Best SUFC Manager since 1980

[Sothall_Blade]

1980 because that's when I started going regularly and you've got to draw the line somewhere.
I've not included caretaker managers or those who I thought were shit!
Who do you reckon and why?

 

[Darren]

I'll rank them:

1. Bassett
2. Porterfield
3. Warnock
4. Blackwell
5. Kendall
6. Spackman
7. Wilson

I take into account the resources they had available, so Kendall and Spackman get marked down as they had money to burn and ultimately acheived nothing. Blackwell gets above them because throughout his tenure he was getting fewer and fewer resources, yet still got us to a play off final and two relatively near misses.

 

[JJ Sefton]

Bassett by a mile followed by Warnock.

 

[Selly]

Bassett by a mile followed by Warnock.

This!

 

[ZoneManWilf]

Bassett by a mile followed by Warnock.

Same for me.

Porterfield was good, but ran out of ideas when we hit division 2.

 

[JJ Sefton]

Same for me.

Porterfield was good, but ran out of ideas when we hit division 2.

Possibly because he ran out of money. We were pretty big spenders in the early 80s for the levels we were at.

 

[Darren]

Porterfield took us from the 4th Division to promotion challengers in the second in the 5 years he was in charge. We also finished in a higher league position in every season he was in charge (I think he is unique in that). For me that is better than Warnock's acheivement.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Porterfield took us from the 4th Division to promotion challengers in the second in the 5 years he was in charge. We also finished in a higher league position in every season he was in charge (I think he is unique in that). For me that is better than Warnock's acheivement.

His spending levels for Division 4 were huge for the time (Waugh, Morris, Edwards etc..)
Although I loved that team, it would have been a major disaster if he hadn't got us straight back up.

Then although it wasn't talked about as much in those days, for him to be able to recruit Dad's Army (Burridge, Thompson, Houston, McNaught, Mortimer, Withe etc) our wage bill must have been easily one of the highest in the third/second tier.

I would put his record on a par with Blackwell's. Did well with very large resources, gradually got worse as the funds dried up and the football became increasingly negative and boring to watch.

 

[JJ Sefton]

His spending levels for Division 4 were huge for the time (Waugh, Morris, Edwards etc..)
Although I loved that team, it would have been a major disaster if he hadn't got us straight back up.

Then although it wasn't talked about as much in those days, for him to be able to recruit Dad's Army (Burridge, Thompson, Houston, McNaught, Mortimer, Withe etc) our wage bill must have been easily one of the highest in the third/second tier.

I would put his record on a par with Blackwell's. Did well with very large resources, gradually got worse as the funds dried up and the football became increasingly negative and boring to watch.

Porterfield was before my time but that's always the impression I've got.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Bassett by some distance. Porterfield did well with money, poorly when he had none. Spackman showed potential but had the rug pulled from under his feet. Warnock got more time than anyone else did after Bassett, and seemed to be the opposite of Porterfield, good with no money and crap with it.

Not even a separate vote possible for Bruce?

 

[Darren]

His spending levels for Division 4 were huge for the time (Waugh, Morris, Edwards etc..)
Although I loved that team, it would have been a major disaster if he hadn't got us straight back up.

Then although it wasn't talked about as much in those days, for him to be able to recruit Dad's Army (Burridge, Thompson, Houston, McNaught, Mortimer, Withe etc) our wage bill must have been easily one of the highest in the third/second tier.

I would put his record on a par with Blackwell's. Did well with very large resources, gradually got worse as the funds dried up and the football became increasingly negative and boring to watch.

It was actually Haslam who recruited Houston in 1980 and he left at the end of Porterfield's second season in 1983, having never really been a regular.

As for the other people you mentioned, you have to remember that wage differentials in the mid and late eighties were nothing like they are now. I have posted this before, but - have a look again

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ier-League-wages-FIVE-times-Championship.html

In 1985-86, (the last IP and the Dad's Army season) average second tier wages were 60% of average first tier wages. In 2009-10, average second tier wages were 18% of average first tier wages. It follows that the differential in earnings between the likes of Thompson, Withe etc and other second tier players would be far less than would be the case with the likes of, say, Beattie and Hendrie playing in the 2nd tier.

