| Ranking Town's worst managers 09:42 - Jan 9 with 8569 views | Herbivore |
Thought it was worth doing an updated one of these in light of Cook's demise and departure. Given how his time here went, he has to be seen as a legit contender. I'm sticking to a list of five and I should caveat my list with the fact that I started supporting Town under John Duncan so haven't included anyone prior to his time in charge (or ultimately Duncan himself as it goes).
1. Paul Hurst - whilst Cook styled himself as demolition man, Hurst really did demolish a competent Championship squad and replaced it with dross. We've still not recovered.
2. Paul Cook - perhaps a touch controversial, but the shortness of his tenure speaks to his level of failure. To manage a worse record than Paul Lambert did in the third tier with the players at his disposal takes some doing.
3. Roy Keane - could easily have been a spot higher or indeed a spot lower, swapping with my number 4 on the list. Spunked away the only millions Evans ever really invested in fees on average players and seemed to lack almost every quality you need to be a manager.
4. Paul Lambert - frankly I'm stunned I have him this low but it speaks to the 'quality' of the opposition. After coming in and saying some nice things that led to a short term uplift in performances (though not results) he seemed to lose all desire and any clue. Famously blew an almost open goal shot at promotion off the back of 27 points from our opening 11 games by inexplicably engaging in a season long game of Lambingo.
5. Paul Jewell - what to say really? Inherited a bit of a mess from Keane and then smeared that mess around a bit for just under 2 years. Occasionally 5 game runs of looking great invariably followed by 10 game runs of looking like a pub team. By the end he looked totally lost and should have been put out of his misery much sooner.
That's my list. It's a packed field, despite all of the managers listed having managed Town within the last 12 years. [Post edited 9 Jan 2022 12:36]
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 09:39 - Jan 10 with 805 views | Bluroo |
Ultimately I think ranking our worst managers is a bit of a Hobson's choice, the lesser of 5 evils in this case. I can think of a lot more failings than redeeming features in each of them. Probably for most people it comes down to the grudges, be it Keane's attitude, Lamberts past, Cooks blagging, Hursts ineptitude or Jewels directionlessness for example.
The most obvious outcome of all that appears to be consensus on here is that Evans era coincided with the reign of several of our worst managers in history.
With Cooks sacking and the appointment of McKenna, at least we can now say the Evans era has really ended and the Gamechanger era has begun.
And thank **** for that. |  | | |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 09:40 - Jan 10 with 797 views | Bluroo |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 22:37 - Jan 9 by bazza |
Ahhhhh fu@k it, they were all shiite, they all individually ripped a piece of the clubs heart out, who cares who was worse , it’s history now, king McKenna is our leader !!!! |
BOOM | | | |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 09:55 - Jan 10 with 790 views | DanTheMan |
1. Hurst.
Tore apart a decent team and replaced them with players who were not all ready to make the same step up. I would say that the only thing I can sympathise with him is that, after listening to what Alan Lee had to say, what he was being asked to do was probably not going to work.
2. Keane
Bellend.
3. Lambert
Relegated us, banned Phil, football was mostly poor.
4. Cook
Probably controversial but he took us backwards and that was after being given a lot of funds for this division. Basically built his own team and then couldn't get them working. All a bit strange.
5. Jewell
I have a little bit of a soft spot for Jewell, despite him being bad he did try and play some nice football and what he inherited from Keane was bad. But he made us basically worse over a long period, but at least had the good grace to recognise this. |  |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 10:13 - Jan 10 with 779 views | bracknell_blue |
You can argue about 2-5 but for me Keane is no 1. Without his tenure - wasting money so Evans put his cheque book back in the safe - what followed wouldn't have happened the way it did. Keane, in effect, invented Jewell, McCarthy, Husrt, Lambert and Cook. If only we had stayed with Jim. |  |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 10:21 - Jan 10 with 765 views | The_Romford_Blue |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 20:23 - Jan 9 by Mullet |
As with your nonsense about the Wycombe game below you’re confusing your preference with facts. We are not talking about them as men, but managers snd in that regard Cook had the most money and kept us at our lowest position/ form whilst blowing any decent chance of promotion he inherited.
That doesn’t mean ultimately Hurst was better for example, but by the metrics of what actually being a manager is he’s on the high end of the list for worst ever.
The idea he produced anything comparable to being in contention or even too if the championship is part of the delusional stuff spewing out on here this season. |
I’ve not been rude so I fail to see why you’re choosing to be.
If my opinion is ‘nonsense’, I won’t be engaging anymore in the conversation. |  |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 10:23 - Jan 10 with 763 views | Darth_Koont |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 09:22 - Jan 10 by gtsb1966 |
How can you say Cook should have been given more time and then write that third paragraph. It doesn't make sense. [Post edited 10 Jan 2022 9:26]
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If McKenna is a better fit and has a higher ceiling that’s great. He also looks like a manager who can build consistency.
