Jamboy81 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 No mention of Malofeev or Frail, but it makes you wonder where they'd fit into this lot. Bad managers are two a penny - every club in the land could muster a lengthy list all their own. For this 10, then, run-of-the-mill ineptitude wasn't enough. We needed to look beyond the obvious, one-off disasters of Les Reed at Charlton and Mike Walker at Everton, or Chris Hutchings's brief stays at Bradford and Wigan. Those whose sustained failures came after longer spells of success - Venables, Eriksson - were also reluctantly overlooked. I'm sad to have to miss out the CVs of Billy McNeill and Dave Bassett, both in charge of two clubs relegated in one season. Instead we were looking for incompetence on a grander scale: the maverick philosophies that were always destined for disaster, the individual actions that had the most devastating effects on the clubs they managed, and the inflated reputations in need of reappraisal. In short, 10 outstanding contributions in the field of failure. 1 Graeme Souness As a player, his name struck fear into opponents. As a manager, he has been more terrifying for his own clubs. Nearly two decades of sackings and disappointment after his success at Rangers, Souness, remarkably, still rates himself as one of the big guns. He spent nearly ?50m on a relegation battle at Newcastle, and told Deco he wasn't going to cut it at Benfica - replacing him with Sheffield Wednesday's Mark Pembridge - but it's at Liverpool where the wrecking ball did most damage. Britain's most successful club are still recovering today. Souness doesn't so much lose the dressing room as rarely find it to start with. 2 Egil Olsen Few managers can boast that they helped wipe a club off the footballing map. After 13 years in the top flight, Wimbledon were starting to hone their direct tactics into a more patient style when this long-ball obsessive and committed Marxist (nickname 'Drillo') arrived in the summer of 1999, having taken Norway to two World Cups. Strangely, his wellies, beaded glasses and zonal-marking tactic didn't win over the Crazy Gang and he was fired with relegation looming the next May, blaming the players for not embracing his system. Recently sacked as manager of Iraq. 3 Hristo Stoichkov 'I don't believe in tactics,' Stoichkov announced on taking over at Celta Vigo last summer. He wasn't lying, having started one World Cup qualifier with a 2-4-4 formation that left Bulgaria trailing Malta for half an hour. But it was in man-management that the hot-headed Stoichkov's deficiencies were most apparent. He forced three players (two of them captains) into premature retirement and, running out of people to argue with, went for an entire country - accusing Romania of fixing a qualifier. Hugely unpopular at Celta, he was sacked six weeks into this season. 4 Ossie Ardiles Christian Gross was perhaps the most comical Tottenham manager (brandishing a Tube ticket at his first press conference), but statistically Alan Sugar's appointment of the Argentine club legend (Gross averaged 1.31 points per game, Ardiles 1.15) was worse. In 1994, his second season, Ardiles revealed his masterstroke - the one-man midfield and five-man front-line - and blindly stuck to his plan despite shipping 33 goals in 15 games. Tottenham have since become known for having decent players who never achieve anything. Thank Ossie. 5 David Platt Well connected and with a player's worldly knowledge of the game (well, he'd been abroad), Platty seemed destined for management. His mate Luca Vialli even heralded him as the future of coaching. Sadly his actual destiny was to share studio space with Richard Keys. His short stint at Sampdoria in 1998-99 led to their relegation after 17 years in Serie A, while in a disastrous spell at Nottingham Forest he blew ?12m on players such as Gianluca Petrachi and Salvatore Matrecano from Perugia, making him the most unpopular man in the city since Sir Guy of Gisbourne. 6 Glenn Roeder The League is littered with regretful chairmen who decided to put the assistant in charge. Steve Wigley at Southampton and Les Reed at Charlton take some beating in an overcrowded field, but it requires extra-special skill to take down a squad containing David James, Joe Cole, Fredi Kanout?, Paolo Di Canio and Jermain Defoe, as Roeder did at West Ham in 2003. Then again, when you consider his 'train guard announcing planned engineering works' impression at post-match interviews, it's not so surprising that West Ham didn't win a home league game for five months. 7 Alan Ball Lovely man, lousy manager. In fact, Ball was less a manager than a ruthlessly efficient relegation machine: five times his teams went down, even if he was only twice employed long enough to go down with the ship. Out of the six clubs he managed, only Southampton avoided the drop. His biggest blunder came on the last day of the 1995-96 season, when he told his Man City players a draw was enough for survival - they were playing keep-ball, when the substituted Niall Quinn rushed back to pitchside to inform everyone that City needed a winner. Too late. 8 The England 1986 World Cup Squad It's as if a curse was placed on the 22 players Bobby Robson took to Mexico 86 - they could fill a book on the most dreadful management records of modern times. From Peters Shilton and Reid through Terry Fenwick to Alvin Martin and John Barnes, there are enough failed bosses to field an XI and three subs. Captain, of course, would be Marvel himself, Bryan Robson. Surely the only manager to be effectively sacked (when Terry Venables came to Middlesbrough mid-season) but still turn up for work. The phrase 'left by mutual consent' could be written on his gravestone. 9 Claude Anelka In 2004, tired of engineering transfers for his restless brother Nicolas and fed up with 'the crazy things' he saw managers do, agent and DJ Claude Anelka decided he wanted to be a boss himself. With a 'mystery' backer, he offered ?300,000 to any lower-league club who would let him be manager, and got a bite at Raith Rovers, in Scottish Division One. Citing Cruyff, Wenger and the boss of Chinawhite nightclub as influences, his philosophy and signings - some from the Paris seven-a-side leagues - brought Rovers just one point from 24 before he stepped aside. 