http://whatculture.com/sport/10-worst-southampton-managers-modern-era.php Interesting little countdown. There are one or two there where my gut reaction was that it was a little unfair, but really they got most of it right, and I'd argue about the order of worstness. One absolutely stonking glaring omission though. Care to name the manager they left out, and where would you put him..? And thankfully, this is soooo much in a past era of the cheapskate attitude and piddling survival ambition that I don't think it hurts us a jot to look back on it with disdain. It wasn't an era to be proud of.
WTF!....Chris Nicholl, Glenda and Nigel Pearson on the list and no Whispering Dave and Ian C**tfoot! EDIT: Chris Nicholl gave us probably the most entertaining season in 1989/90 playing with effectively 4 forwards. Glenda was on course to take us into the top 4 before he left Nigel Pearson saved us from relegation when it seemed odds on that we were going down.
Couldn't believe believe it when I heard that Pearson had gone and the 2 Dutch goons had been installed? I was in Florence at the time and always thought Pearson did a very good job with no money? Worst manager - Branfoot [no contest].
Pearson, Hoddle and Chris Nicholl? I call bollocks. Also, Wigley never wanted the bloody job, so really doesn't deserve to be on there. I'm assuming that Ian Branfoot actually compiled the list?
The list is a nice idea, but fatally flawed by leaving out Branfoot, our worst manager altogether. Including Hoddle, Nicholl, and even Pearson beggars belief.
Indeed, and people who have pointed Bransfoot's omission are thinking just the same as me. I think some of the inclusions are about the context of the time. Nicholl never fulfilled or carried on the McMenemy legacy, but then no doubt he was hamstrung by the board just as Lawrie ultimately was. The club was entering the era where all the home gate receipts had been voted to go to the host club, and therefore Southampton were immediately floundering as an alsoran. When the Premier League came into being that was the end of any resemblance towards parity between clubs in the same league. Many of the subsequent managerial appointments at Southampton were amateur in the extreme. Asking Stuart Gray to do something special at the time was ridiculous. I'm pleased for him these days as he has found a moment in time where he has been successful. The same goes for Whispering Dave Merrington. It just wasn't fair on the guy to shoulder him with the responsibility. He was a great youth coach and it destroyed him. He was nursing his wife from a critical illness at the time, as I remember, as well. Then there is Wise and Bassett..! What were they thinking of..? This is much more an indictment of the board than the managers they appointed at the time. The difference in the professionalism since July 2009 is so profound it is almost laughable. It's not the same club we grew up with. It has moved onto a completely different level. If I miss anyone out that I should make special mention of it's probably because I've probably wanted to bury the memory. Branfoot just ballsed up what was possible within the constraints and the emerging Saints squad. I've no doubt Shearer wanted away for example, and who could blame him, with the survival culture that had set in by the time Branfoot had trudged onto the scene. As someone has mentioned in the recent past, he has gone on to an illustrious managerial career. Yeah..! There are so many things that guy did wrong I could devote this whole post to him. Perhaps one day I will. Hoddle was a **** manager for Saints, not because he produced poor results, quite the reverse, he was a bloody revelation. No, it was the speed of his departure to his so-called spiritual home [where he failed miserably, courtesy of such things as Saints wins], taking a player asset [Richards] away with him while he was in the process. That's why he is pretty much unforgiven to this day, and which is why MoPo may find that old cuts don't heal as quickly as he might like. The article got him right. Pearson came along at the wrong time for him. He did fin under the circumstances, and I was one of the confused many who wondered why Lowe didn't keep him on. But then Lowe had a plan, and as usual it was cheap and dangerous. We encountered some genuine bad managerial appointments thereafter. Souness was just the wrong man. Not a particularly good man manager and someone who wasn't going to take very much of Lowe's smooching and swerving, until he came to the moment where he said... no money. Then he was gone. I won't mention Ali Dia. Oh well, I just did. Sturrock's dismissal, I felt was a bit unfair. I thought he was OK, in terms of results [see his win/draw/lose ratio], but it was obvious there was a flaw in the character. I don't know whether it had anything to do with him later being diagnosed with Parkinson's, but sports people, professional or amateur when in a team, are apt to seek and find weaknesses in people who succeed winning individuals like WGS. I'll always remember 3-1 at then Eastlands, against ManC, where Beatts scored with a bullet header, crossed by Marian Pahars, and Phillips ran half the length of the pitch to score another great goal. Thanks Paul, but perhaps this was one division too many. Wigley was all about Saints being cheap. So cheap that however they built it up with words by Lowe, who was simply untrusted [nay loathed] by then, it came out as arrogant bullshit. Wigley was a rabbit caught in the headlights. I remember his first post match interview and I knew he was a complete disaster. What I resent about him is that he didn't have the bottle to say NO to Lowe. So he also became a lamb to the slaughter. I had no pity for him back then and I still don't. He's now back in a position where he can do some good - out of the glare. Redknapp is still thought to be a good manager by one or two within the old Saints establishment. I personally know at least one who, when I last enquired, thought he was much better than his performance at Saints. There may be a fragment of truth there, but nothing like as much as that guy supposes. He's always been a spender, a pocketer, and occasionally his style of football is effective. Give him a really difficult job [like QPR now] and he's out of his depth. Saints involvement with Redknapp was one last hurrah at the PL with a car salesman. Even then they couldn't manage to appoint a properly decent manager because he would understandably ask them to fulfil their end of the bargain. And that just wasn't on. But guess what..? Would we be 3rd in the Premier League in 2014-15, going into a 2 week International break without the **** that had gone before..? It produced the last 5 years of utter bliss, by and large. We just had to go through the supportive ringer to get there. Complaining would be carping. I forgive them all. No I bloody don't..!
You must have a short memory?? Pearson did a brilliant job keeping us up in his short tenure. Couple of shrewd short term loans in Richard Wright and Chris Lucketti shored us up defensively. Was at West Brom the night they got promoted despite us getting a vital 1-1 draw, Pearson sent on one of our youngsters as sub who got his first goal ever goal for Saints....think the nipper was called Adam something!!