I’m just judging Cook on his own terms, rather than what an unknown replacement can or can’t do. We’ve been there before with previous managers. |  |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 10:36 - Jan 10 with 743 views | Darth_Koont |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 10:13 - Jan 10 by bracknell_blue |
You can argue about 2-5 but for me Keane is no 1. Without his tenure - wasting money so Evans put his cheque book back in the safe - what followed wouldn't have happened the way it did. Keane, in effect, invented Jewell, McCarthy, Husrt, Lambert and Cook. If only we had stayed with Jim. |
Keane spent a lot on transfers. But based on the accounts of the time Jewell spent as much if not more on wages and expensive loans leaving very little squad value to Mick (as well as an old side and a break in the academy production line).
It was Jewell that meant the purse strings were tightened. | |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 11:20 - Jan 10 with 722 views | RobTheMonk |
Hurst was a stupendous failure.
To his credit, Lambert wanted to get us playing a certain way and was arguably hamstrung by what he inherited. Never got going in League 1 and perhaps was a catalyst for Evans deciding to sell up...?
I struggle to look past Cook's utter implosion last season where we had 7 out of 8 games where we didn't score a goal against bottom half teams. And then we sailed to mid table in League 1 when he was able to go Demolition Man on the squad (lol).
I think those three have been the worst in my time, but I'd say Hurst was marginally worse than Cook and that's because Cook actually brought in some half decent players for this league but just never got anything out of them. [Post edited 10 Jan 2022 11:24]
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:02 - Jan 10 with 685 views | Churchman |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 11:20 - Jan 10 by RobTheMonk |
Hurst was a stupendous failure.
To his credit, Lambert wanted to get us playing a certain way and was arguably hamstrung by what he inherited. Never got going in League 1 and perhaps was a catalyst for Evans deciding to sell up...?
I struggle to look past Cook's utter implosion last season where we had 7 out of 8 games where we didn't score a goal against bottom half teams. And then we sailed to mid table in League 1 when he was able to go Demolition Man on the squad (lol).
I think those three have been the worst in my time, but I'd say Hurst was marginally worse than Cook and that's because Cook actually brought in some half decent players for this league but just never got anything out of them. [Post edited 10 Jan 2022 11:24]
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Lambert proved to be inept in every way bar working the video recorder to show his old games. His answer for everything was to throw a load more players at it. He left a bloated disinterested squad after two and a half years fumbling around. A 5 minute contract was 4 mins 59 secs too long, let alone a 5 year one. The only excuse was that he was working for an imploding club run by a clueless owner for whom mediocrity was high achievement.
Hurst? Well Alan Lee summed him up. A hapless chancer basically.
Cook? Boy, did he get it wrong last season. Not in terms of improving on that lost, dysfunctional unprofessional bunch (not all of them, I’m sure), but in the way he went about replacing them. Publicly losing your rag, the bomb squad and all that stuff made me happy in my rage at their performances, because I thought the players deserved it at the time. They insulted the badge for me.
However, Cook should not have done it. He wasted potentially useful players, mucked around others and came across as unprofessional. That’s the first striking difference to McKenna for me. He didn’t need to vent his spleen like that. It meant that no player at the club could ever trust him again.
As for his rather pathetic blame game, it cuts no ice with me. If he was unhappy with the way Ashton was going about things, he should have had it out with him and if necessary walked away in the summer. You can’t have it both ways, which is what he tried to do.
I like Cook and wish him well, but I don’t think he was right for us in the end. He’s not in the same league of awfulness as Lambert, Hurst and indeed Keane, but let’s be honest, he should have done better with what he had this season, even ignoring his miserable March to May ‘effort’. |  | | |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:04 - Jan 10 with 681 views | RobTheMonk |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:02 - Jan 10 by Churchman |
Lambert proved to be inept in every way bar working the video recorder to show his old games. His answer for everything was to throw a load more players at it. He left a bloated disinterested squad after two and a half years fumbling around. A 5 minute contract was 4 mins 59 secs too long, let alone a 5 year one. The only excuse was that he was working for an imploding club run by a clueless owner for whom mediocrity was high achievement.
Hurst? Well Alan Lee summed him up. A hapless chancer basically.
Cook? Boy, did he get it wrong last season. Not in terms of improving on that lost, dysfunctional unprofessional bunch (not all of them, I’m sure), but in the way he went about replacing them. Publicly losing your rag, the bomb squad and all that stuff made me happy in my rage at their performances, because I thought the players deserved it at the time. They insulted the badge for me.
However, Cook should not have done it. He wasted potentially useful players, mucked around others and came across as unprofessional. That’s the first striking difference to McKenna for me. He didn’t need to vent his spleen like that. It meant that no player at the club could ever trust him again.
