The best manager we've ever had?

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bearing in mind the state we were in and the shoestring budget,has to be Bassett for me
 
i started watching the blades in 88,when only 9 years of age and didnt understand the management side of bringing success to the field.
But seeing deane,agana,whitehouse,bradshaw and jock do the buisness under a shoesstring budget then bassett has to be the best under my watchful eye as far as bringing results to the plate.
As far as football thats good to the eye,then hopefully theres one in the oven to take the crown.
 
what basset did at this club is only matched by what he did at wimbledon ,the football might not have been the best but i would say they were the most exciting and enjoyable blades supporting days of my life closely followed by warnocks years

its such a shame that some chose to stubbornly refuse to enjoy either era and i hope they are happier now watching us swiftly be returned to where we were when both came in and turned things round ,fucking nowhere
 
I'm with BB on this. John Harris followed by Harry with Porterfield coming third
 
For those who actually appreciate football, there's only one candidate - the legendary John Harris.

Bassett was the right man at the right time. He gave us four years in the top flight when we had no right to expect it. His last eighteen months, however, were excruciating. Once Deane and Agana left he hadn't a clue. His return under Quickfix Micky was farcical. Warnock did a great job getting us to the Premier League and we should be grateful for that. He should then have been sacked. We might still be there if he had been.

Ian Porterield, uniquely, was dismissed though we were two divisions better off than when he took over!
 

Pinchy said:
For those who actually appreciate football, there's only one candidate - the legendary John Harris.

Bassett was the right man at the right time. He gave us four years in the top flight when we had no right to expect it. His last eighteen months, however, were excruciating. Once Deane and Agana left he hadn't a clue. His return under Quickfix Micky was farcical. Warnock did a great job getting us to the Premier League and we should be grateful for that. He should then have been sacked. We might still be there if he had been.

Ian Porterield, uniquely, was dismissed though we were two divisions better off than when he took over!
Click to expand...




Not only did we get two promotions in the 5 seasons that Porterfield was manager, we also improved our league position in every single season that he was our manager.
 
No contest for me, John Harris. He assembled several teams for United that played in the top tier that hardly cost anything. The teams included several players that played at international level such as Alan Hodgkinson, Graham Shaw, Bernard Shaw, Len Badger, Tony Currie, Mick Jones, Alan Birchenall, Len Allchurch, Gil Reece, Dave Powell to name but a few (from memory). His success at spotting and bringing great young players through was highlighted by being appointed as manager of England's under 18 team. To my knowledge, the first non-Englishman to manage an England team.

The football played at that time was attractive, skillfull and quoted by TV pundits at the time as being on a par with West Ham who were considered by many to be the most attractive in England at the time.

The best of the rest would have Dave Bassett and Neil Warnock for excitement value but hardly for the quality of football. As for the quality of football, Danny Wilson has made a promising start.
 
That bloke Cecil Coldwell did a decent job when he stepped into the breach.
 
John Harris for me too. Different era, different game and I'm sure I'm looking through rose tinted glasses but I don't care. I loved it.

Bassett was next in the pecking order, I'll never forget doing the double over the Scum and again, he gave us some very enjoyable times and a pride in our club that we'll be lucky to see the likes of again.
 
I'd say John Harris also, but we have to remember that was a completely different era.

Clubs didn't change their managers at a drop of a hat, like they do today. Also the big clubs didn't come in and "steel" your youngsters with talent, but waited until they had proven themselves. This gave the manager a chance to blend a team of quality, youth, and experience.

I don't think John Harris would have survived as our manager for long in today's environment.
 
Nigel Spackman

Actually, my left testicle could've managed that squad. That's best squad i've seen. Best manager for me is probably Howard Kendall. I remeber playing Arsenal off the park. Carl Veart!!
 
Definitely John Harris for me. We were just as much of a selling club then but after having Mick Jones sold against his wishes and then Birchenall soon after, he stayed and assembled what was by far the best Blades team in my lifetime. Bassett runner-up and Porterfield a close third.
 

