Past managers!

[lappinitup 629]

While were wallowing in nostalgia, I think that the long line of managers should get a mention.

Whilst some have given us plenty to cheer about, others have had us pulling our hair out !

SO. Who''s your favourite and who had you kicking the cat ?

I think Archie Macauley was the first ''great'' followed by Ron Saunders but since then John Bond, Ken Brown, Dave Stringer and Mike Walker have been ''tops''.

There have been several ''indifferent'' ones (George Swindon, Lol Morgan, Willie Reid etc).

I''m sure there''s some stories out there !

Damn. I forgot to mention Bryan Hamilton !!

 

 

[Dicky 0]

Let''s not forget one past manager who got us into the play-off finals after taking over when we were in the relegation zone, got us promoted whilst winning the league and helped attract probably the biggest names the club has attracted (Hux, Ashton, Earnie)....

[First Wizard 0]

God!, thats a hard question lappinitup, so I''ll wimp out and pick my top 3 and in order, okay?.

1. Mike Walker Mk1 and II

2. Dave Stringer.

3. Ron Saunders.

Managers I had no time for.

1. Nigel Worthington.

2. Gary Megson

3. Agent Hamiliton.

[Arthur Whittle 0]

[quote user="1st Wizard"]

God!, thats a hard question lappinitup, so I''ll wimp out and pick my top 3 and in order, okay?.

1. Mike Walker Mk1 and II

2. Dave Stringer.

3. Ron Saunders.

Managers I had no time for.

1. Nigel Worthington.

2. Gary Megson

3. Agent Hamiliton.

[/quote]

I know this is a little snide so i opoligise now but interesting to see how many of your choice of poor managers have came under the current board.

[albyella 0]

Ron Ashman is up near the top for me, based on nostalgia - of course Mike Walker for creating a great performing team - and for a bit of "class", then John Bond....

[Intenso 0]

No doubt in my mind the best manager has to be Dave Stringer who only managed in the top division.  The contributions of Ken Brown, Ron Saunders, Archie Macaulay and Ron Ashman are that much greater because they took over very poor sides and brought in their own players to bring success to the club.

 

[Holtys revenge 0]

John Bond was as mad a a box of frogs but brought flamboyant football to Norwich after the long ball approach of Ron Saunders. Overall has to be the greatest in my book!

Ken Brown kept this up after he left, until like many others, he overstayed his welcome. His departure was one of the saddest moments in 40 yrs of following City.

Mike Walker I was an exhilarating epxerience, not so great second time around though.

Brian @~##!!? Hamilton - aaaaaaaaaaagh - the most clueless idiot ever to sit in that dugout surely. How he never seemed to get any of the players on his side, and taught Worthy everything he knew about palying them out of position. Still sets my teeth on edge when he commentates our matches on Radio 5!

From everything thats gone on this close season, I think PG is going to be interesting as well.............

[canaryjock 0]

I always liked Bruch Rioch tbh. He was pretty unlucky with injuries when he was here (we''d have probably gone up if that thug Muscat hadn''t crocked Bellars [:@]) and if he had the same money to spend as Worthy and Mike Walker (the 2nd time) did, he would have got us in the play-offs at least.

Hamilton can feck off back to Ipsh*t as far as I''m concerned! Worst manager ever.

[ricardo 8,033]

I loved Bondy. He was a flash bugger but he knew how to get a team playing with style. What a refreshing change after the dour (but effective) Ron Saunders era. Bondy brought us some real class players McDougal, Boyer, Kevin Reeves and the incomparable Martin Peters.

The Ken Brown, Dave Stringer and Mike Walker gaves us some great highs and lows but they all continued with the John Bond style which eventually became synonymous with Norwich City.

Other good managers were Norman Low, Archie McCauley and Saunders

At the bottom of the list I would put Tom Parker, Lol Morgan and Hamilton.

 

[Unlucky Fried Kitten 0]

I can only mention managers in my era where I''ve seen their teams play football, so here goes:

1. Ken Brown - the team he assembled for the 1985/6 promotion season, played some of the most exciting, attractive passing football I have ever seen a City side play at Carrow Road, and the few matches I had the pleasure to see away. I will never forget a certain 5 - 2 barnstorming victory at Bramall Lane.

