As a consequence of our 'Neil Warnock: Counting Our Blessings' thread yesterday, a number of other great Rangers managers were mentioned. Just thought, with all the doom and gloom around atm and with our current manager being just about the only positive element we've got going for us, it might be a welcome relief to compare and contrast Sir Neil with our other notables. Whilst he's done less time than the other legends, his record compares very well. For me, the only qualifier for legendary manager status is that those considered must have won major honours for the club at one level or another. The full listing (in date order) is as follows. Neil Warnock (March '10 - date) P57 W28 D18 L11 W49.1% 2nd Tier Champions (10/11) Ian Holloway (Feb '01 - Feb '06) P252 W100 D71 L81 W39.7% 3rd Tier Runners-Up 03/04 Jim Smith (June '85 - Dec '88) P167 W67 D38 L62 W40.1% League Cup Runners-Up 85/86 Terry Venables (Oct '80 - May '84) P166 W84 D33 L49 W50.6% FA Cup Runners-Up 81/82 / 2nd Tier Champions 82/83 Dave Sexton (Oct '74 - July '77) P130 W57 D32 L41 W43.8% 1st Tier Runners-Up 75/76 Gordon Jago (Jan '71 - Sept '74) P161 W71 D55 L35 W44.1% 2nd Tier Runners-Up 72/73 Alec Stock (Aug '59 - Aug '68) P439 W206 D104 L129 W46.9% League Cup Winners 66/67 / Third Tier Champions 66/67 Dave Mangnall (Apr â44 â May â52) P280 W112 D74 L94 W40.0% FL3 South Champions 47/48 James Cowan (Aug 1906 - Mar â13) P296 W128 D85 L83 W43.2% FL South Champions 1907/08 & 1911/12 / FA Charity Shield Runners-Up 1908 & 1912 Notes James Cowan appears to have been our first 'serious' manager (from a records point of view). Don't know much about him (even I wasn't around in those days!) but looking at his figures, he sure set the standard for future Rangers managers winning two major titles, losing just 83 of his 296 games in charge. Dave Mangnall is the first Rs manager in living memory. Our most senior poster, James the One, would have been out there on the terraces when Mangnall was at the helm... I'd love for old Jim Lad (before he hits the rum bottle (ha ha / yo-ho-ho etc.)) to give us some of his memories of this obviously successful era at some point. Neil Warnock v Dave Sexton These two both grabbed major honours within a year or so of their appointments. Other than the states of club ownership, the two main differences was that Sexton got us within a whisker of winning what's now the Premier League title but did so with a team put together by his predecessor, Gordon Jago; and Warnock won promotion to the Prem as champions but with a team he put together from scraps. Terry Venables As both team captain and later manager, Venables is perhaps the man who's made the biggest tactical contribution to a number of successful Rs sides. For me Venables must take much of the credit for Rangers kudos as an attactive small club alternative to the top five or six London teams. Bit of a lad maybe but no doubting his creative genius and certainly vies for the position of both Rangers' and later maybe England's best ever manager. Had he had more time in charge on both occasions, I'm very sure there would have been even more honours... For Gerry Francis Fans I remember both of Francis' stints in charge and felt particularly comfortable with his approach first time round. The reason I can't include him among our legends is simply because he never won major honours as manager. For the record, Francis' figures read as follows. Gerry Francis (2) (Oct '98 - Feb '01) P125 W36 D42 L47 W28.8% Gerry Francis (1) (June '91 - Nov '94) P158 W59 D47 L52 W37.3% Looking at the listing, I'd be interested to read your opinions of which of our legends would get your votes for a not606 QPR Manager gold, silver and bronze achievement award. Answers 1, 2 and 3 please - with any reasons you can give to support your ratings.
And the gold goes to............Dave Sexton, getting us so close to that title, and playing terrific football in the process. I'd give the silver to Gordon Jago. Firstly for basically putting the above team together, but also for being a thoroughly nice bloke! Bronze to Terry Venables, probably the best coach we've ever had. We'll never know what we could have achieved had he stayed & not gone to Barcelona.
Gold - Venables Silver - Sexton Bronze - Francis (Gerry not Trevor) I am a huge fan of Warnock's but no with us long enough to feature in my top 3. Ask me again at the end of the season.
