GARY SMITH STEVENAGE MANAGER

* Ray Wilkins

Knowing the absolute nonsense peddled on here as either; fact, deep insight or just intellectual gold I have a nugget of my own.....

If you list the previous managers

RAMSEY
Milburn
McGarry
ROBSON
Ferguson
Duncan
Lyall
Goddard
BURLEY
Mowbray
Royle
Magilton
Keane
Jewell

Capital letters signify successive management (I know Lyall got us promoted — don't spoil the sequence).

Between Ramsey and Robson there were two, between Robson and Burley there was four and now between Burley and the next manager there will be six.....proof positive that there is reason to be cheerful.

Hats off to jpr_23 who has suggested Hope Powell.

I said di canio from day 1......
Talks the talk not afraid to upset people

Keith Hill is the best choice by a mile. Good record in lower league and with tight budget at Barnsley. Best case scenario is that he brings Craig Davies with him.

Mcarthy, Redknap or Holland

Lets have someone young with connections to the club - gotta be Mauricio

Poyet / Tarrico. Burley/Holland. Please no Hoddle. But think we will get Big Mick. To those who think he is just a long ball merchant! Look at his promotion campaigns.

Just spotted Paulo Di Canio taking advantage of west cornwall pasty's bacon roll and a cup of tea for £1.50 on the high street.

You do the maths

Liverpool under 21 manager rodolfo borrell or owen coyle

Dyche

Carl Fletcher
Karl Robinson
Alan Curbishley
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Paolo Sousa
Ian Holloway
Uwe Rosler

That would be my shortlist of the top of my head though some more realistic than others

A very sad end to PJ's tenure. I wish him well. He made mistakes but he would be the first to admit that. I suspect that others too were culpable, including the players (not all !).

What amazes me now is this outpouring of preferences for the new manager, without hardly anyone setting out the requirements for the job; both in the short and longer term.

The bottom line is that Town are in a relegation fight so that the new incumbent MUST be someone with a high probability of pulling us out of this present postion and getting performances out of this misbegotten bunch of unruly players. Of course, this is not the sole criterion but it has to be the most important.

That means someone with a PROVEN track record and with a tough uncompromising character to deal with the motley array of attitudes amongst the squad. Beyond that, they need to be available, affordable, and up to date with the latest tactical and related knowledge of the game.

Everything else is simply nice t ohave, given our lamentable condition

Very true that, but Joe Dunne is 37 and not proven and things were lookng dire for Colchester before he came in, you need a tough character but you need someone with energy and who can relate to the players because players will react to somebody who is on there wavelength, Karl Robinson is particularly good at this.

If we were in a reasonable position in the league I would agree to having a young hungry manager but we are in dire straights and need a man of experience who has had relegation battles and won promotions. I am all for an Ipswich connection as a number two but not Burley he is part of the reason we are where we are and what has he done since - nothing. The stand out candidate for me is Mick McCarthy he seems a decent bloke with a sense of humour and is generally popular. He is also very good at what he does - yes he has had failures but generally he has been successful. I would not mind Curbishley as he is a very astute manager and yes he has been out awhile but he has stayed in and around the football world so knows whats going on - we could do worse.
We have to be careful as I believe Strachans name could be in the frame - heaven help us.

Lee Clark

BERGKAMP

Robbie Fowler may be worth a mention, not much experience and may be too early for him especially given our situation but did well over in Thailand even though I know its hardly the home of football and would be well respected

With regard to the new manager, I am afraid that we have a problem! Arguably our best managers were Ramsey, McGarry, Robson and Burley. They all had success of one kind or another. They also had one thing in common, when they were appointed they were all young and hungry! They all needed the job, they had families and bills to pay! Where are the young hungry managers today? they do not exist any more. A young manager today has been a player for many years earning a very good wage, he has probably made good investments and sent his kids to private school. The hunger to be be successful will not be there, the fear of the dole queue will not even be considered. Whoever gets the job cannot offer any guarantee of taking us into the promised land or even saving us from the dreaded drop. What we need now is a huge slice of luck!!!

Take a look at this link for the 'next ipswich manager odds' -

http://www.thesackrace.com/teams/ipswich-town

Most of those listed make my blood run cold!

Skybet have Roy Keane at odds at 50-1!!!

Enjoyed that list, some good mentions but some bizarre ones especially Magilton and Keane?, and Mark Robins took over Coventry a month ago!, all quite entertaining though

Why iS no one mentioning Tony Mowbray??

Blue blood, successful, good football philosophy AND CRUCIALLY A FORMER DEFENDER

He will have more resources than at Borough

So according to the radio earlier Bolton have not got Freedman yet. He might be a long odds shout for the job plus he would not have to move very far - if at all

So my choice is Dougie Freedman with Matt Holland as assistant and Mick Mills as Director of Football.

What a trio that would be!

Maybe if Boro weren't doing anything, but not in their current vein of form.

Walter Smith