worst ever town manager

micky lyons!!

who's yours????

lyons

Mike Newell

Must be one of them day's

I can't say because he may still be employed here.
Bobby Roberts for being sh1t and having parents with poor child-naming skills!

Need you ask?

I would have thought it is pretty obvious.

Just don't look at the win percentages otherwise we are going down the done to death route...

Nicky Law, Mike Newell, Graham Rodger.
Don McAvoy wasn't very good & neither was Bobby Roberts.

Lyons is the King though.

I used to think it was Lyons and he was very bad but my vote goes to Nicky Law.

Lyons.

Totally clueless.

It's got to be Lyons. Makes you wonder where we'd be now had the board got that appointment right. Newell is a close second though.

Quoted from ginnywings

Lyons.

Totally clueless.

Yes he was. But still had a better record than Woods in a far far tougher division.

Quoted from RonMariner

Yes he was. But still had a better record than Woods in a far far tougher division.

He inherited a good team that knew how to play football and forced them to play like Watford and Wimbledon. As a manager and tactician he was really clueless.

Mind you, his ideas might suit us now because the BSP is probably the right place for 3 centre backs and launching the ball into orbit.

Quoted from RonMariner

Yes he was. But still had a better record than Woods in a far far tougher division.

Any excuse to have a go at Woods.

Lyons had far better players at his disposal but chose to use them in a totally clueless manner.

He even played himself up front,which was laughable.

Lyons with Rodger a very close 2nd

Quoted from ginnywings

Lyons had far better players at his disposal but chose to use them in a totally clueless manner.

Not sure if Woodsy shines so brightly himself in that department...

Akpa Akpro spent half of last season on the bench or even on the right wing ! Now at Rochdale.
Jude Stirling came in and messed things up at centre back, never seen again.
Peter Bore still being wasted at right back.
Hegarty at left back !
Colgan in goal !  

I'm too young to remember lyons but worse than newell?? Surely not?

Quoted from maxfox44

Lyons with Rodger a very close 2nd

Bit harsh on Roger to put him in a similar category to Lyons,  he never had the same amount of games to prove (or not ) anything

Mike Lyons got me and a mate in for free at Derby and got us a lift back on the team coach so he is a hero in my eyes!

Quoted from Garth

Bit harsh on Roger to put him in a similar category to Lyons,  he never had the same amount of games to prove (or not ) anything

Yes I think you're right.

Maybe harsh but Neil Woods

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Nicky Law, Mike Newell, Graham Rodger.
Don McAvoy wasn't very good & neither was Bobby Roberts.

Lyons is the King though.

I agree with all of them.

lyons

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Nicky Law, Mike Newell, Graham Rodger.
Don McAvoy wasn't very good & neither was Bobby Roberts.

Lyons is the King though.

Agree with all those but will add (and this will wind up some of thetits on here) Woods for taking us into the non league for the first time in nigh on 100 years

25 games without a win and a relegation on his c.v surely woods is a contender

Woods, Law, Lyons and Rodger (in no particular order, but Rodger prob last because he wasn't given a chance.)

Lyons, Newell and Nicky Law in that order.

Its got to be Woods he as no tactics or any knowledge of picking a assistant manager .

Quoted from STB

I can't say because he may still be employed here.
Bobby Roberts for being sh1t and having parents with poor child-naming skills!

Harsh IMO. Roberts inherited the ashes of the Ly*ns squad. I think we only had about 5 or 6 players when he took over. He almost kept us up too as if we had beaten Aldershot on the last day of the season we would have stayed up.

Elemér Berkessy......

Mike Newell, just a massive, expensive, dissapointment who does nothing but to re-affirm stereotypes of scousers.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Nicky Law, Mike Newell, Graham Rodger.
Don McAvoy wasn't very good & neither was Bobby Roberts.

Lyons is the King though.

Thanks

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Thanks

You're welcome.

Lyons...without a doubt. I remember where I was when he got sacked....Playa Den Bossa on the Island of Ibiza in June 1987. Read it in a day old Sun newspaper.........my, how we celebrated . We started celebrating in the morning, through the afternoon, into the evening and then the early hours of the next day. Thats what his sacking meant to a young lad  (22) at the time.

Bobby Kennedy!

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Nicky Law, Mike Newell, Graham Rodger.
Don McAvoy wasn't very good & neither was Bobby Roberts.

