Worse Derby Managers

[RoyMac5]

3 minutes ago, The Last Post said:

And what burk paid £3m for Claude Davis...the original 50p head, We heard he was a present from Gadsby 🙄 

He won't be the first manager to get transfers wrong - who was scouting? What burk got us promoted?

Edited May 27, 2023 by RoyMac5

[Ram-Alf]

23 minutes ago, Chopper said:

  and like Natalie I'll come onto him in a moment. 

[littleover ram]

10 hours ago, Brailsford Ram said:

ummer 2007 transfer window (Davies)

In

29 June 2007 – Robert Earnshaw – £3.5m, from Norwich City

4 July 2007 – Tyrone Mears – £1m, from West Ham United

7 July 2007 – Andy Todd – £750k, from Blackburn Rovers

10 July 2007 – Ben Hinchliffe – free transfer

25 July 2007 – Claude Davis – £3m, from Sheffield United

26 July 2007 – Lewis Price – undisclosed, from Ipswich Town

1 August 2007 – Andy Griffin – free transfer from Portsmouth

10 August 2007 – Benny Feilhaber – undisclosed, from Hamburg

20 August 2007 – Eddie Lewis – undisclosed, from Leeds United

31 August 2007 – Kenny Miller – £2.25m, from Celtic

Out

31 May 2007 – Seth Johnson – retirement

31 May 2007 – Lionel Ainsworth – released

31 May 2007 – Morten Bisgaard – released

31 May 2007 – Paul Boertien – released

31 May 2007 – Steven Cann – released

31 May 2007 – Tom Cumberworth – released

31 May 2007 – Lee Grant – released

5 July 2007 – Ryan Smith – £150k, to Millwall

27 July 2007 – Lee Camp – £200k, to Queens Park Rangers

31 July 2007 – James Meredith – free transfer to Sligo Rovers

8 August 2007 – Richard Jackson – free transfer to Luton Town

January 2008 transfer window (Jewell)

In

4 January 2008 – Danny Mills – on loan from Manchester City

4 January 2008 – Emanuel Villa – £2m, from Estudiantes Tecos

9 January 2008 – Laurent Robert – free transfer

9 January 2008 – Robbie Savage – £1.5m, from Blackburn Rovers

11 January 2008 – Hossam Ghaly – on loan from Tottenham Hotspur

31 January 2008 – Roy Carroll – free transfer from Rangers

31 January 2008 – Mile Sterjovski – undisclosed, from Gençlerbirliği

31 January 2008 – Alan Stubbs – free transfer from Everton

11 April 2008 – Ruben Zadkovich – free transfer from Sydney 

Out

3 January 2008 – Steve Howard – £1.25m, to Leicester City

11 January 2008 – Andy Griffin – £300k, to Stoke City

11 January 2008 – Matt Oakley – £500k, to Leicester City

28 January 2008 – Jon Macken – £200k, to Barnsley

31 January 2008 – Bob Malcolm – contract terminated

31 January 2008 – Lewin Nyatanga – loan to Barnsley

29 February 2008 – Michael Johnson – loan to Notts County

2 April 2008 – Laurent Robert – free transfer to Toronto FC

[StantonRam]

The title of this thread is ambiguous.  Is it inviting us to think of a "worse" manager than those listed (a relativistic judgement and matter of opinion, comparing one manager with another), or was the title a mistake and the intention was in fact to ask for who was the "worst" manager (in which case, only one name is needed to fulfil the request)?

"Those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad".  And those whom they wish to make mad they first make managers.  As soon as any human being acquires power over others there will be problems.  Add to that the deadly cocktail of money, publicity and pressure to win that applies in football, and factor in the mostly under-educated nature of most footballers (with a few exceptions such as Roy Hodgson), and only those with either a huge ego or a vast inferiority complex or both would willingly step up.

I'm not sure if our history of eccentrics, egomaniacs, overachievers and underachievers is all that different from that of other clubs really, it's just that we know more about ours than about anyone else's.  Anyway, for what it's worth, here are my nominations.

Worst ever - Docherty, for all the reasons stated above.

Best ever - Cloughie, and you'll never be able to tell anyone of my generation any different.

Honourable mentions - Shteve Mac, Jim Smith & George Burley.

Dishonourable mentions - most of the rest for many different reasons.

 

[Jimbo Ram]

15 minutes ago, LondonRam2 said:

The title of this thread is ambiguous.  Is it inviting us to think of a "worse" manager than those listed (a relativistic judgement and matter of opinion, comparing one manager with another), or was the title a mistake and the intention was in fact to ask for who was the "worst" manager (in which case, only one name is needed to fulfil the request)?

"Those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad".  And those whom they wish to make mad they first make managers.  As soon as any human being acquires power over others there will be problems.  Add to that the deadly cocktail of money, publicity and pressure to win that applies in football, and factor in the mostly under-educated nature of most footballers (with a few exceptions such as Roy Hodgson), and only those with either a huge ego or a vast inferiority complex or both would willingly step up.

I'm not sure if our history of eccentrics, egomaniacs, overachievers and underachievers is all that different from that of other clubs really, it's just that we know more about ours than about anyone else's.  Anyway, for what it's worth, here are my nominations.

