Well Received Managerial Appointments

[Nick Jansky]

When was a managerial appointment generally well received by our fans, with a sense of excitement and optimism resulting from it?

I ask the question because I go back to the 60s and I honestly can't remember one that didn't induce lots of groans, including Bassett. As I recall, he became revered for the 2 promotions & keeping us up for as long as he did, but there were many who despaired at his original appointment.

 

[Torrix1889]

I was genuinly excited when we appointed Howard Kendall but it was inevitable that he would fook off at the slightest hint of interest from the PL.

 

[Blade]

damn you torrix i was just posting that. kendall made me happy both in his signing, in the way we played better football almost straight away and the way we built a team from defence outwards and started rolling balls to our fullbacks from the keeper! Wow! sad end to his time with us though.

 

[Foxy]

I was genuinly excited when we appointed Howard Kendall but it was inevitable that he would fook off at the slightest hint of interest from the PL.

The most exciting part of Kendall's appointment for me at the time was getting a free scarf for coming through the turnstiles early .

 

[GC88]

The most exciting part of Kendall's appointment for me at the time was getting a free scarf for coming through the turnstiles early .

I've got one of them at home - "Howard Kendall's Red and White army'.

Although I found the football more entertaining than a scarf.

 

[beightonblade]

When John Harris came back.

 

[mickle-blade]

When was a managerial appointment generally well received by our fans, with a sense of excitement and optimism resulting from it?

I ask the question because I go back to the 60s and I honestly can't remember one that didn't induce lots of groans, including Bassett. As I recall, he became revered for the 2 promotions & keeping us up for as long as he did, but there were many who despaired at his original appointment.

Got to disagree with you on the Bassett appointment. I was absolutely thrilled when the appointment was made.
Right man at just the right time. Like you I have been going to the Lane for a long tome (1960-61 season was the first I remember) . The only other time I was thrilled with the appoitment of a manager was when we brought in Howard Kendall.
I was disgusted when we first brought Warnock in as manager - look what happened there (eventually) !!!!
What would we give for another Harry or Kendall now !
Mind you we have had some real jokers in the mangers office over the years. Remember Jimmy Sirrell trying to teach Currie, Woodward and Badger to kick a ball up at the old Ball Inn ground.......Furphy proving that when you bring in 3rd division players it's were you end up. As for some of the others............still gives me nightmares !
Still nobody come near to the late John Harris though.

 

[Santos]

Got to disagree with you on the Bassett appointment. I was absolutely thrilled when the appointment was made.
Right man at just the right time. Like you I have been going to the Lane for a long tome (1960-61 season was the first I remember) . The only other time I was thrilled with the appoitment of a manager was when we brought in Howard Kendall.
I was disgusted when we first brought Warnock in as manager - look what happened there (eventually) !!!!
What would we give for another Harry or Kendall now !
Mind you we have had some real jokers in the mangers office over the years. Remember Jimmy Sirrell trying to teach Currie, Woodward and Badger to kick a ball up at the old Ball Inn ground.......Furphy proving that when you bring in 3rd division players it's were you end up. As for some of the others............still gives me nightmares !
Still nobody come near to the late John Harris though.

I was happy when we got Warnock, I was only about 12 at the time and thought it was cool that we would have a United fan as manager, i obviously knew very little about him.

I felt like banging my head against a brick wall when we got Robson and to be honest I was quite happy wih the appointment of Blackwell, I think we needed someone like that to instill the qualities that Robson's Blades were lacking.

 

[mickle-blade]

I would have prefered a blind man and his dog to Robbo as manager .
I bet King Kev is still having nightmares about that appointment !

 

[Nick Jansky]

Got to disagree with you on the Bassett appointment. I was absolutely thrilled when the appointment was made.
Right man at just the right time. Like you I have been going to the Lane for a long tome (1960-61 season was the first I remember) . The only other time I was thrilled with the appoitment of a manager was when we brought in Howard Kendall.
I was disgusted when we first brought Warnock in as manager - look what happened there (eventually) !!!!
What would we give for another Harry or Kendall now !
Mind you we have had some real jokers in the mangers office over the years. Remember Jimmy Sirrell trying to teach Currie, Woodward and Badger to kick a ball up at the old Ball Inn ground.......Furphy proving that when you bring in 3rd division players it's were you end up. As for some of the others............still gives me nightmares !
Still nobody come near to the late John Harris though.

I agree with every word of that, Mickle, except I had mixed feelings over Kendall from the beginning. I had heard a few things about his refuelling habits from some decent sources, and he was already beginning to look a bit washed up to me. I reckon he gathered himself for one last go, had a good season with us, and then drifted backwards. He didn't do anything anywhere else after leaving us.

 

[Micalijo]

Dave Bassett and Kendall were both unbelievably good appointments for me for a club of our size.

Plenty were more than happy when Blackwell was appointed. Be very careful what you wish for.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

I would have prefered a blind man and his dog to Robbo as manager .
I bet King Kev is still having nightmares about that appointment !

I know I am. Now will people stop mentioning him so I can get some sleep.

 

[bricktop]

The appointments of Bassett, Warnock and Blackwell were all well recieved by me.

The main reason was that they was all appointed at a point in time where we was regressing badly and i thought that they could genuinely stop the rot.

I liked Bassett's appointment as he was a highly regarded young manager who had got an excellent track record in taking Wimbledon up through the divisions and had just had a blip at Watford and i was still confident he would do well for us.

Warnock came in the back of the reigns of Bruce and Heath that were mixed times due to player sales, frustrating results, and boardroom strife. I wasn't expecting Warnock to turn out fantasy football, but at the time he was a Blade, was keen as mustard to get the job and i just sensed he was the right man to galvanise us, and it was nice to have a manager at the helm who could put a bit of fight and spirit back in to Sheffield United.

I liked the appointment of Blackwell as well, he had done a good job at the Lane as assistant manager, and then gone on and made a decent fist of a very difficult jobs at Leeds and Luton Town with no money. After the dull and tiresome performances under the Robson era, i thought Blackwell would get things back in kilter and get us moving back in the right direction, which he did for the first 18 months.

 

[Ollessendro]

I'll echo the sentiments of many in that I was excited when Kendall took over. We were doing very poorly under basset in his last days and to get a manager of Kendall's calibre was great.

I thought the majority of United fans felt the same. I had a season ticket on the kop at the time and seem to remember the general consensus was that he was a good choice. There was some opposition though. A lot of die hard United fans were upset to see Basset leave (I was too but thought it was the right time) and hence didn't want a change. I also remember rumours that Kendall was 'back on the bottle' and that he was taking the piss. There were some voicing this opinion and naturally saying that he wasn't the right man for the job (although isn't this always the case?)