Lyons is the King though.

Any one remember

Quoted from tintowner

Lyons...without a doubt. I remember where I was when he got sacked....Playa Den Bossa on the Island of Ibiza in June 1987. Read it in a day old Sun newspaper.........my, how we celebrated . We started celebrating in the morning, through the afternoon, into the evening and then the early hours of the next day. Thats what his sacking meant to a young lad  (22) at the time.

I think that the location at the time of the sacking my also have contributed towards the amount of alcohol consumed at the news  

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Nicky Law, Mike Newell, Graham Rodger.
Don McAvoy wasn't very good & neither was Bobby Roberts.

Lyons is the King though.

Anyone remember a guy called Bill Harvey now he was some Manager came from believe it or not Chelsea where he was a scout, he was brought up in Grimsby.

He is the Manager in 1967/68 when Brian Clougjh wanted to me to sign for Derby called me in the office and actually said

Son you do not want to go and play for Brian Clough he is a nasty man and does not know what he is doing.

Town turned down £25.000 because they wanted £45.000, well Clougie told the Manager and club to stuff it and that was my golden opportunity gone up in smoke.

So guess who I think is the worst Manager at Grimsby Town ever, thats right you have got it.
OLDFOOTBALLER

Quoted from [b

83]Bobby Kennedy!

[/b]

That would be unfair he was not a bad Manager just would not accept that he could not do the two roles as a player and then Managing the team also

In fact when he left himself out we started to perform.
Footballers are strange people.
OLDFOOTBALLER

Brian Laws didn't exactly cover himself in glory down the park.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Woods, Law, Lyons and Rodger (in no particular order, but Rodger prob last because he wasn't given a chance.)

Given the same amount of funds and time as Neil,   would Roger have done any better, when you look at it this way its unfair to keep including him in our list of worst ever Town managers, I admit he was out of his depth but IMO was he was a cheap crucifixion

Quoted from oldfootballer

[/b]

That would be unfair he was not a bad Manager just would not accept that he could not do the two roles as a player and then Managing the team also

In fact when he left himself out we started to perform.
Footballers are strange people.
OLDFOOTBALLER

Agree with that Dave. Just think - you could have been a councillor in Derby now.

Wasn't Bill Harvey a former Town trainer before he went off to other places? He probably had contacts in the boardroom and I think he was brought in as a stopgap at least to start with when we declined after Jimmy McGuigan left.

Quoted from oldfootballer

[/b]

That would be unfair he was not a bad Manager just would not accept that he could not do the two roles as a player and then Managing the team also

In fact when he left himself out we started to perform.
Footballers are strange people.
OLDFOOTBALLER

Yeah I know Dave, but he didn't leave himself out too often did he?

Quoted from oldfootballer

[/b]

Anyone remember a guy called Bill Harvey now he was some Manager came from believe it or not Chelsea where he was a scout, he was brought up in Grimsby.

He is the Manager in 1967/68 when Brian Clougjh wanted to me to sign for Derby called me in the office and actually said

Son you do not want to go and play for Brian Clough he is a nasty man and does not know what he is doing.

Town turned down £25.000 because they wanted £45.000, well Clougie told the Manager and club to stuff it and that was my golden opportunity gone up in smoke.

So guess who I think is the worst Manager at Grimsby Town ever, thats right you have got it.
OLDFOOTBALLER

Well, I think he just went up in my estimation by keeping you here. Bloody Clough and Derby - what would you have wanted to have gone there for Dave

To complie a list of worst Town managers you have to look at a whole host of variables and some of the finer details we won't be privvy too.

Lyons had the best players at the time to work with but it was the board trying to cash in that saw us go from Premiership challengers to relegation foder within a season.

Neweel was given a healthy budget but spent it on mercenaries and charlatans.  Never in the history of GTFC has the club had to pay off so many players than under the slimey illegitimate from Liverpool.  The attitudes of the players under Neweel was the worst I have ever seenin my 30+ years of following Town.  His tenure also led to Woods appointment.

Quoted from Civvy at last

I think that the location at the time of the sacking my also have contributed towards the amount of alcohol consumed at the news  

Well...okay, we was gonna have a drink anyway, but the relief of his demise gave us added stamina to last the pace

Quoted from Les Brechin

Harsh IMO. Roberts inherited the ashes of the Ly*ns squad. I think we only had about 5 or 6 players when he took over. He almost kept us up too as if we had beaten Aldershot on the last day of the season we would have stayed up.

