Pep hailed as the best manager the Premier League has seen but he's still 10 behind Fergie

Robbie Savage is no stranger to rubbing people up the wrong way, but he outdid himself to leave Rio Ferdinand spitting feathers at his statement that Pep Guardiola is 'the best manager I've witnessed in the Premier League'.

Manchester United great Ferdinand scoffed immediately, before quipping back at Savage: 'You should go and get your coat for that.'

He didn't even mention the great man's name, but such is his standing in the English game it was clear Ferdinand was referring to Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who brought him to United in 2002 and helped him win six Premier League titles and the Champions League in his 12 years at Old Trafford.

Savage went on to clarify his statement by saying he was considering Guardiola's overall record 'at Barcelona, at Bayern, now at Manchester City', where he has just won his third title in five years at the club. The Welshman then went on to claim that were he to win the Champions League with City later this month, Guardiola would be 'possibly the best (manager) ever'.

Whatever the question, the comparison between Ferguson and Guardiola is a fascinating one.

PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD

It is highly unlikely anyone will ever beat Ferguson's record tally of 13 Premier League titles, with his Manchester United team peaking just in time for the start of the new league in 1992. He won its first two editions, four of the first five, seven of the first nine and twice won three in a row - a feat which eluded Pep last season.

In an era of shorter managerial terms - Pep's five years at City is long in the context of the modern Premier League and certainly of his own career - it is unfair to look solely at the number of titles though when comparing the two. Despite signing a new two-year contract in November, it is highly unlikely that Guardiola will even get near half of Ferguson's 21 season and 810 Premier League matches, so it is perhaps fairer to look at averages instead.

Guardiola compares favourably to Ferguson both in terms of win percentage and goals per game. He has won 73.8 per cent of his 187 Premier League matches so far, compared to Ferguson's 65.1 per cent. In another sign of just how dominant Guardiola's side have been, they average 2.43 goals per season, which is significantly higher than Ferguson's United's 2. Intriguingly though, the pair are even when it comes to titles per season, on 0.6.

That means that were Guardiola hypothetically to stay at City for 21 years, he too would win 13 titles. That Ferguson was able to deliver sustained success over such a long period, despite a lower win percentage and goal average than Pep's City, is testament to the battling character of his teams, whose titles often came after a long battle against a rival - much like Pep's triumph over Liverpool in 2019.

BEFORE THE PREMIER LEAGUE

Hailing from vastly different backgrounds in Glasgow and Barcelona, it is natural that Ferguson and Guardiola had entirely different paths to the Premier League.

Though Ferguson enjoyed a decent playing career in Scotland, his name was not well known outside of the country and he had already been managing for 12 years before landing the United job in 1986. After a brief spell at East Stirlingshire in 1974, he led St Mirren to the Scottish top flight during a four-year stint, landing him the Aberdeen job, where he really excelled.

Ferguson broke the Glasgow duopoly in his eight years at Pittodrie, winning three league titles, the European Cup Winners' Cup and five domestic cups. United poached him after just a year in the Scotland job, though he famously struggled in his first few years at Old Trafford, nearly getting sacked and not landing a trophy until the 1990 FA Cup. By the advent of the Premier League in 1992 though, after 18 years as a manager, he had transformed United and was ready to dominate English football for two decades.

Guardiola's journey to the Premier League was far shorter and a tad more glamorous. Appointed Barcelona B boss in 2007, he won the Spanish third tier in his first year as a manager and the club had seen enough to give him the top job. Their gamble paid off immediately, with Pep winning the Treble in his first season. It took Ferguson 25 years to win the Champions League, Pep did it in two - though that arguably says as much about the opportunities they were given as it does their managerial abilites.

After four years and nine major trophies, Guardiola got itchy feet and moved to Bayern Munich following a one-year sabbatical. In Germany, he won three straight league titles but could not land a third Champions League, leaving for City in 2016.

Again, given the huge difference in timespans of their careers, averages are the best way to compare each manager's overall record. Including lower league titles for St Mirren and Barcelona B, but not including trophies that require just one win to triumph - Community Shields and Super Cups - Ferguson has won 36 to Guardiola's 24. Guardiola's though come at a staggering rate of one every 30.8 games, with Ferguson's taking 59.8.

PRAGMATISM vs PERFECTIONISM

Whoever you favour, it cannot be denied that both Ferguson and Guardiola have had a massive impact on football in this country.

Savage made the valid point that Guardiola's style of football has had a huge effect on how the game is played, with more emphasis on possession at every level because of the success of his teams. 'The way teams from the Premier League down to grassroots play like Manchester City, I've never seen anything like it,' he said.

Guardiola's impact started before he even came to City, with his Barcelona team's tiki-taka style taking the game by storm in the late 2000s. In a twist of fate, their two greatest triumphs - the Champions League final wins in 2009 and 2011 - both came against Ferguson's United. They were the only times the two managers met.

Ferguson, too, is remembered for playing attacking football, though was more of a pragmatist than perfectionist Guardiola. His early teams were famed for getting the ball wide and scoring a lot of headed goals from crosses, but they had evolved into more of a possession-based game by the time of his final few titles. Ferguson's legacy is as much his domineering character than the football his teams played.

While Guardiola looks certain to pass Ferguson's number of overall trophies by the end of his decade, he is unlikely to reach the Scot's 13 Premier League titles, and even less likely to get near his 39 years in management.

Ferguson will probably always be remembered as the Premier League's greatest manager, but Guardiola will probably go down as the greatest manager to grace the Premier League.