10 Jim Fallon Statistics are not the only way to judge a manager, but if they were, Dumbarton's Jim Fallon would have an unmovable grip on the worst manager crown. The club's 1995-96 record makes horrific reading: played 36, won three, drawn two, lost 31. Then consider that two of the wins came in the opening two games, before they appointed Fallon. A record of 0.147 points per match convinced the board he deserved another crack the following season. He's now a physio. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/05/04/the_10_worst_football_managers.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Diggler Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Why would Frail be mentioned? His record is far better than many other managers in the SPL and certainly better than many other managers we have had in the past, Sandy Clark, Tommy Mclean, and as you point out, Eduard Malofeev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Gosling Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Yeah, Frail should be on there, what with his 28 points out of 45 (hell we'll say 42 and not count the Dundee Utd game) is just pish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 No idea where this came form but quite how Souness is in there I don't know. He won a trophy with every club other than Newcastle. He took over an aging Liverpool when his predecessor saw the writing on the wall. Maybees Aye! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jambo121 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Disagree with Sandy Clark, never given any time imho. Plus he was responsible for the nurturing of the likes of Paul Ritchie, Alan Johnston, Gary Locke etc. Rix on the other hand should be in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Diggler Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Disagree with Sandy Clark, never given any time imho. Plus he was responsible for the nurturing of the likes of Paul Ritchie, Alan Johnston, Gary Locke etc. Rix on the other hand should be in there. Aye, And Frail has been right enough. Who's to say in years to come we won't be thanking him for nurturing the likes of Thomson, Glen, Robinson etc. People (not you:)) are far too quick to have a go at Frail IMHO and the OP is just ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamboy81 Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 Souness is horrific! He's like Vlad with a playing career behind him. All ego and no brains. Took Newcastle from being a champions league team and almost got them relegated. Frail is also pretty inept and I think because we are in the bottom 6 and playing weak opposition people are losing sight of that. Results have improved but only because we were in relegation form beforehand. In amongst that there have been alot of dropped points and poor performances, bizarre tactics, and silly substitutions. I think most people have now accepted that he is going to be the new manager, and if Hearts manage to beat Gretna and whoever else it is we're playing then people over the summer will probably just convince themselves that he is the right man for the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibrahim Tall Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Souness is horrific! He's like Vlad with a playing career behind him. All ego and no brains. Took Newcastle from being a champions league team and almost got them relegated. Also won 8 trophies with the huns, 2 in Turkey, 1 with Liverpool, 1 with a poor Blackburn he'd only won promition with the season earlier. Souness is far from the worst manager in world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin_T Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Souness is horrific! He's like Vlad with a playing career behind him. All ego and no brains. Took Newcastle from being a champions league team and almost got them relegated. Frail is also pretty inept and I think because we are in the bottom 6 and playing weak opposition people are losing sight of that. Results have improved but only because we were in relegation form beforehand. In amongst that there have been alot of dropped points and poor performances, bizarre tactics, and silly substitutions. I think most people have now accepted that he is going to be the new manager, and if Hearts manage to beat Gretna and whoever else it is we're playing then people over the summer will probably just convince themselves that he is the right man for the job. Firstly I'd state that I want a new manager at Hearts because I think the club needs a clean break, however Frail has proved himself to be anything but inept. Hearts have not lost to a non-Old Firm team in the league since January and the only non-Old Firm team to even score against us in that period has been St Mirren. All that against a back drop of having lost our biggest goal threat in February. Hearts have achieved an average of 2 points a game during Frail's tenure, if that form had been mirrored across the whole season, we'd actually already have qualified for Europe, indeed we would have sealed it some weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro69 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 What about Big Eck. Surely he must be in there? Inherited relatively no bad squads at Well, Hibees,Gers,Scotland & Birmingham and has conspired to ******** them all up!