Blades Worst Manager

[Fiery Blade]

We have been debating the merits of Blackwell and where he stands amoungst the elite Blades Managers!
What about the worst Top Five Managers ever to be at the helm!
I will throw in a few names to discuss: (In no particular order)
McEwan, Heath, Haslam, Peters, Blackwell, Furphy, Thompson, Sirrel, Rowley just for starters

 

[puppet]

I think Sirrel inherited the worst of Furphy's screw-ups to be fair, who in turn inherited the dead end of the great early 70s team. Furphy was a progressive choice at the time, an upcoming lower league manager, shame it didnt work out. Haslam, Peters, Thompson, McEwan, Bruce with Thompson top for me.

 

[Gingerblade]

Robson by far!

Had a massive budget for this league, and a decent squad anyway. We might be playing terrible at the min, but it was much worst under him, and with better players!

 

[Revolution]

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.

 

[Santos]

We have been debating the merits of Blackwell and where he stands amoungst the elite Blades Managers!
What about the worst Top Five Managers ever to be at the helm!
I will throw in a few names to discuss: (In no particular order)
McEwan, Heath, Haslam, Peters, Blackwell, Furphy, Thompson, Sirrel, Rowley just for starters

ROBSON :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[shorehamview]

Robson was bad, but Heath took being totally shite to a whole new level.

 

[Compound_Legend]

Yep,in recent years,we've had it bad,with Captain Paralytic and Heath,but I'm amazed that there's no mention of Haslam's last months and those of Peters- a period that saw some of the worst players of all time wear the shirt,and saw a shift to that cod Ajax kit,not the stripes that we're accustomed to.

We may slag off some of today's breed,but come on,they can't be as bad as Dougie Brown and Tony Moore,can they?

 

[SotonBlade]

One of the worst games i've seen was Heath's first game in charge down at Portsmouth. A certain Axel Smeets made his debut, that was a very depressing match

 

[beightonblade]

cheap as chips ............. if he stays long enuff, which in my opinion he has already.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

The end of the Haslam reign, drifting into the short-lived Martin Peters era were the lowest part of Blades history. From that point of view they would take the award. As Compound said, some of the players appearing at that point really did make the current squad look like world beaters.

Running them close would be Adrian Heath and Brian Robson. Interestingly enough, if you take Haslam out of that quartet, you have 3 fantastic, top quality players who were complete turdery at the management side of things.

 

[SwissBlade]

Wow! Another chance to have a dig at Blackwell. Nice one Fiery

 

[mattbianco1]

We have been debating the merits of Blackwell and where he stands amoungst the elite Blades Managers!
What about the worst Top Five Managers ever to be at the helm!
I will throw in a few names to discuss: (In no particular order)
McEwan, Heath, Haslam, Peters, Blackwell, Furphy, Thompson, Sirrel, Rowley just for starters

cheap as chips ............. if he stays long enuff, which in my opinion he has already.

I wonder if i would be on the list if, lets say i take over in February 2010. We're in a similar position to where we are now... Maybe even worse off and relegation looks like a possibility.

I then take us to within 1 game of the playoffs losing only 3 of my first 14 league games in charge.

I then take the club to within a couple of points of automatic promotion in my first full season missing out eventually in the play off final at Wembley.

I wonder then, if i have got a clearly injury plagued squad missing 4 "core" players for lengthy periods i.e. Kenny, Montgomery, Naysmith & Ward and a whole host of other players getting knocks and having to play out of position & unfit but still it's this side of Christmas and all it will take is a decent run of gamesand lady luck to make a return

I wonder then if i'd make it into your worst managers of all time list!


By the way... The worst two managers i've seen in my lifetime are Bryan Robson & Adrian Heath.

 

[Fiery Blade]

I wonder if i would be on the list if, lets say i take over in February 2010. We're in a similar position to where we are now... Maybe even worse off and relegation looks like a possibility.

I then take us to within 1 game of the playoffs losing only 3 of my first 14 league games in charge.

I then take the club to within a couple of points of automatic promotion in my first full season missing out eventually in the play off final at Wembley.

I wonder then, if i have got a clearly injury plagued squad missing 4 "core" players for lengthy periods i.e. Kenny, Montgomery, Naysmith & Ward and a whole host of other players getting knocks and having to play out of position & unfit but still it's this side of Christmas and all it will take is a decent run of gamesand lady luck to make a return

I wonder then if i'd make it into your worst managers of all time list!


