I haven't posted in a while, but this thread motivated me. Branfoot. By acountry mile. And I would have said redknapp so that says it all! As a previous poster said, if you missed the Branfoot era, lucky you!
Indeed, if I had missed the Branfoot era [actually, I did for half of it as I was living in NZ as I recall], and left out the caretaker managers, and Steve Wigley [who was actually permanent [you twat Lowe] for a short while], then I would probably go for Redknapp. But there's a lot of bad feeling towards Redknapp which piles on the worst element to his management. There were worse managers. I can tell younger people that Branfoot inherited a talented and spirited football team, from Chris Nichol [why on earth did we get rid of him..?] with enthusiastic players, and turned them into unattractive relegation fodder by selling off the best and replacing them with dross. Only Matt Le Tissier was the shining light. He kept, by then, largely a bunch of journeymen players around him and made sure they got a very good living, because he kept Saints in the PL season after season. Before Branfoot and the PL, Saints were comfortable even when they weren't competing in the top half. Then Branfoot appeared. Of course, when you have Guy Askham as a chairman you have no hope either, but that's another story.
I too would vote for Mr Branfoot - I was a Junior Saint at the time but even now can remember the wretched standard of players and play we had at the time. Like mentioned above he just wanted a team of lower league hoof-ball plodders, which was weird considering his previous experience at the club. Shearer being replaced by David Speedie and Kerry Dixon, legends like Ruddock and Horne replaced with lower league duds like Steve Wood and Terry Hurlock. Always the chairman making these deals but seeing the quality players keep disappearing was terrible, even with a hard working team in place. I remember him using nifty (and fragile) youngsters but with the physical approach they never stood a chance. Was just not a good choice of Southampton manager, particularly with the positive play of the previous and following managers - thank god for Alan Ball taking over!
My mate Adam (who is actually a ManU fan) hit Branfoot on the head with a tangerine - it was on MOTD. Not saying it was right......but......
Branfoot by any form of mile, country or otherwise. It's 3am and his name being dragged will ensure I won't sleep now, thanks :-/
Branfoot by miles.......It is easy to understand why people say Redknapp......However for pure management decisions it has to be Branfoot. Although there was quite a few decisions Redknapp made that were questionable but in truth he was not really interested in Saints that's why he went back to his spiritual home and promptly ruined them!!
I think my view of managers is a reflection of the fact that I grew up just as MacMenemy was appointed. After he left for Sunderland, Nicholl seemed a bad choice and the decline set in but there were moments when CH managed some good results. Branfoot was a shock and probably the least inspiring of any manager we have had with the style of football being unappealing. He was totally different from anything we had had before and I can recall the comments of Reading fans at the time who were shocked by his appointment. The funny thing about Branfoot was that he never had a honeymoon period and seemed to be hated right from the opening friendly match of his first season which demonstrated what we could expect from him. With regards to Redkanpp, he was a bad appointment but the style of football wasn't bad, I think it was the Leeds game where we squandered a lead that signified our decline and we were only going in one direction after that. For me, it wasn't the style of football that was the problem with Redknapp but his failure to back his players and desire to wash his dirty linen in public. He was probably the worst "fit" for out supposedly, family club and a bizarre appointment insofar that it was abundantly clear that he would not get on with Lowe who had well and truly lost the plot by that stage. The Dutch pairing of Poortlivet and Wotte was a disgrace albeit I concede that they had inherited probably the worst Saints squad in living memory. Both should not have been appointed - especially when you consider that they replaced the excellent Nigel Pearson.
Well done - you`ve prompted gangs of soccer thugs up and down the country to run amok, tooled up with pieces of fruit. I hope you can live with yourself.
We were never relegated under Branfoot. It wasn't the most attractive football to watch admittedly. However, I think there is a lot of rose-tinted glasses stuff going on here. We haven't really been great to watch since the 80's. Alan Ball decided that Tiss was the only one in the team who could play football, so the others simply had to get the ball to him. Hardly a winning strategy. Take Tiss out of that team and we were awful.
Was out with my Southampton Ramblers group yesterday and, when we finished, some of us went back to one of the homes and we sat and chatted over wine and such. Another bloke appeared, who I had only seen on one walk and not been introduced to or chatted to at all. Turns out he was an avid Saints fan with a season ticket [he'll be there today]. We chatted about Saints, the uncertainties, this forum, and finally this thread. Without hesitiation he said, Branfoot. Perhaps you have to have lived through it.