Agree with that> Was on a complete hiding to nothing.

All the ususal suspects but I would also like to put forward Russell Slade - Cardiff still rankles with me and we have never recovered

Quoted from StiggsGTFC

Elemér Berkessy......

Was actually never the manager.   He was coach.  And ofcourse his name was Emilio Berkesey.


And I'm a clever clogs

Quoted from Marinerz93

To complie a list of worst Town managers you have to look at a whole host of variables and some of the finer details we won't be privvy too.

Lyons had the best players at the time to work with but it was the board trying to cash in that saw us go from Premiership challengers to relegation foder within a season.

Neweel was given a healthy budget but spent it on mercenaries and charlatans.  Never in the history of GTFC has the club had to pay off so many players than under the slimey illegitimate from Liverpool.  The attitudes of the players under Neweel was the worst I have ever seenin my 30+ years of following Town.  His tenure also led to Woods appointment.

There is a bit of truth in that the board was split and some of them were fed up of shelling out to be ambitious while others were happy with where we were. But Lyons is the worst manager because he took good players and made them into a bad team simply to satisfy his own idea of how the game should be played. I watched him coaching the juniors in the Route One and Route Two tactics and it was quite sickening.

Quoted from oldfootballer

[/b]

Anyone remember a guy called Bill Harvey now he was some Manager came from believe it or not Chelsea where he was a scout, he was brought up in Grimsby.

He is the Manager in 1967/68 when Brian Clougjh wanted to me to sign for Derby called me in the office and actually said

Son you do not want to go and play for Brian Clough he is a nasty man and does not know what he is doing.

Town turned down £25.000 because they wanted £45.000, well Clougie told the Manager and club to stuff it and that was my golden opportunity gone up in smoke.

So guess who I think is the worst Manager at Grimsby Town ever, thats right you have got it.
OLDFOOTBALLER

What would have happened to Archie Gemmill if you had gone to Derby Dave,?  

Quoted from grimsby pete

What would have happened to Archie Gemmill if you had gone to Derby Dave,?  

Well I can only say this I was Brian Clough first option and that was football in them days you were tied to contracts today they can just shrugg there shoulders and they are off no loyalty whats so ever

I will tell you this Brian Clough when ever we met up at different hotels, Brian always came up to me and always said that I should have walked out on Grimsby Town and took the case to a tribunal in them days stuff like that did not happen.

If I had had somebody to advice me at the time and when I say this because I do not believe in agents and the way they operate in todays football circles.

If I had an agent  in them days I do not think I would have stayed at Grimsby Town, but that is football
OLDFOOTBALLER

worst manager ever Mick Lyons, clueless totally clueless, he once said he was signing a new player, when he did he dropped himself in the shite when he (Lyons) said "Now watch us go", what a great laugh, the player signed was Mick Halshaw, midfielder i think came from Carlisle but maybe elsewhere, anyway we went nowhere except downwards.  Second worst manager the late Ron Ashman, came from Scunthorpe, enough said.

Lyons.

Also gets my vote for "worst human being ever".

It has to be Newell by a country mile. After all the years following Town I have never witnessed such a poor lot under a manager

Quoted from carrot top

It has to be Newell by a country mile. After all the years following Town I have never witnessed such a poor lot under a manager

Yes and this is what Woods inherited and gets the blame for.

Neil Woods followed closely by Mick Lyons.

Nicky Law

Mike Newell for me.

Quoted from upthestripes

Yes and this is what Woods inherited and gets the blame for.

very true IMO

Quoted from ginnywings

Any excuse to have a go at Woods.

Lyons had far better players at his disposal but chose to use them in a totally clueless manner.

He even played himself up front,which was laughable.

We don't really need an excuse though do we? His record is enough.

And this is a 'worst manager' thread after all. So why not mention the guy with the worst record?

I read what Tony Ford said about Micky Lyons. Not only did Lyons ruin a team he basically forced out its best (local) players. People like Ford and Kevin Moore - Lyons complained about having people who were "too intelligent" in the side

Nicky Law must come a close second though.