By the way... The worst two managers i've seen in my lifetime are Bryan Robson & Adrian Heath.

Are you Blackwell in disguise
It's about managing the players and team you have and the resources available
At this moment in time Darren Ferguson, Rafa Benitez and Blackwell have similar records over the past two months results wise yet only Ferguson is bullitted - Ferguson can feel hard done by!
Personally whilst I don't rate Blackwell he isn't in my top five worst managers They are:
Robson, Heath, Bruce, McEwan, Peters

 

[mattbianco1]

Are you Blackwell in disguise
It's about managing the players and team you have and the resources available
At this moment in time Darren Ferguson, Rafa Benitez and Blackwell have similar records over the past two months results wise yet only Ferguson is bullitted - Ferguson can feel hard done by!
Personally whilst I don't rate Blackwell he isn't in my top five worst managers They are:
Robson, Heath, Bruce, McEwan, Peters

No. But i do think he's getting un-necessary stick.

He was getting it last season. We finished 3rd! A lot of United fans like to think we're this big premiership team but we're not we've been in the championship for most of the 90's & barring 1 year all of the 00's. SO basically Blackwell is one of pobably THE most succesful manager of recent times if you take out Warnock.

And everyone that keeps saying get Warnock back, jesus. HE TAUGHT BLACKWELL!!!

 

[blades1889]

Robson by far!

Had a massive budget for this league, and a decent squad anyway. We might be playing terrible at the min, but it was much worst under him, and with better players!

did u no we are doing worse now then when robson was in charge i'm not saying robson is good i'm saying there both are shit!

 

[blades1889]

No. But i do think he's getting un-necessary stick.

He was getting it last season. We finished 3rd! A lot of United fans like to think we're this big premiership team but we're not we've been in the championship for most of the 90's & barring 1 year all of the 00's. SO basically Blackwell is one of pobably THE most succesful manager of recent times if you take out Warnock.

And everyone that keeps saying get Warnock back, jesus. HE TAUGHT BLACKWELL!!!

to start with if u took warnock out of the 00's that be 6 years so there only really blackwell and robson. Yh we finished 3rd but i thought we was lucky and it not gonna happen again. Warnock taught blackwell but not as well. And blackwell thinks he better which he isn't. Warnock is miles bettter. Blackwell plays shit football!
Blackwell shud stick being number 2

 

[Guesty]

No. But i do think he's getting un-necessary stick.

He was getting it last season. We finished 3rd! A lot of United fans like to think we're this big premiership team but we're not we've been in the championship for most of the 90's & barring 1 year all of the 00's. SO basically Blackwell is one of pobably THE most succesful manager of recent times if you take out Warnock.

And everyone that keeps saying get Warnock back, jesus. HE TAUGHT BLACKWELL!!!

For the love of God don't get Warnock back, but you can't hold Blackwell's failing against him!

Look at all the failed managers that learnt at Ferguson's feet!

 

[lenners]

Furphy managed the best United team I have ever seen, one that almost made Europe and played tremendous football.
In a list of the top five, not worst five.

 

[Deleted member 875]

Robson was by far and away the worst in my time supporting United.

Other bad ones were Heath and McEwan.

 

[Fiery Blade]

Robson, McEwan and Heath seem to be the leading contenders closely followed by Peters, Haslam and Sirrel
Unfortunately no room for Blackwell in the list to date!

 

[10 (formerly TEN)]

Blackwell, by a million furlongs.
Not only because of what he has done to Sheffield United, but because of his "TOTAL" denial to "EVERYTHING"!

 

[shorehamview]

Blackwell, by a million furlongs.
Not only because of what he has done to Sheffield United, but because of his "TOTAL" denial to "EVERYTHING"!

"TOTAL" denial to "EVERYTHING"! Everything? Are you sure? He's denied the earth is round? Or he's denied the existence of kippers? He's denied the fact that we play at Bramall Lane? He's denied the existence of gravity?

I suspect two things. One, that Blackwell hasn't in fact denied "EVERYTHING", because that's plainly ridiculous, and two, that you are full of cack. I bet you don't even know how long a furlong is without Googling it.*














*It's an eighth of a mile, so don't bother.

 

[Darren]

Robson, McEwan and Heath seem to be the leading contenders closely followed by Peters, Haslam and Sirrel
Unfortunately no room for Blackwell in the list to date!

