The Football League often acts as a stepping stone for managers to get a job in the top flight.

An example of this is Sam Allardyce, who first managed Notts County in the Football League before managing clubs such as Bolton, West Ham and currently Sunderland in the Premier League.

Often, being a manager in the Football League can be much harder than managing in the Premier League. This is because at many clubs in the Football League, managers have a small budget to work with, and have to rely on free transfers and loans to make up their squads.

Whereas, in the Premier League, managers have millions and millions of pounds to spend on players.

Many managers in the Football League are very talented, and Premier League clubs should look to appoint managers from there more often, as opposed to foreign managers with a reputation abroad.

Here's FIVE of the best managers currently managing in the Championship, League One or League Two....

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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE FIVE MANAGERS

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Gary Rowett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rowett first got his chance to manage a Football League side when Burton Albion offered him their manager's job in May 2012.

In his first season as the Brewers boss, Rowett guided them to an impressive 4th position in League Two.

However, Burton didn't manage to gain promotion, as Bradford defeated them at this stage.

The following season, they made the play-offs again, but failed to get promoted as Fleetwood beat them at Wembley.

Rowett's achievements didn't go unnoticed, however, and Birmingham City offered him the manager's job in September of last year.

The former defender accepted the job, and guided Birmingham to an impressive 10th placed finish last season. Currently, Rowett is doing a tremendous job at The Blues with limited resources..

Paul Tisdale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tisdale is the second longest serving manager in English football, and continues to impress many at Exeter City.

Tisdale has been at Exeter for over nine years now, and his best achievement has got to be back to back promotions from non-league to League One, in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

Despite only spending two years in England's third tier, Tisdale has stabilised the club in League Two with two 10th placed finishes in the past three seasons.

Another impressive aspect of Tisdale's management, is the fact he has only paid for a player once, and has sold players such as Dean Moxey and Matthew Grimes for a sizeable profit.

Mick McCarthy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

McCarthy has managed four clubs in the Football League, as well as the Republic of Ireland national team.

The Englishman has achieved two promotions from the Championship to the Premier League.

The first of these was with Sunderland in the 2004-05 season, where McCarthy oversaw his side achieving an impressive 94 points as they won the Championship.

McCarthy had to wait another four years for his next promotion, as again he won the Championship with Wolves.

Currently, the former defender is doing a very good job at Ipswich, as he guided them to the Championship play-offs last season, where they lost in the semi-finals, to local rivals Norwich City.

Aitor Karanka

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although Karanka has only been a manager in the Football League for two years, his talent is there for all to see.

The former Real Madrid assistant was appointed as Middlesbrough manager in November 2013, and in his first season led 'Boro to a 12th placed finish.

The following season, with the signings of players such as Patrick Bamford and Adam Clayton, Middlesbrough were a much stronger outfit.

After narrowly missing out on automatic promotion, Karanka's side suffered a devastating loss in the play-off final to Norwich City, denying them promotion to the Premier League.

However, the Riverside outfit will be looking to gain automatic promotion this season, after a strong start under Karanka.

Nigel Adkins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former physiotherapist Nigel Adkins has a good track record of gaining promotions in the Football League.

His first promotion came in his first managerial job in the Football League, as he guided Scunthorpe to the Championship, as they won League One in Adkins first season in charge.

Despite relegation back to League One the following year, Adkins guided the Iron back to the Championship for a second time, this time via the League One play-offs.

It was in 2010 when Adkins got his chance to be Southampton boss. The former goalkeeper guided the Saints to back to back promotions, and managed them in the Premier League until his sacking in January 2013.

Currently, Adkins is trying to mastermind a promotion to the Championship with Sheffield United.

Do you agree that these 5 are the best managers in the Football League? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!