IS Dougie Freedman a good manager? Was Sir Alex Ferguson a good manager? Or Jose Mourinho and Ryan Giggs?

I don’t know, and I suspect you don’t either.

It’s all smoke and mirrors to me when it comes to who’s a good manager.

I seem to spend a good part of my life out in Bolton or on Twitter being told by Bolton supporters that Freedman doesn’t know what he’s doing.

I’m not here to fight his corner or deride him. The fact is I have absolutely no idea whether he is a good manager or not.

Bolton fans told me Owen Coyle was a good manager then they told me he was a bad one.

They told me Gary Megson was a bad one then some said Wanderers would have stayed up if they’d have kept him.

They said Sam Allardyce was brilliant, West Ham fans say he’s rubbish.

So many people have managed football clubs down the years with some success and hype and then disappeared into oblivion.

To me, in most cases it’s one part ability, one part luck and eight parts money.

Take Ferguson. He dominated when United were the only team with enough money to buy all the best players. Well you would, whoever you are. The best players win things and if you are the only team who can afford all the best players you are going to win more than anyone else. Simples.

When Chelsea and City came along with equal spending power Ferguson stopped winning everything. It’s not rocket science.

This week David Ginola said he might be a manager one day because he’s passed his qualifications.

What makes him skilled to become a manager? Because he’s played the game?

He’ll probably get a job as well because he’s a big name.

But on what criteria? Probably because a chairman is under pressure from fans and crumbles into giving them something he thinks they want.

We all think we know what makes a good manager. But we don’t.

Some United fans and papers were talking about giving it to Ryan Giggs after they beat Norwich in his first game. Then they lost at home to Sunderland and everyone’s mind suddenly changed.

The one person everyone seems to agree is a good manager is Mourinho.

Really? Three years at the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid, and he only won two of the nine main trophies. I think I could have done that. And he’s won none out of four at Chelsea this season. I definitely could have done that.

He needs more money.