2. Mike Walker - once again exciting football played with a lot of flair, but for me not quite as good as Ken''s version of the truth.

3. N Worthington esquire - I''m not going to overlook Nigel''s achievements at Carrow Road. He sorted out an ailing, failing side left over from Hamilton''s much-maligned stewardship and made City a real force for about four years or so. It''s just a pity it all went so badly wrong towards the end and finished with so much acrimony and division amongst the fans.

Let''s hope Peter Grant turns out to be another City manager to be remembered for good things when he eventually leaves.

[lobster catcher 0]

[quote user="Arthur Whittle"][quote user="1st Wizard"]

God!, thats a hard question lappinitup, so I''ll wimp out and pick my top 3 and in order, okay?.

1. Mike Walker Mk1 and II

2. Dave Stringer.

3. Ron Saunders.

Managers I had no time for.

1. Nigel Worthington.

2. Gary Megson

3. Agent Hamiliton.

[/quote]

I know this is a little snide so i opoligise now but interesting to see how many of your choice of poor managers have came under the current board.

[/quote]Can''t understand how you could have no time for worthy,true he stayed on to long but he done a hell of a lot for norwich.My top 3 in no order worthington,brown, walker.Bottom 3 in order worst ever hamilton,then megson,then rioch

[Cluck 0]

Mmmmm.......once again not too much affection shown for Smith''s impressive trail of inadequates.

Bond for me because he had the razamataz to take us onto a whole new level where we became everybody''s "second team" and was the home of some truly special players. Those who followed inherited what he began years before........until the Madonna moved in to spoil the party........

[Saint Canary 0]

I find it hard to understand why people are unable or unwilling to recognise what a good job Worthy did with City.  I felt he should have gone long before he did but that does not mean he did not win a league title.  Being fair I would not include him as one of our best managers either though, despite his success.  Other managers like Brown had a huge impact on City long after their reign finished.  Brown left behind a football legacy with players like Bowen, Crook etc,  Worthington left us with a couple of top players and plenty of average ones.

[Syteanric 1]

Mike Walker without a shadow of a doubt! if he had had the money worthy had to spend he''d of worked Miracles with us!

jas :)

[Old Shuck 291]

John Bond just pips Dave Stringer for me.

After the effective but dour football of Saunders, Bond brought in flair football and exciting players, he literally had us playing the old 4-2-4 style at times.

Stringer put the foundations into place for the Walker area-not that I am going to dismiss the effect he had, someone had to put it all together & he had us playing some great football as well, including turning Chris Sutton into a £5 Million player. So Walker gets 3rd place in my list, just ahead of Ken Brown, however, they were all great managers and its difficult to put one above the other.

 

To think that we nearly had Phil Neal as Manager!

 

John Bond has gone on record as saying he should never have left Norwich -as has Mike Walker!- and I wonder what might have happened, had both stayed longer. 

[Temp the Revelator 0]

I''m another one who can only comment on what I have known, so for me it is a tough call between Brown, Bond, Stringer & Walker - but I have gone for this order:

1. Stringer
2. Bond
3. Walker

As for the poor ones, well, Agent Hamilton wins this one hands down, although a special mention must be reserved for Gary Megson - dire, just dire.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

I change my mind nearly everytime I do this!! Today I select (From my time as a fan):-

1. Bond (For the excitement and sheer quality on and off the pitch.)

2. Saunders (Because he made my dreams come true)

3. Brown (For continuing what Bond started)

4. Stringer (For being able to carry on the legacy without Sir Arthur)

5. Worthington (For 2001/5)

6. Walker 1st time(for the positive effect he had on the team assembled by Stringer)

Megson, Deehan, O''Neill, Walker2, Rioch, Morgan all also rans in no particular order.

Last. Hamilton (Why Delia?)

But If you delve into the past and use trophies won as a benchmark[|-)] then surely it''s :-

1. Brown (2nd Tier Championship and League Cup)

2. Saunders/Worthington (2nd Tier Championship)

3. Tom Parker (3rd Tier Championship)

4. Willie Reid (League Cup win)

The rest nowhere!