Hi Brixton R, Thank you for asking, that was very nice of you! Well yes, I was watching Rangers when Dave Mangnall was manager (46/47) and when we went up the 2nd;Div! (47/48) What I can remember of him , he seamed a tough guy but friendly, so it seamed to us kid at that time. I Was 10 when I first went to see QPR stood at the school end for 6p (2.1/2p now) Watched all the good players then , Bedford, Huttan and Jefferson to name three (3) I did meet him Mangnall, seamed like a god to us little one which was just after the war! I think the best was the great Alec Stock! what can one say about him? Well he made our club BIG. Then the next great one was of course Gordon Jago , great football brian, very sad when he left. Then came the new style of manager and you all know the rest? Am I that old? must go and have a glass of Champs;
So, after two responses: Votes Gold: Sexton, Venables, Votes Silver: Jago, Sexton, Votes Bronze: Venables, (Francis),
Cheers James, I was holding off, but I thought Stock had to be NO-1. Venables was my favourite, and I'll have our Nelly. Brix as you seem to be into these threads , how about a worst owners ever one?
After four responses: Votes Gold: Sexton, Venables, Stock x 2, Votes Silver: Jago, Sexton, Jago, Venables, Votes Bronze: Venables, (Francis x 2), (JtO no vote),
After five responses: Votes Gold: Sexton, Venables, Stock x 3, Votes Silver: Jago, Sexton, Jago, Venables x 2, Votes Bronze: Venables, (Francis x 2), (JtO no vote), Warnock,
Alex Stock ( Plaved the way to the sort of football that is become part of the QPR way) Dave Sexton ( bought in some exceptional footballers and should have won us the Ist Divison Title) Ian Holloway ( I swear to God that he has got blue and white blood running through his veins)
After seven responses: Votes Gold: Sexton, Venables, Stock x 5, Votes Silver: Jago, Sexton x 3, Jago, Venables x 2, Votes Bronze: Venables x 2, (Francis x 2), (JtO no vote), Warnock, Holloway
Northolt, you are a silly billy! That is easy. A toss up between this lot and the asset stripper Thompson? Well thats my euros worth! Yes we have that funny money over here !!
I’m basing my reply on how much the club improved under their management. As previously stated, I don’t know enough about Alec Stock or earlier managers so I feel I must exclude them. So by my criteria, the best must be the one and only Neil Warnock, by a short head. Q.P.R. were in danger of being relegated to League 1 when he arrived, just over a season later he won us promotion to the Premier League. Just behind him is Ian Holloway. He took over the team as we were dropping like a stone. We were, to all intents and purposes, already relegated to League 1 when he came in. He stopped the slide despite the first team squad being stripped back to beyond the bone, and using free signings and loanees gave us a team to be proud of. Promotion back to the Championship followed. It was obvious how good he was at getting the best out of the players by the way we struggled after Paladini got rid of him. I third place I’d go for Gordon Jago. He won us promotion up to the old Division 1 and got us established there. Sexton only made a couple of signings to Jago’s team and we pushed Liverpool all the way, but it must be remembered that the step up from mid table to top 2 was nothing like as great in those days.
bronze =ollie silver=venables gold=sexton with francis and warnock very close in 4th and 5th respectively.
Hi Brixton, as i said on your last thread i can only judge based on my own experience as an R. From Don Howe until today. But if you don't mind i will give you two lists, one based on experience and one based on what i've read and watched from old film clips. List one: 1. Warnock (Never felt closer to a manager, love him to bits. Exceptional at creating unity, both in players and supporters) 2. Holloway (What is there to say that hasn't been said, what a character! The way he rebuilt the entire squad and club since relegation to now league one.) 3. Gerry Francis (My happiest time as an R, up until last season. And how important that was, being surrounded by Manures and Liverpudlians at school here in Norway. But he never should have left, can't forgive him for that, i know the Dick Thompson/Marsh situation but still.) Runners up: Jim Magilton: Played maybe the best football i've ever witnessed as an R. But not the sharpest tool in the shed and therefor lasted to short a time with us to come in the reckoning. John Gregory: Don't know how good a manager he is (not so good maybe based on his latest jobs) but how he kept us up that year with the material he had to work with is beyond me! And for his comment, Aston Villa manager at that time, made it known that the club did not want to sell Yorke to Manchester United unless they were prepared to exchange Andy Cole. Yorke then approached Gregory to state that he wanted to leave the club, to which Gregory was famously attributed to saying that he would shoot Yorke if he had had a gun in his office. List two: 1. Sexton (Innovative and before his time in many ways + one heck of a team!) 2. Stock (Achieved incredible results and made us the "big" club we are today) 3. Venables (Smartnes, tactickly very clever, good signings and that extra swagger ) But if you have to choose a list, use number one
I've no doubt that Alex Stock was our most important manager in that he made us one of the established London clubs ( our very own Mat Busby or Shankley if you will). Also, what Jago and then Sexton did in almost making the Rs champions of England was incredible. However, I only started going to Loftus Road in the early 80s so for my choices I'm going to stick to those whose teams I saw for myself; Gold - El Tel himself Silver - Sir Neil Bronze - Olly
