Blades Worst Manager

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I just stumbled on this thread from 2009....look at all the garbage we have had since then. How does this collection of lunatics and miscasts compare with the Titanic fools of old? Well worth asking the question again methinks

John Carver
Micky Adams
Danny Wilson
Chris Morgan
David Weir
Nigel Clough
Nigel Adkins
 
Revolution said:
Heath, Haslam, Peters, Sirrel and Robson are my 5 worst.

Rowley (signed a fair number of the 1971 promotion team in his only season) Thompson (limited ability, but got us to the cup semi final and the playoffs despite the team being gutted) and Furphy (led us to our highest position in the last 40 years) do not belong in this discussion.

McEwan also had one decent, if boring, season (1986-7).

And I'm no Blackwell fan at the moment, but there is no way on earth he deserves to be ranked with the fab five mentioned above.

One of Robson and Heath is probably the worst, on the basis that the next manager was almost immediately able to get vastly better results out of essentially the same players.
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Agree. No Blackwell fan but to lump him in with those is unfair.

And without realising how old the thread was only Adkins would trouble those five for me.
 
Blackwell made most of those clowns look like absolute amateurs - although in fairness to Weir and Morgan they were, in fact, absolute amateurs
 
Any manager who takes at team down to the fourth has to be a prime candidate along with Weir but the manager who made me the most angry was Ken Furphy for one thing he did i.e. selling Geoff Salmons around 1974 when we had a balanced attractive side and were on the verge of qualifying for Europe. It all went to rat sh*t after that. If it was the board's choice I forgive him, often is.
 
South Bucks said:
Any manager who takes at team down to the fourth has to be a prime candidate along with Weir but the manager who made me the most angry was Ken Furphy for one thing he did i.e. selling Geoff Salmons around 1974 when we had a balanced attractive side and were on the verge of qualifying for Europe. It all went to rat sh*t after that. If it was the board's choice I forgive him, often is.
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It's a fact the money from the sale of Salmons was paid entirely to the bank to avoid administration at the time. That summer was probably our darkest moment and the start of our journey to the fourth division. All due to costs of loans connected to the new stand of 75. Falling gates and economics in red for years took it's toll.
 
South Bucks said:
Any manager who takes at team down to the fourth has to be a prime candidate along with Weir but the manager who made me the most angry was Ken Furphy for one thing he did i.e. selling Geoff Salmons around 1974 when we had a balanced attractive side and were on the verge of qualifying for Europe. It all went to rat sh*t after that. If it was the board's choice I forgive him, often is.
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The costs of building the South Stand had increased (it was supposed to be completed in 1974) and it was the board who accepted Stoke's bid for Salmons rather than Furphy. TC was angry because a year earlier the board persuaded him to sign a new contract after promising to buy new players to build a team round him. The only good signing Furphy made was Jim Brown. Surprisingly we finished in 6th place at the end of the 1974-75 season
 
