past 33 years, only 14 winners have been the manager who won the Premier League, and seven have come from outside the top division.
This time around, Bromley, MK Dons and Cambridge United have all had fantastic seasons in League Two, and Andy Woodman, Paul Warne and Neil Harris deserve so much credit.
What Woodman has achieved with Bromley, who went 21 games unbeaten from the start of December to the end of March is an unbelievable story and I am so pleased they actually went on to win the title - that is a massive achievement.
Move a division up and Lincoln and Cardiff both performed really well. Brian Barry-Murphy's Cardiff were expected to be close this season, but no-one I knew fancied Lincoln. The job Michael Skubala has done, again is outstanding.
What a great season the Imps have to look forward to in the Championship where, this year, Coventry and Ipswich have taken automatic promotion.
Ipswich were favourites, so it is not a huge surprise to see them bounce straight back up, while Coventry have performed consistently well over a long season to become champions.
Kieran McKenna has a real challenge ahead at Ipswich next season, but having gained three promotions over four years with a sizeable budget, his relegation from the Premier League first time around must be his greatest disappointment - so has he learnt from it?
Both Leeds and Sunderland survived this time, so staying up is something that is there to be achieved.
As for Frank Lampard at Coventry, well he needs no introduction to the top-flight, but I am sure he will be tested over what is such a hard grind for all the promoted teams. As ever, his recruitment will be vital.
Lampard oversaw Coventry's return to the the Premier League after a 25-year absenceImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Lampard oversaw Coventry's return to the the Premier League after a 25-year absence
A time to reflect
At this time of the year, every manager in our professional leagues will be reflecting on their own personal performance.
Many of them will leave their clubs this summer - some departures will be through choice because they have been offered a job somewhere else, but they are in the minority.
'Sacking season' used to be October, but now the same applies to the period just after the new year and also now, in the final throes of the campaign.
The job of a manager is already ridiculously unstable and the situation is getting worse every year. We are in a cycle where instant success is expected, and that has made things even more hazardous.
Those in posts have gone through such conflicting emotions over the past few months and this is a job that never stops - so if you're in the seat for next season, take a deep breath, because exactly the same emotions are just around the corner, win, lose or draw.
Following the progress of new managers
During my early years as a coach, managers and coaches would spend the first week after the end of the season at a Football Association coaching seminar at Lilleshall, the old home of the FA's Centre of Excellence.
We would be treated to watching the top coaches from here and Europe in action.
The range of topics would cover the main core of what club management entails, and relationships with other managers would be forged during the day and also over a few drinks after dinner.
Today, this tradition no longer takes place and has been bypassed by football's governing bodies who, for whatever reason, have never tried to establish an event which was to all football people young and old a great coming together.
Despite this, I am very fortunate to know a group of new coaches who have broken into management positions.
I am retired now, but I love following their progress in their early years cutting their teeth in such a difficult industry.
My advice to them is always very basic and involves a lot of common sense, or at least I hope so anyway!
But managing lower down the divisions demands a lot of learning for these new coaches and, irrespective of my advice, the best thing they are learning is actually the experience they are going through.
As I always say, no-one understands the job of a manager, until you are actually sat in the seat!
Tony Pulis was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