The general point is that his resources, whilst larger that everyone in the foruth tier, most in the third tier (Portskounth probably had more) and about just above average in the second tier (the likes of Man City, Norwich, Leeds, Sunderland etc certainly had greater resources), where nowhere near as disproportionate to his rivals as the early Blackwell.

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

porterfield was unlucky, he did a really good job.

spackman could have been a blades legend, but he got shafted so we'll never know.

bassett was the man. when he took over we had nothing. he cleared the lot out, signed a bunch of nobodies from all corners of britain and turned them into one of the best teams we've ever had. poor football my arse, we were fast and lethal. direct yes, long ball no not really. long when it needed to be, short when it didnt. thats my kind of football. you can leave all the passing backwards half the game stuff to barcelona.

how we could do with that kind of manager now. were actually in a very similar situation as to when bassett took over. martin allen anyone?!?

 

[Fiery Blade]

Bassett by a country mile - signed nobodies such as Deane, Agana, Gannon, Jocky, Booker, Tracey, Kelly, and the rest and added class such as Glyn Hodges
Fans had a smile on their face and we mixed it with the big boys
Happy Days!

 

[judge]

Bassett edges warnock here simply because he kept us in the top league my only criticism of his era being that the crowds were never as big as they should have been with the odd full house followed by a half empty bramall lane

 

[Revolution]

Bassett edges warnock here

 

[judge]

;-)

 

[Aberdeen Blade]

Porterfield was Aberdeen's first Manager after Fergie buggered off to Man Utd.

Did he go straight from the Blades to Aberdeen or did he quit/was sacked and unemployed for a bit then got the gig at the Dons?

 

[Revolution]

Porterfield was fired in March 1986 and Atkinson fired by Man Utd in October or November that year, so there was a gap.

 

[William Large]

porterfield was unlucky, he did a really good job.

spackman could have been a blades legend, but he got shafted so we'll never know.

bassett was the man. when he took over we had nothing. he cleared the lot out, signed a bunch of nobodies from all corners of britain and turned them into one of the best teams we've ever had. poor football my arse, we were fast and lethal. direct yes, long ball no not really. long when it needed to be, short when it didnt. thats my kind of football. you can leave all the passing backwards half the game stuff to barcelona.

how we could do with that kind of manager now. were actually in a very similar situation as to when bassett took over. martin allen anyone?!?

Martin Allen ???? Really?? Is that how bad things have got?

 

[JohnDenver]

I'll rank them:

1. Bassett
2. Porterfield
3. Warnock
4. Blackwell
5. Kendall
6. Spackman
7. Wilson

1. Bassett
2. Warnock
3. Porterfield
4. Kendall
5. Wilson
6. Blackwell
7. Spackman

Your Blackwell apologia holds no weight with me.

 

[Ollessendro]

No contest, with Bassett the stand out winner. Took us up 3 times and kept us there until the board screwed him and he were very unlucky. Like Fiery Blade says look at the players he brought in for nowt. The football may not have been pretty, but we had some good times.

I'd put Warnock 2nd, but by quite a distance. Warnock turned the club round after a shoddy time and brought some pride back. He gaves us some good times and did ok on little resources. When he finally got some cash he took us up, but he did blow it in the Prem.

I never saw Porterfield, so I would put Kendall third. Kendall took over a team playing awful football and getting terrible results and turned them into a slick outfit overnight. We played some cracking stuff under him, though he did have a decent team (Hutchinson, Katchouro, Nilsen, Kelly, Walker and Whitehouse to name a few). Ultimately he failed, as we did not go up. It seemed to fall apart towards the end under him. Not sure if he started drinking again or if he just lost interest.

I don't really rate any of the other managers. Spackman was a joke and got exposed when Donaghie left. People statiting Blackwell is laughable. He had one of the best teams since 1980 and failed to get us promoted. Wilson did ok, getting us play decent stuff, but failed (and it was third tier).

 

[axel smeets]

Surely Porterfield couldn't have started any lower. The only way was up for him. He got us back to a level we should be at.

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

Martin Allen ???? Really?? Is that how bad things have got?

yes. yes it is that bad. have you not noticed?!?