worst managers by ratio-Wilson at no1 Slade bottom
Manager From Until Hons Games per Honour W D L Total Win%
Russell Slade 1998 1998 0.00
Russell Slade 1999 1999 0 n/a 0 1 2 3 0.00
David Weir 2013 2013 0 n/a 1 3 9 13 7.69
Micky Adams 2010 2011 0 n/a 4 5 15 24 16.67
Martin Peters 1981 1981 0 n/a 3 6 7 16 18.75
Jimmy Sirrel 1975 1977 0 n/a 21 23 41 85 24.71
Steve Thompson 1998 1998 0 n/a 5 6 7 18 27.78
Chris Morgan 2013 2013 0 n/a 2 2 3 7 28.57
Adrian Heath 1999 1999 0 n/a 7 5 11 23 30.43
Billy McEwan 1986 1988 0 n/a 27 25 35 87 31.03
Harry Haslam 1978 1981 0 n/a 52 41 72 165 31.52
John Carver (caretaker) 2010 2010 0 n/a 1 0 2 3 33.33
Chris Morgan 2013 2013 0 n/a 1 1 1 3 33.33
Gary Speed 2010 2010 0 n/a 6 3 9 18 33.33
Ken Furphy 1973 1975 0 n/a 30 23 33 86 34.88
Arthur Rowley 1968 1969 0 n/a 16 11 17 44 36.36
Bryan Robson 2007 2008 0 n/a 14 12 12 38 36.84
Dave Bassett 1988 1995 2 197.00 150 101 143 394 38.07
John Nicholson 1899 1932 3 405.33 486 281 449 1216 39.97
Steve Bruce 1998 1999 0 n/a 22 15 18 55 40.00
Nigel Adkins 2016 2016 0 n/a 22 15 18 55 40.00
Reg Freeman 1952 1955 1 132.00 54 30 48 132 40.91
Joe Mercer 1955 1958 0 n/a 64 35 57 156 41.03
Howard Kendall 1995 1997 0 n/a 34 27 21 82 41.46
John Harris 1959 1968 1 441.00 183 105 153 441 41.50
Chris Wilder 2016 Now 0 n/a 5 2 5 12 41.67
Ted Davison 1932 1952 1 592.00 248 139 205 592 41.89
Kevin Blackwell 2008 2010 0 n/a 53 36 36 125 42.40
Neil Warnock 1999 2007 1 388.00 165 100 123 388 42.53
Ian Porterfield 1981 1986 2 125.00 107 67 76 250 42.80
John Harris 1969 1973 1 206.00 91 48 67 206 44.17
J B Wostinholm 1889 1899 0 n/a 103 54 76 233 44.21
Joseph Beckett Wostinholm 1889 1899 3 77.67 103 54 76 233 44.21
Nigel Spackman 1997 1998 0 n/a 20 17 6 43 46.51
Nigel Clough 2013 2015 0 n/a 49 30 25 104 47.12
Danny Wilson 2011 2013 0 n/a 55 31 20 106 51.89
 
10-0 win said:
worst managers by ratio-Wilson at no1 Slade bottom
Manager From Until Hons Games per Honour W D L Total Win%
Russell Slade 1998 1998 0.00
Russell Slade 1999 1999 0 n/a 0 1 2 3 0.00
David Weir 2013 2013 0 n/a 1 3 9 13 7.69
Micky Adams 2010 2011 0 n/a 4 5 15 24 16.67
Martin Peters 1981 1981 0 n/a 3 6 7 16 18.75
Jimmy Sirrel 1975 1977 0 n/a 21 23 41 85 24.71
Steve Thompson 1998 1998 0 n/a 5 6 7 18 27.78
Chris Morgan 2013 2013 0 n/a 2 2 3 7 28.57
Adrian Heath 1999 1999 0 n/a 7 5 11 23 30.43
Billy McEwan 1986 1988 0 n/a 27 25 35 87 31.03
Harry Haslam 1978 1981 0 n/a 52 41 72 165 31.52
John Carver (caretaker) 2010 2010 0 n/a 1 0 2 3 33.33
Chris Morgan 2013 2013 0 n/a 1 1 1 3 33.33
Gary Speed 2010 2010 0 n/a 6 3 9 18 33.33
Ken Furphy 1973 1975 0 n/a 30 23 33 86 34.88
Arthur Rowley 1968 1969 0 n/a 16 11 17 44 36.36
Bryan Robson 2007 2008 0 n/a 14 12 12 38 36.84
Dave Bassett 1988 1995 2 197.00 150 101 143 394 38.07
John Nicholson 1899 1932 3 405.33 486 281 449 1216 39.97
Steve Bruce 1998 1999 0 n/a 22 15 18 55 40.00
Nigel Adkins 2016 2016 0 n/a 22 15 18 55 40.00
Reg Freeman 1952 1955 1 132.00 54 30 48 132 40.91
Joe Mercer 1955 1958 0 n/a 64 35 57 156 41.03
Howard Kendall 1995 1997 0 n/a 34 27 21 82 41.46
John Harris 1959 1968 1 441.00 183 105 153 441 41.50
Chris Wilder 2016 Now 0 n/a 5 2 5 12 41.67
Ted Davison 1932 1952 1 592.00 248 139 205 592 41.89
Kevin Blackwell 2008 2010 0 n/a 53 36 36 125 42.40
Neil Warnock 1999 2007 1 388.00 165 100 123 388 42.53
Ian Porterfield 1981 1986 2 125.00 107 67 76 250 42.80
John Harris 1969 1973 1 206.00 91 48 67 206 44.17
J B Wostinholm 1889 1899 0 n/a 103 54 76 233 44.21
Joseph Beckett Wostinholm 1889 1899 3 77.67 103 54 76 233 44.21
Nigel Spackman 1997 1998 0 n/a 20 17 6 43 46.51
Nigel Clough 2013 2015 0 n/a 49 30 25 104 47.12
Danny Wilson 2011 2013 0 n/a 55 31 20 106 51.89
Click to expand...