 

 

[can u sit down please 0]

[quote user="Saint Canary"]

I find it hard to understand why people are unable or unwilling to recognise what a good job Worthy did with City.  I felt he should have gone long before he did but that does not mean he did not win a league title.  Being fair I would not include him as one of our best managers either though, despite his success.  Other managers like Brown had a huge impact on City long after their reign finished.  Brown left behind a football legacy with players like Bowen, Crook etc,  Worthington left us with a couple of top players and plenty of average ones.

[/quote]

Surely Worthy is the reason why we have such high expectations now? He raised the bar somewhat, giving us a brief taste of Premiership football.

When he took over we were spiralling out of control to then "div 2!"

We simply had an expectation of SURVIVAL, now its PROMOTION.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

I change my mind nearly everytime I do this!! Today I select (From my time as a fan):-

1. Bond (For the excitement and sheer quality on and off the pitch.)

2. Saunders (Because he made my dreams come true)

3. Brown (For continuing what Bond started)

4. Stringer (For being able to carry on the legacy without Sir Arthur)

5. Worthington (For 2001/5)

6. Walker 1st time(for the positive effect he had on the team assembled by Stringer)

Megson, Deehan, O''Neill, Walker2, Rioch, Morgan all also rans in no particular order.

Last. Hamilton (Why Delia?)

But If you delve into the past and use trophies won as a benchmark[|-)] then surely it''s :-

1. Brown (2nd Tier Championship and League Cup)

2. Saunders/Worthington (2nd Tier Championship)

3. Tom Parker (3rd Tier Championship)

4. Willie Reid (League Cup win)

The rest nowhere!

[/quote]

Worthington above Walker v1 ???  you must be mad! 3rd in the top flight and some amazing European nights playing great football or a sixth place and the championship?

I also would not count 2004/2005 as anything to be proud of - ballsed up transfers, misused players, belated signings and downright ridiculous selections all effected our chances of staying up in the easiest season to survive in premiership history - needing a miserly 34 points.  A golden opportunity to survive a season was lost mainly due to managerial incompetance - and boardroom incompetance at not allowing Worthington to spend the 3 million on a striker sooner - assuming this was the case.  Worse thing really is even with all the baffoonery we could have made it after the players fans had been calling for to be played actually started getting picked  [:S].

As Worthington said when asked what we did wrong in the premiership ''We lost at Fulham''.  More accuratly we didnt''t win at fulham - although how he could have expected this with our abysmal away record is beyond me.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"]

Worthington above Walker v1 ???  you must be mad! 3rd in the top flight and some amazing European nights playing great football or a sixth place and the championship?

I also would not count 2004/2005 as anything to be proud of - ballsed up transfers, misused players, belated signings and downright ridiculous selections all effected our chances of staying up in the easiest season to survive in premiership history - needing a miserly 34 points.  A golden opportunity to survive a season was lost mainly due to managerial incompetance - and boardroom incompetance at not allowing Worthington to spend the 3 million on a striker sooner - assuming this was the case.  Worse thing really is even with all the baffoonery we could have made it after the players fans had been calling for to be played actually started getting picked  [:S].

As Worthington said when asked what we did wrong in the premiership ''We lost at Fulham''.  More accuratly we didnt''t win at fulham - although how he could have expected this with our abysmal away record is beyond me.

[/quote]

OK CJF, maybe I got it wrong, maybe I should have put Walker2 above Walker1. At least Walker2 signed Iwan Roberts. Or if you are right why is Stringer up there? Perhaps Stringer was an incompetent buffoon who nearly got us relegated with the players Mike Walker nearly won the Premier League with. But then Stringer didn’t walk out on the club after just a season and a half. This thread is about personal opinion and I gave mine with the reasons for them. I may be mad as a bucket of cut snakes but where’s your list to compare. Like I said, I change my mind on a regular basis about this because I enjoyed going to games under each and every one of them, even Hamilton. But never in all those changes of my mind has Walker ever got above 5^th or 6^th.