And who can forget Lennie Lawrence who sent money we couldn't afford on some right duffers

Quoted from Welwynmariner

Nicky Law must come a close second though.

And who can forget Lennie Lawrence who sent money we couldn't afford on some right duffers

Nicky Law brought in better duffers than lawrence (antoine currier being one  )

Quoted from Garth

Bit harsh on Roger to put him in a similar category to Lyons,  he never had the same amount of games to prove (or not ) anything

I think the mistake of the appointment of Rodger as manager was realised on day 1.

Quoted from cagneysav

worst manager ever Mick Lyons, clueless totally clueless, he once said he was signing a new player, when he did he dropped himself in the shite when he (Lyons) said "Now watch us go", what a great laugh, the player signed was Mick Halshaw, midfielder i think came from Carlisle but maybe elsewhere, anyway we went nowhere except downwards. Second worst manager the late Ron Ashman, came from Scunthorpe, enough said.

What a crock of excrement. Ashman was an excellent manager who had the utmost respect of his players. He just wasn't McMenemy, who he took over from.

Quoted from Paddymariner

[/b]

What a crock of excrement. Ashman was an excellent manager who had the utmost respect of his players. He just wasn't McMenemy, who he took over from.

Ron did have the respect of the players, but it was his number two who made the difference, Colin Appleton, what a coach he was and also a strict disiplinarian he was in my eyes the best coach next to George Higgins in all my time at Grimsby Town, Higgins was at the club when I first came in 1966.

In fact for the first six games I was not considered for the first team due to being suspended for the first two games and Rons team kept getting draws and the occasional win, but not really impressing the crowd.

That year we finished in the top six I believe and I got player of the year award which I was and still am extremely proud off.
OLDFOOTBALLER

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

There is a bit of truth in that the board was split and some of them were fed up of shelling out to be ambitious while others were happy with where we were. But Lyons is the worst manager because he took good players and made them into a bad team simply to satisfy his own idea of how the game should be played. I watched him coaching the juniors in the Route One and Route Two tactics and it was quite sickening.

I can see why you are going for ML but at least he turned up to training and was sober most of the time.  ML had two tactics as you rightly point out and at times when he played it was embarrasing because it gave the impression the ball was his.  ML wanted to win but was a poor manager.  Neweel tactics were to bring in crap players with inflated ego's and sore elbows and to blackmail the club into bringing in more and more loan players making our budgets one of the biggest in the league with no progress to show for it.

The way Neweel acted in his time in charge here is the worst I have ever seen at BP, no tactics what so ever which, was evident from the opening game at Cheltenham with his new squad to the rant that the fans should be calling for his neck.  It's the state he left the squad in and the bad apples fermenting for a pay off.  Those players had ability and some had ability above league 2 but all we ever got from them inept performance after inept performance.

1.  Neweel
2.  Lyons
3.  Law

Quoted from Garth

Bit harsh on Roger to put him in a similar category to Lyons,  he never had the same amount of games to prove (or not ) anything

Come to think of it I slagged Rodger off but now I think he was never as bad as Woods.

Quoted from oldfootballer

[/b]

Ron did have the respect of the players, but it was his number two who made the difference, Colin Appleton, what a coach he was and also a strict disiplinarian he was in my eyes the best coach next to George Higgins in all my time at Grimsby Town, Higgins was at the club when I first came in 1966.

In fact for the first six games I was not considered for the first team due to being suspended for the first two games and Rons team kept getting draws and the occasional win, but not really impressing the crowd.

That year we finished in the top six I believe and I got player of the year award which I was and still am extremely proud off.
OLDFOOTBALLER

Colin Appleton had been the manager at Scarborough hadn't he? Very clever bloke and made a good team with Ashman. I wonder what sort of a fist Appleton would have made as manager on his own, he always struck me as a bit of a Malcolm Allison - good coach but maybe not great at managing. Reminds me of someone more recent as well.

Ron Ashman had done very well with Scunthorpe and he did well here in spite of the bias of some supporters. I seem to think he went back there later.

Quoted from cagneysav

worst manager ever Mick Lyons, clueless totally clueless, he once said he was signing a new player, when he did he dropped himself in the shite when he (Lyons) said "Now watch us go", what a great laugh, the player signed was Mick Halshaw, midfielder i think came from Carlisle but maybe elsewhere, anyway we went nowhere except downwards.  Second worst manager the late Ron Ashman, came from Scunthorpe, enough said.