Lies, damn lies and statistics. Bassett only above Robson by a tiny margin!
 
World Cup winner Martin Peters was our worst manager, he was so bad it was his one and only time as manager.We plummeted down div 3 and the rest is history, Walsall at home , last minute penalty, Don Givens misses the bloody thing , resigned to Div 4.We had bouncebsckability in those bygone days , Champions Div 4 1982, runners up Bradford City.Might history repeat itself 35 years later.
 
Captain said:
World Cup winner Martin Peters was our worst manager, he was so bad it was his one and only time as manager.We plummeted down div 3 and the rest is history, Walsall at home , last minute penalty, Don Givens misses the bloody thing , resigned to Div 4.We had bouncebsckability in those bygone days , Champions Div 4 1982, runners up Bradford City.Might history repeat itself 35 years later.
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We win division 4?
 
Thanks for the extra info on 1974/75 silent blade and 10-0. I was just a school kid at the time so didn't know about the politics nor what administration meant.

Was reminising with a friend recently how a couple of seasons earlier I was in a crowd of 45000+ at the lane with no south stand for a 1-1 draw with manu. It was like sardines and a cracking atmosphere. Just a shame the club couldn't sort its finances out in that decade when there were sometimes good gates.
 



It will have to be Bryan Robson.

Someone with so much money at his disposal yet fuck all management skill. He really does think throwing money around will fix a squad.

Micky Adams runs him close as a bad manager but the circumstances at the club were far from perfect.
 
For me Blackwell was a slightly watered down version of Warnock
Almost identical style of football but not quite as brave.

I think Blackwell virtually copied Warnocks secret of success.
The problem was Warnock could make an example of a player but keep the camp on side
Warnock could fall out badly with a player then a week later was their best pal.
Basically Warnock was the king of manipulation and making people feel good, real bullshitter.

Blackwell tried to be strict when needed, fell out with players but didn't have the charisma to get them back on side.

There's no way on earth Blackwell can be anywhere near the top 5.
In his first season he worked miracles, gave us our club back and was 1 win away from the playoffs.
In his second season we reached the playoff final.

Small margins eh?

Also agree Clough is no where the top 5 worse managers either.
When we played teams better than us Clough was capable of a defensive plan making us tough to beat and being dangerous on the counter attack hence the cup success.
 
Peters. ... followed closely by Robson. At least with Robson most of us knew it was a car crash waiting to happen.
 
Robbie said:
Best to worst :)

I'd say the only truly terrible managers I've witnessed were Heath, Thompson and Robson.

Everyone goes on about Thompson getting us to a play off semi and quarters of cup, but he only got us past one round and took us further down the table.

Heath needs no explanation.

Robson - well as above, but I did find it amusing watching us under him :D

Blackwell might be tactically incompetent, but his record last season was decent - even if I think he should have done better.
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Blackwell was often tactical astute, far from incompetent. I think people make up history.
The problem was (like many coaches) he often focussed more on negating the opposition instead of focussing on our strengths. He tried to be too clever and it sometimes backfired but his results were pretty good.

His record in this last season was decent but his record in his first season was even better.

Agree with the rest the worse for me were Robson followed by Heath, Peters, Adams and probably Weir (although I felt sorry for him) in that order. Also I'd put Adkins in that group but not Clough.
 
