Who are your 5 worst Blades managers since 1975?

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For me, I judge each of our managers largely on the situations they found themselves in at the club as much as their own level of success. For this reason, I can't put Adrian Heath at the top of the list. And as several of you have, and though I too remember the Port Vale game (but wasn't actually there), here are five points in defence of Adrian Heath.

1. Off-the-field turmoil

When he was appointed we were in a right mess. We'd had another mass sale of talent earlier that year as Borbokis, Holdsworth, and Stuart were all sold. That summer we also saw Traianos Dellas walk back to Greece for nothing after a complete mishandling of him by Bruce, and then Olivier Tebily sold barely months after signing him. Added to that, the sale of one of our best ever goalkeepers in Alan Kelly. This was not a good situation to head into.

2. Further talent sold when the season started

Lee Morris - gone (albeit a deal that on reflection was probably a good one). Marcelo sold. Two players that could have scored a hatful had they stayed. Not a disaster had Heath been backed in the transfer market. Which brings me onto...

3. Heath was never significantly backed in the transfer market

While the money was rolling in as the sales continued, Heath ultimately got bugger all. And this while the signals had been very different - he publicly declared he was off to Holland to speak to Kinkladze over a £3m deal, which looking back now you assume the board never had any intention of sanctioning. Which is a shame because...

4. When he did spend cash, he generally spent it well

Martin Smith was an absolute bargain. Shaun Murphy turned out to be a bargain. Bent and Ribeiro had quality about them. Yes, there was the Burton/Launders farce, but by that point the rug had been well and truly pulled from under him. And lastly...

5. There were some genuinely enjoyable games under Heath

In particular, the 3-1 win over Forest that saw David Platt sent off in injury time. Before that, the wins over Palace and Wolves had been entertaining. There were obviously some dire games in and around that, but it's not as though his spell as manager was utterly devoid of any enjoyment whatsoever.

For me, Weir tops the list. He inherited a decent squad, was allowed to make generous additions in the summer, and though he too was hampered by an event out of his control (McDonald's sale), he was financially backed to replace him. Unfortunately his entire shape of the team centred around McDonald, and he seemed clueless to adjust.
 
Darren said:
Your really don't like the bloke do you :)

It's a strange logic to blame him for our relegation when he was not manager and not give him credit for the 3 top half finishes when he was manager, but hey ho....
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Football isn't logical though. To judge a manager you have to take into account the resources available to them. Blackwell underachieved with what he had. Unlike most of the others in the list he was at the club much longer and oversaw more transfers.
When he took over from the Drunk, he benefited from the dead cat bounce as he was a decent coach. Any football coach who could remain sober would have got a tune out of the squad he had.
He gave big contract extensions to players for much more than they were worth and signed numerous players who either didn't suit his style of play or weren't fit. He wasted money on loans when we could have picked up less shit players on frees and left Speed with a side totally devoid of creativity or goals and no decent defenders but somehow, still a massive wage bill. Just look at the accounts.

That's why he did more damage than the other clowns, he was given the time to.
 
BushBlade said:
Football isn't logical though. To judge a manager you have to take into account the resources available to them. Blackwell underachieved with what he had. Unlike most of the others in the list he was at the club much longer and oversaw more transfers.
When he took over from the Drunk, he benefited from the dead cat bounce as he was a decent coach. Any football coach who could remain sober would have got a tune out of the squad he had.
He gave big contract extensions to players for much more than they were worth and signed numerous players who either didn't suit his style of play or weren't fit. He wasted money on loans when we could have picked up less shit players on frees and left Speed with a side totally devoid of creativity or goals and no decent defenders but somehow, still a massive wage bill. Just look at the accounts.

That's why he did more damage than the other clowns, he was given the time to.
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None of which alters the fact that he did better than Porterfield, Kendall, Spackman and Robson all of whom were given significant resources to get us out of the 2nd tier.

I do find it bizzare that Blackwell is blamed for the failures of other managers rather than judged on his actual record (for the 78th time, 3 top 10 finishes). Anyhow, Speed's record was such that we would have stayed up had he carried on as manager at the same rate. It was the utter incompetence of Adams that did for us.
 
He didn't do better than Kendall. Afaicr Porterfield didn't have huge resources at div 2 level, not, relatively speaking, compared to what he had when he took over a broken club and got us promoted twice.