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del1812 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Souness is horrific! He's like Vlad with a playing career behind him. All ego and no brains. Took Newcastle from being a champions league team and almost got them relegated. Frail is also pretty inept and I think because we are in the bottom 6 and playing weak opposition people are losing sight of that. Results have improved but only because we were in relegation form beforehand. In amongst that there have been alot of dropped points and poor performances, bizarre tactics, and silly substitutions. I think most people have now accepted that he is going to be the new manager, and if Hearts manage to beat Gretna and whoever else it is we're playing then people over the summer will probably just convince themselves that he is the right man for the job. He inherited a team second bottom. In that there has also been vastly improved, and more importantly, consistent play. A much, much better defensive record and surprise victories away at Motherwell, Aberdeen and ICT. There you go, some positive spin to match your negative spin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_R Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Whoever made that list is full of p*sh and don't know what they are talking about. Souness has won a few trophies. Olsen has taken norway to a few world cups and won the asian cup or whatever it was with iraq. I didn't bother to read further but while they aren't great managers I know there are managers out there that are a damn sight worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walter Payton Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 That list's a load of nonsense, because if it was credible, there's one name we all know would be one there. Franck Sauzee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Root Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 It's good to note that a few of those names have been associated with the manager's position at Hearts. All rumours thankfully! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysthereinspirit Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Vlad doesn't even get a mention. Cant he do anything right. Last week he made top five worst owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldar Hadzimehmedovic Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Disagree with Sandy Clark, never given any time imho. Plus he was responsible for the nurturing of the likes of Paul Ritchie, Alan Johnston, Gary Locke etc. Rix on the other hand should be in there. ????? According to London Hearts, Rix is statistically Hearts third best manager of all time, with something like a measly 21% loss rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Gosling Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 If Rix came in now and had the same record, he'd be thought of as an ecellent manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neiljb Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Souness is horrific! He's like Vlad with a playing career behind him. All ego and no brains. Took Newcastle from being a champions league team and almost got them relegated. Frail is also pretty inept and I think because we are in the bottom 6 and playing weak opposition people are losing sight of that. Results have improved but only because we were in relegation form beforehand. In amongst that there have been alot of dropped points and poor performances, bizarre tactics, and silly substitutions. I think most people have now accepted that he is going to be the new manager, and if Hearts manage to beat Gretna and whoever else it is we're playing then people over the summer will probably just convince themselves that he is the right man for the job. VR has already hinted heavily that Shaggy will not be in charge next season. Maybe you should hand in your CV as you seem think that your tactics and substitutions are will make all the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Winstone Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 VR has already hinted heavily that Shaggy will not be in charge next season. Maybe you should hand in your CV as you seem think that your tactics and substitutions are will make all the difference. Care for a wee side wager about whether or not Shaggy will be appointed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Root Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 VR has already hinted heavily that Shaggy will not be in charge next season. Maybe you should hand in your CV as you seem think that your tactics and substitutions are will make all the difference. And our illustrious chairman has hinted heavily that he will be. With nowt suggesting otherwise I'd say Frail will be in charge come August. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i8hibsh Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Why would Frail be mentioned? His record is far better than many other managers in the SPL and certainly better than many other managers we have had in the past, Sandy Clark, Tommy Mclean, and as you point out, Eduard Malofeev. Frail would be top of the list ok we are unbeaten in 7 7 games against the total crud of the League What bout the 1 year before he officially took 'charge' we wetre god awful! the team are still unfit, don't know each other, have a poor attitude and can't raise themselves for big must win games the only decent thing he has done is improved our disciplinary record Frail Out Now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del1812 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 If Rix came in now and had the same record, he'd be thought of as an ecellent manager. If Rix inherited this team, we'd be relegated by the end of next January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Frank Sauzee would have to have been close to that list. Felt it was also a bit harsh on Souness as well. End of the day, he has won trophies as a manager - not just at one club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamboy81 Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 VR has already hinted heavily that Shaggy will not be in charge next season. Thats that then! There's nothing more watertight then a heavy hint from Vlad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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