10-0 win said:
worst managers by ratio-Wilson at no1 Slade bottom
Manager From Until Hons Games per Honour W D L Total Win%
Russell Slade 1998 1998 0.00
Russell Slade 1999 1999 0 n/a 0 1 2 3 0.00
David Weir 2013 2013 0 n/a 1 3 9 13 7.69
Micky Adams 2010 2011 0 n/a 4 5 15 24 16.67
Martin Peters 1981 1981 0 n/a 3 6 7 16 18.75
Jimmy Sirrel 1975 1977 0 n/a 21 23 41 85 24.71
Steve Thompson 1998 1998 0 n/a 5 6 7 18 27.78
Chris Morgan 2013 2013 0 n/a 2 2 3 7 28.57
Adrian Heath 1999 1999 0 n/a 7 5 11 23 30.43
Billy McEwan 1986 1988 0 n/a 27 25 35 87 31.03
Harry Haslam 1978 1981 0 n/a 52 41 72 165 31.52
John Carver (caretaker) 2010 2010 0 n/a 1 0 2 3 33.33
Chris Morgan 2013 2013 0 n/a 1 1 1 3 33.33
Gary Speed 2010 2010 0 n/a 6 3 9 18 33.33
Ken Furphy 1973 1975 0 n/a 30 23 33 86 34.88
Arthur Rowley 1968 1969 0 n/a 16 11 17 44 36.36
Bryan Robson 2007 2008 0 n/a 14 12 12 38 36.84
Dave Bassett 1988 1995 2 197.00 150 101 143 394 38.07
John Nicholson 1899 1932 3 405.33 486 281 449 1216 39.97
Steve Bruce 1998 1999 0 n/a 22 15 18 55 40.00
Nigel Adkins 2016 2016 0 n/a 22 15 18 55 40.00
Reg Freeman 1952 1955 1 132.00 54 30 48 132 40.91
Joe Mercer 1955 1958 0 n/a 64 35 57 156 41.03
Howard Kendall 1995 1997 0 n/a 34 27 21 82 41.46
John Harris 1959 1968 1 441.00 183 105 153 441 41.50
Chris Wilder 2016 Now 0 n/a 5 2 5 12 41.67
Ted Davison 1932 1952 1 592.00 248 139 205 592 41.89
Kevin Blackwell 2008 2010 0 n/a 53 36 36 125 42.40
Neil Warnock 1999 2007 1 388.00 165 100 123 388 42.53
Ian Porterfield 1981 1986 2 125.00 107 67 76 250 42.80
John Harris 1969 1973 1 206.00 91 48 67 206 44.17
J B Wostinholm 1889 1899 0 n/a 103 54 76 233 44.21
Joseph Beckett Wostinholm 1889 1899 3 77.67 103 54 76 233 44.21
Nigel Spackman 1997 1998 0 n/a 20 17 6 43 46.51
Nigel Clough 2013 2015 0 n/a 49 30 25 104 47.12
Danny Wilson 2011 2013 0 n/a 55 31 20 106 51.89
Click to expand...
Wilder actually has a 56.5 win percentage currently according to wikipedia so he would be above Wilson now. :)
 
Bladesman said:
Surely being a Blade got him a couple of brownie points?
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That's what made it worse. You'd think that having an affinity with the club, then if nothing else, he would at least have a degree of passion and a desire to succeed. He brought nothing but even more negativity in his words and actions.
 
Tyler Durden said:
That's what made it worse. You'd think that having an affinity with the club, then if nothing else, he would at least have a degree of passion and a desire to succeed. He brought nothing but even more negativity in his words and actions.
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I partly agree but the situation at the club can't have helped though.

Although not sure he ever smiled at any point and is probably the most depressing manager we have had.
 
