Who Are United's Finest Managerial Team?

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Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen

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In your opinion.

Who do you rate as the finest you've experienced?

Of all the ex-United players you've seen in your lifetime
currently managing or coaching at other clubs, who can you
envisage them returning in a managerial role?

Would you welcome back any ex-Managers back for another
stint at Bramall Lane?
 



Finest I've experienced would be Wilder first, with honourable mentions for Warnock and Kendall. None of them were consistently amazing, but they all brought some good times.
 
A Teamful of John Harris's.
Harry Latham, John Short (from 1962) . Cec Coldwell (from 1969-70 also was trainer to Arthur Rowley in 1968-69 season) and Alan Hodgkinson (from 1971-72). Fred White too before he became the scout. Joe Shaw and Billy Hodgson had short spells lasting one season in Harris' backroom staff too
 
In my time, it would have to be Wilder and Knill.

Not only changing the way the team played, but introducing a unique and innovative style of play at the same time.
One of the other features of those first 3-4 seasons were our inventive set piece routines, which apparently was mainly Knill's coaching. I always wondered what happened because by 2020-21 we appeared to have no plans for set pieces. It was suggested that O'Connell was the focal point of those routines so I can only imagine that when he got injured, it scuppered our set pieces too? Who knows?

From memory, I recall that we've apparently had, and lost, some coaching talent. Seem to remember the losses of Brian Kidd and Willie Donachie being keenly felt by the club.
 
Harry Latham, John Short (from 1962) . Cec Coldwell (from 1969-70 also was trainer to Arthur Rowley in 1968-69 season) and Alan Hodgkinson (from 1971-72). Fred White too before he became the scout. Joe Shaw and Billy Hodgson had short spells lasting one season in Harris' backroom staff too
According to Sheffield United : The Biography, Joe Shaw left the club in 1966 and managed York City for 2 seasons. He later had an unsuccesful stint as manager of Chesterfield. He did some scouting for United and trained the youngsters for a while. Later he even applied for the job of groundsman at the Ball Inn ground, and didn't get it!
 
We had some great management teams. however, for me, it has to be John Harris. I never saw his early 1960, team. Too young to go. The early 1970,s is a legendary period even though I lived in sydney Australia for most of that era. To be honest, apart from Ces Coldwell, I don't know who the Assistant Managers were in that period.
 
Finest I've experienced would be Wilder first, with honourable mentions for Warnock and Kendall. None of them were consistently amazing, but they all brought some good times.
Hecky, Macca and Jack have done well turning around a situation that was drifting.

But I think it is natural to give additional kudos to a manager that has the task of building a team.

Wilder did an excellent job of this as a number of those in League One, like Fleck and O’Connell were able to make the step up to finish 9th in the PL.

Likewise, Bassett and Taylor fashioned a third division forward line of Deane, Agana and Bryson that didn’t look out of sorts at the top level, though admittedly Agana’s time was then curtailed by injury.

I’d say they edge Warnock simply because Warnock took us up one division, not two, in a longer time period and also didn’t manage to keep them there, though I can appreciate he can point to many sub plots - Tevez, Jags handball for a pen though didn’t get one at the other end when bundled over against Wigan, Unsworrh refusing to take that second pen against Blackburn despite him being the expert, only to return and score the killer blow.

I started watching at the end of Porterfield and beginning of McEwan so can’t really comment on that as too young.

One thing is for sure, the chance is there for Hecky and team to eclipse the above if they make the right moves.
 
We had some great management teams. however, for me, it has to be John Harris. I never saw his early 1960, team. Too young to go. The early 1970,s is a legendary period even though I lived in sydney Australia for most of that era. To be honest, apart from Ces Coldwell, I don't know who the Assistant Managers were in that period.
John Short
 



Until we win something significant, John Nicholson is the only one on the list. He was a "football secretary", maybe that's the way to go to win something again
 
Warnock .wilder Bassett in my era
Porterfield did ok for us in difficult times.
 
Wilder and Knill in my lifetime.

I was too young to fully enjoy Bassetts era, and everybody after him up to 2016 was a failure.
 

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