The three top ten finishes were with probably the largest wage budget we've ever had. And the fact you said top ten finishes shows you're clutching at straws here. You're the stats man so tell me, how many times since 1989 have we finished below the top ten of the second tier? But you say it as if it's something we should all he impressed by.
I could just as easily say that 'out of three attempts to get us promoted he failed three times' but that would also be hyperbole to make my argument sound stronger than it actually is. In reality he only failed twice and the second time he missed by a mile.

With regard to Speed, his record was augmented by having Andy Reid on loan, who provided the creativity we desperately needed. I'm guessing you were at Millwall that season and would have seen for yourself how vital he was to us. Once he went to Blackpool, if Speed didn't replace him with someone as good we wouldn't have sustained the record he had.

I'm not suggesting it's all Blackwell's fault but he's one of the main culprits, along with Robson, Robinson, McCabe and Birch. I can only guess that, as a criminal lawyer you sometimes have to defend some real tossers, so you're getting a bit of practice in. ;-)
 
Warnock
Warnock
Warnock
Warnock
Warnock

I think there is a pretty good idea I thought he was a dick :D
Getting ready for slagging :rolleyes:
 
How anyone dare look beyond Robson confounds me.
 
mosbolad said:
Just out of interest, where do you get Clough's win percentage from?

Soccerbase (which is invariably correct) and even Clough's own wiki page (which is invariably subject to random editing!) lists it as
104 games managed, won 49 which is a 47.12 win percent.

Still pretty decent but behind Danny Wilson at 51.89, who appears to be our most successful (based purely on win percentage) permanent manager.

http://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=2142
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Just did a search for Sheffield United managers, from memory it was a Wikipedia page. Quite glad Clough wasn't best, doesn't deserve it. Whereas, Wilson was maybe a bit unlucky.
 
sheff_blade90 said:
i can only say from 1998 because i rather go on memory & personal experience than stats other people opinions

David Weir - by far & away the worst manager ive ever seen & probably ever will because its not possible to be worse. as to start 1 win in 13 games, goal drought was so bad jose baxter won the sufc goal of mth comp by default as he scored the only goal in that mth & Hartlepool JPT was horrendous i remember watching the final 1/2hr knowing i watch the end of a reign doesn't help when the away fans sing sacked n the morning & the home fans join in

Adrian Heath - cant say much as was my 1st season but remember thinking surely were better than this & glad warnock came in to save us, because can you imagine sliding into the 3rd tier in 1999 5 yrs after being in the premier league unthinkable surely ;)

Micky Adams - i do truly believe micky adams was a good appointment at the wrong time, as we were a sinking ship & no one would've saved us also did give me 1 of my fav wins v forest when we hadnt won for 3 months but micky adams motivating was a problem as he made avram grant sound like the happiest man on planet

Bryan Robson - because he wouldve made a better Director of football as he could attract the players but couldnt get them to produce results
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yes that is 4 but problem is that i looked on managers in my time of watching sheff utd & likes of bruce warnock blackwell speed wilson clough morgs have all had their high as well as low points or mitigating circumstances
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I'll never forget the home match against Crawley at the end of the first half Weir just stared looking out on to the pitch confused , clueless, totally fucked
 
In my lifetime...

1.Robson: By a million miles. The biggest reason we are where we are now. Given loads to spend but left a team featuring Kenny, Bardsley, Killgallon, Cahill, Morgan, Ehiogu, Quinn, Tonge, Hulse, Stead, Sharp and Beattie in the bottom half of the Championship. Mental

2.Weir: He was just totally out of his depth. His complete reluctance to change his formation killed him. We were such a shambles and he left a top 6 League One squad bottom of the league

3.Heath: He actually brought in some players that went on to do well for us such as Bent and Murphy but he just didn't have a clue how to get them to play. The performances under him were very much like the ones under Weir

4.Adams: He came in at a difficult time but the way he seemed to accept relegation after being here about a month was unforgivable. We were likely only heading one way anyway but for me his time will always be remembered for that January Transfer Window where we lost Bartley, Ward and Britton and replaced them with Collins, Doyle and Bent

5.Blackwell. His stats were good but I really think he took over a very talented squad that was punching well below its weight under Robson. He was the sort of manager we needed initially but his limitations were soon found out
 
Roygbiv said:
In my lifetime...