For me no-one can hold a candle to Haslam. In three years he took an upper mid table second tier team to the verge of the 4th tier AND spent a lot of money in the process. He was given over £100,000 each (when that was a lot of money and when United had never previously signed a player for that kind of money) to sign Sabella, Matthews, Finnieston, Tibbott and de Goey and also signed the likes of Anderson, Richardson, Bourne, Trusson and Hatton for what was - by 2nd and 3rd tier standards - sizeable sums. Add that to Boxing day and a chronic inability to win away (only 10 wins in those 3 years and 5 of them were in September/October 1979) and I challenge any other manager to match such an appalling record over a sustained period.

 

[Fiery Blade]

Not a bad shout Darren He bought some apalling players!
Was Richardson the worst keeper ever to wear a Blades shirt or perhaps Baxter?

 

[davidpinder]

My life at united started in the eighties under bassett who i loved so not had loads of bad bad managers so hear goes.

1, Robson (with the funds and backing he got we should have won the league)
2, Thompson (just rubbish)
3, Bruce (never gave it time)
4, Heath (out of his depth)
5, Spackman (thought kendall and warnock were better)

Not put blackwell in because he hasn't gone yet

 

[Grecian2000]

For me no-one can hold a candle to Haslam. In three years he took an upper mid table second tier team to the verge of the 4th tier AND spent a lot of money in the process. He was given over £100,000 each (when that was a lot of money and when United had never previously signed a player for that kind of money) to sign Sabella, Matthews, Finnieston, Tibbott and de Goey and also signed the likes of Anderson, Richardson, Bourne, Trusson and Hatton for what was - by 2nd and 3rd tier standards - sizeable sums. Add that to Boxing day and a chronic inability to win away (only 10 wins in those 3 years and 5 of them were in September/October 1979) and I challenge any other manager to match such an appalling record over a sustained period.

Haslam was indeed a disaster. I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him though. The signings of Sabella and Finnieston should have been a promotion coup rather than a prompter for relegation.
Momentum was against him and that is a hard ship to turn around.

For overall incompetence I would have to go for McEwan though. What a tedious and mediocre side he put together. He was given the momentum (although running out of steam) by Porterfield and managed to turn us into relegation fodder.

 

[Darren]

My life at united started in the eighties under bassett who i loved so not had loads of bad bad managers so hear goes.

1, Robson (with the funds and backing he got we should have won the league)
2, Thompson (just rubbish)
3, Bruce (never gave it time)
4, Heath (out of his depth)
5, Spackman (thought kendall and warnock were better)

Not put blackwell in because he hasn't gone yet

In order, since i started watching United in 1974

1. Bassett
2. Furphy (would be top apart from the diastrous start to 75-6)
3. Porterfield
4. Warnock
5. Kendall
6. Blackwell (would have been higher expect for the last few games)
7. Spackman
8. Thompson
9. Bruce
10. McEwan
11. Sirrel (not very good but hampered by a chronic lack of money)
12. Peters (out of his depth)
13. Heath (ditto)
14. Robson (made crap use of probably the greatest resources ever available to a United manager)
15. Haslam (see above)

 

[TonyAgana]

In order, since i started watching United in 1974

1. Bassett
2. Furphy (would be top apart from the diastrous start to 75-6)
3. Porterfield
4. Warnock
5. Kendall
6. Blackwell (would have been higher expect for the last few games)
7. Spackman
8. Thompson
9. Bruce
10. McEwan
11. Sirrel (not very good but hampered by a chronic lack of money)
12. Peters (out of his depth)
13. Heath (ditto)
14. Robson (made crap use of probably the greatest resources ever available to a United manager)
15. Haslam (see above)

I don't get this list, Darren. Not trying to be funny, just genuinely don't get it.

 

[Robbie]

I don't get this list, Darren. Not trying to be funny, just genuinely don't get it.

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

Blackwell might be tactically incompetent, but his record last season was decent - even if I think he should have done better.

 

[Grecian2000]

Ahh, Ken Furphy.

Another exponent of the "dull as shit" approach. We scored 3 goals on his first appearance as manager against Southampton (including a Currie to Woodward corner special) and I don't think we scored 3 again whilst he was around.
Add to this the fact he paid £100k for Chris Guthrie and I think his position at number 2 is a little shaky.

He did try and swap TC for Billy Bremner AND Trevor Cherry in early 75/76 but the board wouldn't wear it. That may have given him a team he was happier with and it only delayed TC's inevitable departure by a few months anyway.
I think we ended up with Terry Garbett and Tony Field instead and they were really bad.