After we beat West Brom at home in early March he was talking about the play offs. Sadly (willing to be corrected) the team didn't win another game.

Quoted from Paddymariner

[/b]

What a crock of excrement. Ashman was an excellent manager who had the utmost respect of his players. He just wasn't McMenemy, who he took over from.

Agree 100%. Had he come from anywhere other than Scunthorpe he'd have been recognised as being a good manager.

Mike Lyons to me was the worst manager. I'm sure he thought he was "Roy Of The Rovers". I recall after losing one game by 5 goals he stated in the GET that we needed " better strikers " - what a to**er. As has been mentioned he even played himself as striker and this was from a " professional footballer " who had always been a centre back. I also think that Newell is a close second - a complete clueless conman.

I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers here but my answer is:

Buckley III**


** Please note, Buckley I and II are a seperate entity and a living legend. Buckley III got us into this mess. At least when Newell came in, he had the excuse of a rubbish team. Buckley III didn't.

Quoted from LukeyJ

I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers here but my answer is:

Buckley III**


** Please note, Buckley I and II are a seperate entity and a living legend. Buckley III got us into this mess. At least when Newell came in, he had the excuse of a rubbish team. Buckley III didn't.

rubbish...a bad manager is a man who has failed at his job..alan buckley is a town legend and he should not have come back but to say buckley 1 2 and 3 is total excrement.

buckley will be at the other end of the list mate a one of towns best managers if not the best

Quoted from LukeyJ

I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers here but my answer is:

Buckley III**


** Please note, Buckley I and II are a seperate entity and a living legend. Buckley III got us into this mess. At least when Newell came in, he had the excuse of a rubbish team. Buckley III didn't.

Am i reading correctly you are saying Buckley inherited a team that you dont regard as excrement?Please tell me what the fcuk he had to work with and while your at it how did he manage to get them through to Wembley cos i wouldnt have wished that squad on anyone?

Quoted from LukeyJ

I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers here but my answer is:

Buckley III**


** Please note, Buckley I and II are a seperate entity and a living legend. Buckley III got us into this mess. At least when Newell came in, he had the excuse of a rubbish team. Buckley III didn't.

i have to agree to some extent, he did bring in martin butler as well as getting rid of fenton and toner

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Am i reading correctly you are saying Buckley inherited a team that you dont regard as excrement?Please tell me what the fcuk he had to work with and while your at it how did he manage to get them through to Wembley cos i wouldnt have wished that squad on anyone?

I know what you are saying but after Wembley during the close season he had the chance to improve the squad and brought in such " brilliant " players as Heywood and the other defender ( whose name escapes me ) who is now an industrial painter on the rigs in the North Sea. AB is my ALL TIME favourite Grimsby manager but unfortunately his last term in office , Wembley apart, demonstrated how far the game had moved on since his first and second stints.

Quoted from rancido

I know what you are saying but after Wembley during the close season he had the chance to improve the squad and brought in such " brilliant " players as Heywood and the other defender ( whose name escapes me ) who is now an industrial painter on the rigs in the North Sea. AB is my ALL TIME favourite Grimsby manager but unfortunately his last term in office , Wembley apart, demonstrated how far the game had moved on since his first and second stints.

Yes but he accuses Buckley 3 of leaving Newell with a excrement squad worse than what he inherited thats the point im debating also the Buckley 3 squad wasn`t in the bottom 2 for Months on end like it was under Rodger,Newell and Woods so in my opinion Buckley once again managed to polish a big steaming Grimsby Town turd.

Woods by a distance.

Started attending games under Buckley mark I as an eight year old, so anything before that I cannot comment on.

My worst ever Town manager would be Law, closely followed by Newell and Roger.

Quoted from rancido

and the other defender ( whose name escapes me ) who is now an industrial painter on the rigs in the North Sea.

Richard Hope.

Quoted from rancido

he had the chance to improve the squad and brought in such " brilliant " players as Heywood and the other defender ( whose name escapes me )

they don't think they were both cheap either

Nicky Law

nicky law lyons  crap  managers   but only one manager took us on a 25 winless run and out of the league  for the first time in a hundred years  so it has to be woods  

Lyons and NW for the records breaking run, cup performances and relegation