I know he was a rascally little chap, and didn't exactly display much tact when it came to working relations with other allied (particularly US) officers, but he was who we had: He rose to the occasion, he got results, and he cared for his men. This last factor I think is almost unique among Second World War generals, and leads to the charges often levelled at Monty of being overcautious and slow. Monty would insist his men train, and train again, even going as far as to send regiments along with their (in some cases) elderly COs on forced desert marches while preparing for battle.
Secondly; Market Garden. Its been a long time since I saw A Bridge Too Far, but the impression it left me with was 'Gosh, wasn't Monty a bit of a plank?'. More recent TV and films (Band of Brothers, maybe) kind of reinforced this... But when I studied the operation in more detail than the film that has become popular public opinion, I thought it was pretty clear that he made the best of a bad situation, doing most things right and being caught out by bad luck. Closed channels of communication with the resistance, faulty intel and whatnot.
Thirdly, and, well this is really just a continuation of point two.
Everyone seems to treat him as their whipping boy, whether its Patton trying to out-showboat him at every turn, Tom bleedin' Hanks whining about Monty's slow advance on Caen in
Saving Private Ryan (yes Tom, I'd like to see your 8-man team go and crack those elite german units - and this time without your
fait accompli a'la Spielberg thankyouverymuch) and, well even Churchill more than a few times. But then old WC didn't really like anyone that much did he?
Its not all going to go his way, of course: There are many things I don't like about Monty too. But my main gripe isn't often cited by his detractors - The way that when he took over command in the desert, hemore or less kicked over the tables and fired anyone he didn't like, often dismissing those who'd made great achievements. One of the main reasons IMO that Indian Army units who fought as hard as anyone aren't really recognised as much as they should be (ignored here, and betrayed as outcasts by the Indian population... for shame).