10-0 win said:
worst managers by ratio-Wilson at no1 Slade bottom
Manager From Until Hons Games per Honour W D L Total Win%
Russell Slade 1998 1998 0.00
Russell Slade 1999 1999 0 n/a 0 1 2 3 0.00
David Weir 2013 2013 0 n/a 1 3 9 13 7.69
Micky Adams 2010 2011 0 n/a 4 5 15 24 16.67
Martin Peters 1981 1981 0 n/a 3 6 7 16 18.75
Jimmy Sirrel 1975 1977 0 n/a 21 23 41 85 24.71
Steve Thompson 1998 1998 0 n/a 5 6 7 18 27.78
Chris Morgan 2013 2013 0 n/a 2 2 3 7 28.57
Adrian Heath 1999 1999 0 n/a 7 5 11 23 30.43
Billy McEwan 1986 1988 0 n/a 27 25 35 87 31.03
Harry Haslam 1978 1981 0 n/a 52 41 72 165 31.52
John Carver (caretaker) 2010 2010 0 n/a 1 0 2 3 33.33
Chris Morgan 2013 2013 0 n/a 1 1 1 3 33.33
Gary Speed 2010 2010 0 n/a 6 3 9 18 33.33
Ken Furphy 1973 1975 0 n/a 30 23 33 86 34.88
Arthur Rowley 1968 1969 0 n/a 16 11 17 44 36.36
Bryan Robson 2007 2008 0 n/a 14 12 12 38 36.84
Dave Bassett 1988 1995 2 197.00 150 101 143 394 38.07
John Nicholson 1899 1932 3 405.33 486 281 449 1216 39.97
Steve Bruce 1998 1999 0 n/a 22 15 18 55 40.00
Nigel Adkins 2016 2016 0 n/a 22 15 18 55 40.00
Reg Freeman 1952 1955 1 132.00 54 30 48 132 40.91
Joe Mercer 1955 1958 0 n/a 64 35 57 156 41.03
Howard Kendall 1995 1997 0 n/a 34 27 21 82 41.46
John Harris 1959 1968 1 441.00 183 105 153 441 41.50
Chris Wilder 2016 Now 0 n/a 5 2 5 12 41.67
Ted Davison 1932 1952 1 592.00 248 139 205 592 41.89
Kevin Blackwell 2008 2010 0 n/a 53 36 36 125 42.40
Neil Warnock 1999 2007 1 388.00 165 100 123 388 42.53
Ian Porterfield 1981 1986 2 125.00 107 67 76 250 42.80
John Harris 1969 1973 1 206.00 91 48 67 206 44.17
J B Wostinholm 1889 1899 0 n/a 103 54 76 233 44.21
Joseph Beckett Wostinholm 1889 1899 3 77.67 103 54 76 233 44.21
Nigel Spackman 1997 1998 0 n/a 20 17 6 43 46.51
Nigel Clough 2013 2015 0 n/a 49 30 25 104 47.12
Danny Wilson 2011 2013 0 n/a 55 31 20 106 51.89
Click to expand...

Wilder's win ratio in league games stands at 61% at the moment, I know we have only played 18 games before anyone says it.
 
Sean Thornton said:
Agree. No Blackwell fan but to lump him in with those is unfair.

And without realising how old the thread was only Adkins would trouble those five for me.
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Well, I don't know about that. Since I wrote my list we've had:

Speed
Carver
Adams
Wilson
Morgan
Weir
Clough
Adkins
Wilder

Do any of them crack my top 5 of Peters, Sirrell, Heath, Haslam and Robson?

I don't consider Morgan and Carver because they were caretakers.

Clough and Wilson have their detractors but have genuine achievements too. No way do they get near a top 5. I think Danny Wilson was a good manager for us, actually. He did not deserve to be fired.

Speed did a poor job IMHO but he's not top 5.

Adkins did an worse job than Speed, but I don't see him as top 5 as he didn't get us relegated and I also don't see that he's damaged the club long term.

Weir and Adams, in different ways, were utter disasters. Can I have a top 7? I might even rank them below Heath and Sirrell if I had to.

My top 2 are Robson and Haslam. They both set the club back years in different ways whilst getting terrible results. Robson was handed a huge budget which a semi competent manager would have used to get us straight back up but frittered it away and managed the games poorly too, and that led to McCabe selling the family silver. I have learned more about Haslam since 2009, and looked more closely at what he did. Haslam lost his mind and spent 2 years selling good young players and replacing them, on the whole, with a pile of crap, leading to 2 relegations in 3 seasons. It's hard to choose which of these two did a worse job.
 
David Wier!
Nigel Adkins!
Bryan Robson!
Steve Bruce!
Micky Adams!
I'm to young to go back further than Bassett so these fucking fools will do me.
 
Broomhall Blade said:
I've seen some really crap managers over the years, but for me it has to be
Micky Adams.
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It didn't work with Adams but as I have said before, he inherited a shit squad and wasn't given the funds to sort it out in the JTW. If we'd have stuck with him after relegation, we wouldn't have spend the next 5 seasons in league one.
 
You know it's not going to be good when your view that the Robson appointment could well be a disaster is reinforced by that fact that your Man U supporting brother falls about laughing when he finds out.
 



The one and only captain fantastic Bryan Robson. I was on holiday the day he was announced and remember feeling physically sick.

Then he described the Derby as 'just another game' before wildly celebrating beating Man City. That was the only time I didn't celebrate the goal but instead gave the manager a round of Fs for his reaction because it wasn't the fact the Blades had scored that made him happy it was who it was against...complete bastard!

Honourable mentions to Adams and Weir.
 
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