Wilson best ever manager?

[Silent Blade]

Harris had much greater resources than Bassett and Warnock when they managed in the top division.

Disagree. Harris didnt spend that much to sign as many players as Bassett and Warnock did

 

[Darren]

I was speaking relatively. The resources gap between United and the top teams was much less in Harris' day.

 

[Silent Blade]

I suppose so

 

[oldblade]

To be fair though when Harris was manager, there was much more equality amongst teams and the likes of Burnley, Derby and Ipswich could all win the league. Relatively speaking, vis-a-vis the top teams, Harris had much greater resources than Bassett and Warnock when they managed in the top division.

So in other words, Harris was manager when the league was a lot more competitive. Therefore, logic says that his job was much harder than that of Warnock and Bassett.

I also disagree about resources available to Harris. He had very little available to him, but unearthed some real gems.

 

[LSF]

Resources available to John Harris were exceptionally thin by any standards not just United's. When he did spend he did so carefully and generally successfully. His chief scout Archie Clark must take a lot of credit for this as John put huge amounts of trust in his judgement.
Harris was fortunate to get an unusal crop of talent coming through at the same time but credit him for recognising this (not all managers do) and giving them their chance. However, once some of the best of that crop were sold from under his feet, we ended up being relegated (1968). This would suggest that not all of the youngsters were top class, the exceptions being Jones, Birchenall, Woodward & Badger. The rest went on to have careers in lower leagues generally.
As he had little money made avaiable to him he made sure it was spent wisely (with the odd mistake) and the evidence lay in signings such as Currie (27K), Carlin (40K), Reece (10K), Dearden (10K). The contribution these players made far outweighed their fee (Carlin was sold on far too early for me).

 

[Deleted member 875]

I can't comment on John Harris as he was before my time.

My personal favourite is Dave Bassett, he did it all on a shoestring, and our rise from the old 3rd division to the top flight was a magical time for me as a kid.

 

[Darren]

So in other words, Harris was manager when the league was a lot more competitive. Therefore, logic says that his job was much harder than that of Warnock and Bassett.

I also disagree about resources available to Harris. He had very little available to him, but unearthed some real gems.

I suppose you could look at it that way, my point was that it was not as hard for a Harris team in the early 60's to finish in the top half of the top division as it would be for a Bassett team in the early 90's or a Warnock team in the late 2000's to do the same - purely because the very top teams in the country had far greater resources than United in the 90's and 00's than they did in the 60's.

Hence one could argue that Bassett's 9th place in 92 was a greater achievement than Harris' 5th place in 62.

 

[Deleted member 875]

And that 9th place was achieved despite being bottom of the table in November.

 

[Pinchy]

Anybody who remembers how crap we were when bassett took over, then how amazing we were with deane agana and the rest would find it hard to get too excited about wilsons team. his signings were legendary. nevermind all the long ball nonsense, we played fast dynamic exciting football. it only went wrong when we did our usual old trick of selling our best players.

did danny get us to thrash the piggies home and away? he hasnt even managed to get us out of division three yet. getting 90 points is useless if you dont go up, may as well have got 50 points. winners get over the line. ok ched didnt help, but were we good enough to win those games at the end of last season to get over the line? of course we were. but we didnt.

It was exciting for some of us, including me. Many thought differently, though and voted with their feet. Our crowds were lamentable for the most part.

Make no mistake though, it was long ball. Such football went out with the dinosaurs. It has had its day and is no longer viable. Bassett could not succeed now, which is undoubtedly why no-one has employed him for many years, apart from his ludicrous role with Quickfix Micky.

 

[JohnDenver]

It was exciting for some of us, including me. Many thought differently, though and voted with their feet. Our crowds were lamentable for the most part.

Make no mistake though, it was long ball. Such football went out with the dinosaurs. It has had its day and is no longer viable. Bassett could not succeed now, which is undoubtedly why no-one has employed him for many years, apart from his ludicrous role with Quickfix Micky.

One for you Pinchers:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/30/sam-allardyce-west-ham?INTCMP=SRCH

 

[Pinchy]

One for you Pinchers:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/30/sam-allardyce-west-ham?INTCMP=SRCH

Yes. This ill-fated marriage will, of course, end in tears. I have no time for Allardyce and his anti-football. He will fairly soon be the last of the dinosaurs, employable only in the lower leagues and failing at that level.

 

[oldblade]

I suppose you could look at it that way, my point was that it was not as hard for a Harris team in the early 60's to finish in the top half of the top division as it would be for a Bassett team in the early 90's or a Warnock team in the late 2000's to do the same - purely because the very top teams in the country had far greater resources than United in the 90's and 00's than they did in the 60's.

Hence one could argue that Bassett's 9th place in 92 was a greater achievement than Harris' 5th place in 62.

I don't agree with that at all. I think you are right that in the 1970s we were more competitive agianst the top sides. I thought we could beat anyone at Bramall Lane (and we probably did at one time or another in that period). But I think the rest of the league was a lot more competitive as well. As you say, sides like Forest and Derby used to win the league, and only 10 years or so earlier Burnley and Ipswich were doing it as well.

It was easier for us to beat the 'big' sides of the time, but harder for us to beat the rest of the sides in the division.

I think that in 1992, the difference between the top sides and the rest was a lot closer to how it was in the 1970s than it is now. I really don't think a Bassett side would last any time at all in the premier league of today.

 

[scrap]

Hopefully Wilson turns out to be