As for his rather pathetic blame game, it cuts no ice with me. If he was unhappy with the way Ashton was going about things, he should have had it out with him and if necessary walked away in the summer. You can’t have it both ways, which is what he tried to do.
I like Cook and wish him well, but I don’t think he was right for us in the end. He’s not in the same league of awfulness as Lambert, Hurst and indeed Keane, but let’s be honest, he should have done better with what he had this season, even ignoring his miserable March to May ‘effort’. |
The sad thing is that there's so many differing opinions on who the worst has been over the past 15 years or so (each with viable arguments). We've had some absolute eegits leading the way. | | | |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:25 - Jan 10 with 659 views | Radlett_blue |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 22:02 - Jan 9 by PJH |
Jackie Milburn was certainly not very good.
He did sign Frank Brogan, Danny Hegan and Gerry Baker though, so it was not all bad.
Also Joe Broadfoot and Mick McNeil. |
He was probably a decent judge of a player. I often wondered if Town's successful youth players from the north-east were in any way down to him, but I believe Milburn became a sports journalist after leaving Town & was also an unofficial "adviser" to Newcastle manager Joe Harvey. |  |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:53 - Jan 10 with 629 views | Churchman |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:04 - Jan 10 by RobTheMonk |
The sad thing is that there's so many differing opinions on who the worst has been over the past 15 years or so (each with viable arguments). We've had some absolute eegits leading the way. |
I never thought I’d see worse than Duncan’s fumbling efforts in my time (I always exclude McGiven because I always felt Lyall was the silent organ grinder that season), but boy are you right. A real collection of awfulness since Royle, bar MM.
The odd one is Magilton. I know he could be a bit nutty at times and the players would flee to the other side of the pitch when he was going bananas, but looking back, we played some decent football at times (had that good run of home wins one season!). We could actually beat Norwich too and weren’t that bad, considering the financial restrictions placed on Jim.
With the gift of hindsight, I thought Evans might have given him a bit longer, though it didn’t feel that way at the time. The way Evans binned him out (if what I’ve read is true) was pretty unpleasant as well. | | | |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:57 - Jan 10 with 622 views | BiGDonnie |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 20:50 - Jan 9 by positivity |
financial state is a manager's responsibility. if he spends badly, the club goes backwards, far more of a long lasting legacy than a few results! |
Disagree massively with this. It's the owners fault to ensure a clubs finances are solid. |  |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 16:14 - Jan 10 with 566 views | positivity |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:57 - Jan 10 by BiGDonnie |
Disagree massively with this. It's the owners fault to ensure a clubs finances are solid. |
i agree that the buck stops with the chairman, but if a manager is given a budget and squanders it terribly, that's at least partly down to the manager and has a detrimental effect on the club going forward! | |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 17:06 - Jan 10 with 539 views | Stewart27 |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 09:56 - Jan 9 by ITFC_Forever |
How the hell is Cook beating the absolute weapons that were Keane, Jewell and Lambert?
It didn’t work out for him, fine, we all know that, but at least he had a Plan A, which is more than those cretins did. Those three are a stain on the club’s history. |
Because Cook performed worse than Keane, Jewell and Lambert.
How you have so many uppies is beyond me.
Cook is our worst manager ever. | | | |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 17:46 - Jan 10 with 499 views | Ryorry |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 17:06 - Jan 10 by Stewart27 |
Because Cook performed worse than Keane, Jewell and Lambert.
How you have so many uppies is beyond me.
Cook is our worst manager ever. |
I'm probably missing something, but wasn't it Cook who signed Walton & Bonne, that we're now desperate to keep even with our new forward thinking, up & coming manager? 🤔 |  |
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| Ranking Town's worst managers on 19:14 - Jan 10 with 468 views | Mach_foreignBlue |
| Ranking Town's worst managers on 12:53 - Jan 10 by Churchman |
I never thought I’d see worse than Duncan’s fumbling efforts in my time (I always exclude McGiven because I always felt Lyall was the silent organ grinder that season), but boy are you right. A real collection of awfulness since Royle, bar MM.
The odd one is Magilton. I know he could be a bit nutty at times and the players would flee to the other side of the pitch when he was going bananas, but looking back, we played some decent football at times (had that good run of home wins one season!). We could actually beat Norwich too and weren’t that bad, considering the financial restrictions placed on Jim.
With the gift of hindsight, I thought Evans might have given him a bit longer, though it didn’t feel that way at the time. The way Evans binned him out (if what I’ve read is true) was pretty unpleasant as well. |
What does make Magilton better than Duncan?
Magilton was the one that started spending badly. Of course his next two successors were total failures but why do people sweep Magiltons mistakes under the carpet?
He wasted money, signed some bad/average players, the midfield was overloaded. We were 12 points from the top 6 when he was sacked. Despite him having had resources we were no threat for the top teams. |  | | |
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