Past Managers, Love or Hate?

[PeterWithesShin]

McNeill is still a massive twat. Wanker.

[Mister E]

In order:
- The Scouse Fraud (just soooo out of his depth)
- DimTim (out of his depth)
- McNeill (couldn't swim and had no water wings)
- MON (wantonly vindictive toward the club)
- Bruce (just fuckin' meh, to the nth)
- McLeish (should never have been appointed - he had no credibility at club level)
- DOL (Not totally a bad manager; just couldn't resist alienating the fanbase with his motormouth).


All of the above muppets suffered from an overwhelming sense of self-importance and an inflated opinion of their own ability. But MON is the one I feel most antagonistic about: he came in as part of the post-Ellis clean-up and promised so much. Ultimately, he allowed his ego to override the promised-land opportunity that Villa offered; the chance of sainthood sacrificed at the altar of personal vanity.

[Toronto Villa]

No way Tim Sherwood who got us to a cup final is above that prick DOL. And that list probably should include Remi Garde who fucked up whatever good reputation he had by making a bad situation way worse.

[Rory]

In order:
- The Scouse Fraud (just soooo out of his depth)
- DimTim (out of his depth)
- McNeill (couldn't swim and had no water wings)
- MON (wantonly vindictive toward the club)
- Bruce (just fuckin' meh, to the nth)
- McLeish (should never have been appointed - he had no credibility at club level)
- DOL (Not totally a bad manager; just couldn't resist alienating the fanbase with his motormouth).


All of the above muppets suffered from an overwhelming sense of self-importance and an inflated opinion of their own ability. But MON is the one I feel most antagonistic about: he came in as part of the post-Ellis clean-up and promised so much. Ultimately, he allowed his ego to override the promised-land opportunity that Villa offered; the chance of sainthood sacrificed at the altar of personal vanity.

Bit harsh on McLeish there, in my opinion. He wasn't good enough but always seemed a decent bloke.

[paul_e]

In order:
- The Scouse Fraud (just soooo out of his depth)
- DimTim (out of his depth)
- McNeill (couldn't swim and had no water wings)
- MON (wantonly vindictive toward the club)
- Bruce (just fuckin' meh, to the nth)
- McLeish (should never have been appointed - he had no credibility at club level)
- DOL (Not totally a bad manager; just couldn't resist alienating the fanbase with his motormouth).


All of the above muppets suffered from an overwhelming sense of self-importance and an inflated opinion of their own ability. But MON is the one I feel most antagonistic about: he came in as part of the post-Ellis clean-up and promised so much. Ultimately, he allowed his ego to override the promised-land opportunity that Villa offered; the chance of sainthood sacrificed at the altar of personal vanity.

McNeil was slight before I was really following things so I have no strong opinion of him. Otherwise all those you've named are my shit-list. After that Venglos, Houllier, Lambert, Garde and RDM were all pretty shit but not enough for me to hate them because I think they all had problems to deal with which had a big impact, I'd consider shifting McLeish into that group as well. Everyone else from Taylor mk1 on I'm glad were with us.

[Mister E]

... Venglos, Houllier, Lambert, Garde and RDM were all pretty shit but not enough for me to hate them because I think they all had problems to deal with which had a big impact, I'd consider shifting McLeish into that group as well. Everyone else from Taylor mk1 on I'm glad were with us.

Yes, agreed.
- Venglos: before his time, and Ellis saw what the man had but not how it would play out in the context of the First Division.
- Houllier: okay, RedScouse-blind but I think he saw what was needed even if he couldn't get the changes over the line.
- Lambert: I was definitely an advocate but he vacillated and was then caught up in Lerner's travails.
- Garde: simply, the wrong man at the wrong time.
- RDM: shit but not totally dislikeable.

[Mister E]

Bit harsh on McLeish there, in my opinion. He wasn't good enough but always seemed a decent bloke.

Harsh but - and you know this! - true.

[Mister E]

No way Tim Sherwood who got us to a cup final is above that prick DOL. And that list probably should include Remi Garde who fucked up whatever good reputation he had by making a bad situation way worse.

Sorry: Tim was simply Dim! Out of his depth even if he came across as a likeable bloke.
I resent him for one reason: he fucked up at Leicester when the team was flying, and we never recovered from that. Funnily enough, when I looked recently at the DOL period, we did okay then: he was doomed both because of Ellis but also because of his constant demeaning of the club.

[CT Villan]

MON is the only one that knowingly set out to damage the club. The others on the shit list were all levels of crap but I don't think there was any pre-meditated sabotage. I'd be tempted to throw Eric Black in there too, but he was only caretaker.

My list would be :
Saunders
Taylor
Barton
Atkinson
Little
Emery (and climbing...)
Smith
Houllier
Gregory
Bruce
McLeish
Venglos
Garde
RDM
Sherwood
Turner
DOL
Lambert
McNeil
MON / Gerrard

[SoccerHQ]

I still have a soft spot for Sherwood. Like that time you experiment at a festival and have a mad trip before it all comes crashing down a few hours later.

Sherwood's tenure was like that. Wild high scoring games at the start, a genuinely great performance v Liverpool before Southampton 6-1 found him out. He also gave Grealish a proper chance when Lambert had barely used him for six months.

After Vlaar, Benteke and especially Delph all left within weeks he had no chance and I think deep down he knew it. Yes I know plenty didn't like him dismissing our signings and absolving himself but Garde didn't really get that much better from likes of Veretout and the strategy for that summer was always a major gamble.

The Leicester game management at 2-0 was completely idiotic though. If we'd sacked him a week later we'd have probably got in Big Sam and had a decent chance at staying up but we needed to go down to properly reset as a club.

[Sexual Ealing]

Sherwood is a fucking dickhead.

[Toronto Villa]

Why is he a dickhead? Never says a bad word about us. Always complimentary when he speaks about the club. He should never have got the job. He gave us some bright moments in a very dark time. Inevitably he failed because he wasn’t good enough.

[cdbearsfan]

Sherwood is a complete prick. Sulking and refusing to pick certain players that he didn't sign even though they were clearly better than the ones he signed and he knew the transfer arrangement when he signed up. He basically guaranteed our relegation, and did absolutely nothing to reduce the poisonous and xenophobic atmosphere around the club.

[edgysatsuma89]

I'm very much in the 'Sherwood is a prick' camp.

[paul_e]

Sherwood was in charge of a dressing room that became as toxic as anything we've seen at the club. Whether that makes him a prick or not is up to you but it undeniably puts him firmly in the race to be our worst manager.

I hate him for making me ashamed of us for the only time.