Worst Manager in Recent Times

Bit of fun for a Monday

Mike Newell, without a shadow of a doubt.

Bignot was a chancer,  who was out of his depth, who can forget his lop sided formation? But he signed some decent players and talked a good game. Michael Jolley cut his own throat by boring everyone to death, going man for man on the opposition when we HAD the ball meaning we couldn't ever score a goal, he was a fraud IMO full of his own self importance, dislked by the office staff and I hear the players who had no respect for him.

Paul Hurst was pragmatic rather than exciting but got the lads organised and was well thought of at the club. Alan Buckley is a God as far as I am concerned and isn't in this conversation. Slade was well meaning, I'm sure he worked hard and did his best, but he is a footballing dinosaur who brought a style of football suited to the 80's and would certainly have taken us out of the league again if the board hadn't internened. Jolley had some success when Slade was sacked simply because he wasn't Slade IMO.

Woodsy ultimately took us out of the football league, but the damage was done and the players were all scumbags. I'll have to go for Mike Newell who signed a bunch of arseholes who didn't care about consigning this great club to oblivion as long as they were drinking on the way to training. Absolutely scandalous and I'd hang them all. Newell would be the first to wear my noose.

An honourable mention for Rob Scott  

Woods was onto nothing inheriting that bunch of losers as his first job. I don't think anyone would have got them performing. Newell signed them, put together that team and created the terrible culture so it's a no brainer.

Jolley left under a cloud but he kept us up against the odds. You could argue that we were lucky but he still kept us up. Let's not forget that he gave our most saleable asset his debut in Mattie Pollock too. In fact, I can't remember young players getting a fair crack of the whip for a number of years.

Slade II was always going to be a risk and it was a disaster. Had we gone down, he would no doubt have ran Newell very close in this poll.

Hurst and Buckley shouldn't be anywhere near this poll.

Bignot was like a kid in a sweet shop and he signed the only Head of Recruitment I've seen in football that watched his employer every Saturday and put the cones out. He's been at Guiseley for a while but I don't think he's cut out for full-time football. He seemed to chat nonsense and the line ups and formations were baffling.

I went for Newell.

Looking back, Bignot's a really interesting one. The results for the most part weren't actually that bad, in fact he had some decent ones including:

3-0 Plymouth (away)
3-1 Carlisle (away)
1-0 Hartlepool (away)
3-0 Mansfield (home)
3-0 Leyton Orient (away)
3-1 Blackpool (away)

Incidentally, here's how his record compares to Holloway's thus far:

Bignot - P27 W9 D7 L11 (Win % - 33.3%)
Holloway - P28 W9 D8 L11 (Win % - 32.1%)

I think in the end it was more the madness that ensued around him that got him the sack, rather than the results per se. Still, I think I was as relieved as I've ever been when he got the boot. In spite of the results you could see he was a disaster waiting to happen.

Leaving Sir Buckley out of it, I think a more pertinent question is why these managers turned out so badly, or the only one who had a modicum of success wanted to leave.

We should never have chosen Woods, and at the time there was a lot of speculation as to whether Slade was coming back. If he came back at all that was the time to do it, but we took the wrong option. We all love Woods, but to give him the job after all those games as a caretaker without a win, and expecting a novice manager to turn that lot round was an unforgivable decision by the board.

I think most of us wanted Newell at the time, but we expected the board to do the necessary background checks, so again the blame lies with the board.

We were at an incredibly low ebb when Hurst first arrived with Scott, but having got us back in the league we should have done more to keep him. Another board blunder.

Slade, Bignot and Jolley seemed to fall out of love with the club very quickly after talking a good game, and the feeling persists with me that they felt the club would never really progress whilst the current board was in place and got dispirited.  

It must be terribly difficult to get the right manager in, but when we do get a reasonable candidate it seems to go sour too quickly.

I was chuffed to bits when Holloway saw it as a long term project, and that he could change a lot over time, and I still hope he can once we get past this season.

Newell was somebody who came with a bad reputation and lived up to it I guess. Just genuinely didn't give a excrement and signed a bunch of people who wanted to be paid to drink and have a bit of a laugh. Made a couple of signings that generated some excitement but the majority were uninterested in getting back to their best as it was an easy job for them. Woods wanted to change all that and faced a rebellion from men, not boys who he wasn't used to coaching and didn't have the respect for him that those he had coached from a young age had.

Slade, old fashioned and wanted to sign his own players that were long past their best but did dig out Dembele to get us a bit of an investment. Jolly was a smarmy git who loved the smell of his own farts. Didn't seem very popular with people who work at the club, think he rubbed people the wrong way and it showed with the way he got fired why.

Bignot's results not bad and he signed some decent people along with some not so decent but was a nutcase. Suppose some on here would have been pleased if he successfully chased Macca out the club. The problem was he also chased Dean Henderson out the club too which they probably didn't want.

Hurst, not the most charismatic or exciting manager we've ever had but he achieved what he said he would. Bit odd in the way he left and think that could have been handled a bit better but whatever. Seemed to get on well with the board and people at the club, had the respect of the squad too which helped greatly. It helped him last long enough to finally achieve the goal of promotion.

Newell presided over the rot setting in. Thoroughly unprofessional.

Woods inherited Newell’s dross and I think wasn’t given enough time in the Conference. A victim of unrealistic expectations of rapid promotion I think, whatever you think of his time in the relegation season.

Hurst was probably the best of the lot, though that might be a bit harsh on Sir Alan. Given what subsequently happened and penny pinching at the club, Buckley might well have been given a pig in a poke to work with. Based on his previous record I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.

Bignot wasn’t given enough time in my opinion. I’m always wary of so-called player unrest. They hardly covered themselves in glory when Bignot went and tore up no trees. Recuited some good players, made some baffling formation selections. Hampered by the loss of Bogle. Didn’t have time to see if it would work.

I’d put Slade almost down there with Newell.

Jolley’s time was frustrating in the end but undoubtedly saved us from a second relegation out of the League. I think that could well have saved the club from disappearing completely given what has happened this year. Would have got longer but got his rant.