1.Robson: By a million miles. The biggest reason we are where we are now.
.............
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The reason we are where we are now is because in 1975 with the core of a very good team that had just finished 6th in the top division, our closed-season strategy involved "improving" the team with 3rd division make-weights and a drink-adled, fading Scotsman.... The blame lies with the board of the day that had no ambition (or no understanding of how to fulfill ambition). And (as stated earlier today) since then the one manager that truly changed the status of the club was Happy Harry. He achieved far more than Robson in ruining a club (as opposed to a team). Robson doesn't even come close to matching Haslam's "achievements". And for some reason we tend to remember him with affection.
 



Since 1975; Haslam..... We'd never finished below 11th in the 2nd tier before him....... Then Robson
Adams
Adkins
Blackwell
 
Spent ages wondering why madkins hadn't featured until I realised we'd resurrected a thread from 2015!

Haslam - because over a period of 2 to 3 years he fucked this club up in a way no one else has come close to. Sold Edwards, Stainrod and Varadi and bought the likes of Finnieston, Butlin and Duggie Brown and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
 
Robson - no explanation required

McEwen - cheap option, fell out with our top goalscoring, out of his depth.

Heath - no explanation required

Adkins - failed to address the weaknesses that were obvious to any fan.
 
Robson - pissed away the parachute payments and brought in journeymen for their last huge payday, and he was a clueless ignorant cunt.
Adams - hoofball merchant who had a bit of success elsewhere but openly admitted the job was too big for him.
Heath - a guy who could mould some decent players into a poor poor team, kin useless.
Adkins - great CV but that is where it ended. Mr positive a toss up who was worse him or Negative Nigel.
Clough - Never wanted him near the lane, dull, boring, negative, over cautious were the traits Derby fans warned us of and they were right. Strange how we were a different team in the cup when you have to try and win the game.
A special mention for David Weir who must have the worst record of any united manager. In his defence he had no managerial experience and was on a hiding to nothing, I felt sorry for the guy in the end. That is just from the last ten years (Heath apart) you could write several books on the shit managers we have had since 1975.
 
Probably not the worst, but the ones that upset me most by achieving much less than I was hoping

Sirrell
Robson
Adams
Weir
Adkins

Madkins and Robson brought me most grief. I thought Robson's name would attract quality players and exciting young loans from Manure.

Madkins I believed would walk us back up to the top. I think the end of last season was about the most depressed that I have been in 46 years coming.

All of the rest really fulfilled my worst fears, those 2 were way worse!

UTB
 
In no particular order :

Robson
Blackwell
Weir
Heath
McEwan

Theres more :

Haslam
Sirrell
Adkins
Adams
Peters
Bruce

Ill stop there as its becoming far too depressing plumbing the depths weve sunk to ...... fuck me , weve had some shit to endure :mad:

EDIT : Maybe i should have just produced a role call of McCabes appointments :eek:
 
Darren said:
It beggars belief that people think Blackwell a worse manager than Weir, Adams, Peters, Robson etc. This is the guy under whom we were always challenging for promotion from the second tier. I am quite willing to accept that the football was tedious and that he was personally obnoxious; but the worst manager since 1975? Really?

All I can say is that I wish we were still in the position we were in under Blackwell....
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welcome back. we've missed you man :)
how come noone is mentioning Adkins.. lowest league position for how many years??
 
images-2.jpegNowt wrong wi Robbo Robson. Have his eyes got different postcodes? I reckon he liked a drink!
 
Jimmy Sirrell
Harry Haslam
Martin Peters
Adrian Heath
Brian Robson
David Weir
Nigel Adkins

That's more than five, I know

The staggering inability of these men to get half decent players (at the level they were playing at) to play together was astonishing

I've left out Billy McEwan who was also a complete disaster, but at least he could argue that he was a stooge chucked in at the deep end with zero backing and a terrible squad
 



Id name 5 but I think Robson has done the most damage to this club.

He pissed away every penny we got and it has hindered the club badly ever since. The prince's involvement helped stem the tide of shit Robbo left behind.

Yes he could sign good players but never was a good manager.
 
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