Billy McEwan for me. When we lost 5-0 at home to Oldham, a few days later Dave Bassett walked out at Watford, McEwan was sacked and the rest is history.

Oh, and obviously Neil Warnock. I saw the Blades under John Harris, but it was a totally different game then. May as well go back to Joe Mercer.
 
Bassett by a mile. Did it with nowt and although when it was bad the football was very, very bad he delivered a double over the pigs at the highest level, a cup semi, 2 promotions, a finish in the top 10 of English Footballs elite. All from nothing.

And who can forget wins away at Forest 5-2, Southampton 4-2, scoring the first ever Premier League goal, winning at home against forest 3-2 after that god awful run and still staying up comfortably, City 4-2 at home. All the abvove in spite of having the rug pulled from under him year in, year out.

Porterfield for bringing Edwards back, Colin Morris to the Lane and winning us our only trophy in my lifetime comes 2nd. It was my favourite time to travel and watch the Blades because we took places over, rolled teams over and it was immense fun for a 11/12 year old to be a blade. Like being the tallest dwarf though with hindsight.

Warnock comes third because of Michael Brown, Rob Hulse, the Derby Doubles and promotion to the Premiership. Its an achievement as much as I loathe the man you simply cannot overlook. Indeed what he did up until January 2007 that season would have pushed him up to 2nd. Perhaps it puts it in perspective that up to then he would have challenged Bassett but in the 5 month period when he imploded as a Manager, we purchased rag, tag and bobtail when we should have bought Beattie. Unfortunately who was to know where it would end.
 
John Harris for me, the team's he produced played some great football, similar to what Wilson is trying to do now, but with more flair and skill. Basset for the excitment, and Warnock for some good nights,
 
Gentleman John. As stated previously a different era, but even so he assembled the best team I've seen at BDTBL despite having players sold he wanted to keep (Jones, Birchenall, Tudor) and did it all on a shoestring.

Harry got us into the top division and kept us there against all expectation. The football was exciting if not very pleasing on the eye.

Kendall assembled a quality squad and got us playing the best football seen since the days of TC, Woody et al. but he bogged off back to Everton too quickly to be considered for the 'best' tag.

Spackman looked full of promise, inherited an amazing squad but still got the results. Again too short-lived to be considered.

Warnock is the 'Marmite' of football. Never liked him as a person, didn't particularly like his football philosophy, but you cannot argue with his record at the club. Along with others, I think it was a mistake to keep him on for the PL (he just can't cut the mustard at that level).

Porterfield has never figured high is the affections of Blades fans. Could be his snortbeast history, could be that he was a dour, miserable twat even when things were going well. Despite that, his record (though in the lower divisions) was pretty impressive and he left us two divisions higher than when he arrived.

1. Harris
2. Bassett
3. Warnock
4. Porterfield
5. Kendall

As for the worst? Sirrell, Peters, Heath, McEwan, Robson. Take your pick!
 
Hodgyman said:
No contest for me, John Harris. He assembled several teams for United that played in the top tier that hardly cost anything. The teams included several players that played at international level such as Alan Hodgkinson, Graham Shaw, Bernard Shaw, Len Badger, Tony Currie, Mick Jones, Alan Birchenall, Len Allchurch, Gil Reece, Dave Powell to name but a few (from memory). His success at spotting and bringing great young players through was highlighted by being appointed as manager of England's under 18 team. To my knowledge, the first non-Englishman to manage an England team.

The football played at that time was attractive, skillfull and quoted by TV pundits at the time as being on a par with West Ham who were considered by many to be the most attractive in England at the time.

The best of the rest would have Dave Bassett and Neil Warnock for excitement value but hardly for the quality of football. As for the quality of football, Danny Wilson has made a promising start.
Click to expand...

Spot on mate - the best manager/team/ playing style ever seen at the Lane. Football played on the deck, a pleasure to watch.
 

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