Stan Collymore has used Sean Dyche's achievements at Burnley to question Marcelo Bielsa's FIFA best men's coach of the year award nomination
The Leeds United boss made the final three of the shortlist for the award along with Bayern Munich's Hansi Flick but they both missed out on the main prize to Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp.
Bielsa's nomination prompted plenty of debate after he led Leeds to the Championship title and made a splash on their return to the Premier League.
Yet, writing in his Sunday People column, Collymore said he believes Bielsa is an 'influencer' rather that a great manager.
"That had to be a joke because that list should be the preserve of those managers who have won something," he said.
"Or, if not, at least those who have taken a club into Europe which, because of its size or budgetary restraints, had no right to be there.
"What Bielsa did this year was take one of England's second-tier clubs into the top tier, but a club of Leeds' size should always have footballers who can compete to get out of the Championship anyway.
"That's not to downplay the achievement, but it's not as if that could match, say, what Sean Dyche did when he took Burnley into Europe.
"This isn't a 'Dyche is better than Bielsa' column, before you start, nor a style comparison. I just don't think that getting Leeds promoted warrants a place on the FIFA best managers list, certainly not if it's an achievement-based accolade.
"If it's personality, that's a different matter, but it isn't. A lot of people want to say Bielsa is a great manager but I don't think you can be when you have managed for 30 years and have only three half-season title triumphs from Argentina to show in your trophy cabinet.
"That's not a match for winning even the Scottish Premier League, nor the Dutch league, nor the Portuguese league.
"So I struggle with this notion that he's a great manager.
"What Bielsa is, is an influencer - he has influenced managers who, like Pep Guardiola, can be considered among the greats. But he himself shouldn't be up there on that pedestal."
He continued: "Once you have been touched on both shoulders in that way by one of the game's superstars, you're elevated to another level altogether.
"No matter how great you are, you're positioned even higher. It's a bit like getting a knighthood - you become a football immortal.
"And that is what has happened with Bielsa. There's a mystique about him because people have spoken so glowingly of him.
"And because he sits on a bucket, lives in a flat above a shop, shops at Lidl and probably watches Boca Juniors versus River Plate 1965 games over and over before donning a disguise and going out to watch Harrogate play Scarborough.
"But none of those things mean he should have been pounds, shillings and pence on FIFA's best manager list this week.
"He should not even be in the top 50 or the top 100 of all time in any of these lists - not if they are based on achieving things."