Worst ever - Docherty, for all the reasons stated above.

Best ever - Cloughie, and you'll never be able to tell anyone of my generation any different.

Honourable mentions - Shteve Mac, Jim Smith & George Burley.

Dishonourable mentions - most of the rest for many different reasons.

 

Think you have forgotten Arthur Cox 🤔

[minesahartington]

Lots of poor managers choosing crap teams but one man stands out who could have and should have but chose not to .. Frankie boy.. a complete fake

[BaaLocks]

Jack Barker? Two seasons in charge and had us 17th in the Second Division and then relegated to the Third Division (North) for the first time in our history.

Tim Ward? Couldn't manage better than mid-table in the second division with a team that included Hector, Boulton, Durban and Webster.

[strawhillram]

Tommy Docherty . Dismantled a top team and brought in also rams. Deliberately tried to ruin the Rams 

[Jimbo Ram]

15 minutes ago, strawhillram said:

Tommy Docherty . Dismantled a top team and brought in also rams. Deliberately tried to ruin the Rams 

With or without Docherty, the FA Cup defeat was the end of an era and I think we were on a downward trend then regardless….

[RoyMac5]

How long was our run of winless games under Jewell?

[ziggyram59]

44 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

How long was our run of winless games under Jewell?

I think it was in the forties. 

[IslandExile]

2 hours ago, Jimbo Ram said:

With or without Docherty, the FA Cup defeat was the end of an era and I think we were on a downward trend then regardless….

He sure as hell accelerated it.

Mackay should've been given more opportunity to rebuild.

[IslandExile]

3 hours ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Think you have forgotten Arthur Cox 🤔

And Dave Mackay who, after all, won us the top division.

And, no, it wasn't all Clough's team. The great man also said Mackay was not given enough credit.

Hard act to follow Clough and, especially, to cut through the turmoil at the club.

I wasn't happy at the time - I just wanted Clough back - but, now looking back, I think Mackay did an amazing job.

Edited May 27, 2023 by IslandExile

[Van der MoodHoover]

5 hours ago, The Last Post said:

Getting older in some ways fogs the memory uttox, I'll always remember Caskey and Moreland for when Liverpool beat us at home, Those 2 were shocking, Reading the link brought back the memory mode...wow, Then I read John Middleton our keeper who we took in exchange for Gemmill and gave them £25k...double bloody wow, Yep no doubt...Docherty was our worst manager by a country mile 👍

As for Hooliganism...well that's a different tale 😁

Not forgetting super David McKellar in goal who was sat down by a dummy by Ray Kennedy and made to look a complete bottom.....

[Ram-Alf]

54 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Not forgetting super David McKellar in goal who was sat down by a dummy by Ray Kennedy and made to look a complete bottom.....

Another player that was forgotten and then put back in my memory 

[DavesaRam]

23 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

Felt Cocu was completely undermined by the bizarre arrival of Rooney, who he then had to play, so every game was effectively with 10 men. That's a pretty tough gig. It's impossible for the football not to have been dull with Rooney in the team, slowing everything down to walking pace. 

I also had the feeling that Rooney was working on the squad to make Cocu's place untenable so he could get the big chair to himself, a bit like Toddy did to Jim Smith.

[DavesaRam]

I am surprised that there is barely a mention of John Newman, although there was nothing about him that is rememberable! The football he produced was incredibly dull IIRC, and he was even duller as a person.

My family ran a charity giving kids from broken homes a holiday they wouldn't otherwise get, and got Newman to open a Gala as a fund raising event. He was immaculately turned out in his sports blazer and trousers that were pressed using a steam roller, but all around him was an incredible personality vacuum. You could see people crossing over and walking away for fear that any life they had would be sucked out of them. Its probably no surprise that his football wasn't easy on the eye.

 

[Brammie Steve]

On 26/05/2023 at 08:51, Dethorn said:

1 Tommy Docherty

2 Tommy Docherty

3 Tommy Docherty

4 Tommy Docherty

5 Tommy Docherty

6 Tommy Docherty

7 Tommy Docherty

8 Tommy Docherty

9 Tommy Docherty

10 Tommy Docherty

 

Who was the idiot who sold Colin Todd?

 Name escapes me!

Oh yeah!

The one….the only…

DOC!

[StantonRam]

Sorry, yes, Honourable Mention to Arthur Cox - and also to Dave Mackay, put in an impossible position but carried himself with dignity and won a 1st Division title.

[ram59]

3 hours ago, LondonRam2 said:

Sorry, yes, Honourable Mention to Arthur Cox - and also to Dave Mackay, put in an impossible position but carried himself with dignity and won a 1st Division title.

I think that they deserve more than honourable  mentions.

Dave Mackay walked into the club devasted by Clough's exit with players threatening to go on strike and took the job by the scruff of the neck and actually improved on what Clough had built, building a team, but for injury to George, which could have easily won the double, the year following winning the title.

Cox walked into a club at the depths of despair in our current league, not dissimilar to our position 12 months ago and within 3 years would have had us in Europe, if not for the ban on English clubs. Could you imagine, with the exception of B4,  us just missing out on champions league qualification in 3 years time?