Saints Greatest XI - The Best Managers Nominations

[St Landrew]

It's the last weekend and we need the nominations for Saints best managers. Let's not beat about the bush here - who were the best..? I've a feeling the list will be short. But if it is long, then we'll take a vote on them all, upto 10 nominees, and they will be either the ones with the most nominations, or the first 10 if the nominations are the same. In recent years, Saints haven't been short of managers, so we have a wide selection. Or perhaps we haven't, if you think about it. ;)

P.S. Don't worry paulwantsapint, as promised, your early go will be counted..!

Now let's nominate. Lasts until Sunday evening and then we'll vote throughout the week. Might be controversial. Will probably be fun.

Cheers.

[Windmill Arm 2]

Whiskey George Burley






































Nah only Joking.............Lawrie McMenemy hands down.

[thorpie the sinner]

I will go for Ian Branfoot...........Nah, only joking, just thinking back to the good ol days!!! Jeez, we really must doing **** now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still remember the Chris '5-4' nicholl days fondly!!!!!!

[Toomer]

Ted Bates with Lawrie as number two.

[Mustapha Fag]

only one nomination?

has to be Ted, no one else came close

[Tomobz]

Strachan. Only good manager we have had since I have been diehard saints.

[dubai_phil]

Isn't sad that in reality there are only 3 Bates, McMenemy & Strachan

WGS was a bright spark but cannot hold a candle to what we achieved with the other two

Bates 1st Team
McMenemy 2nd Team

(WGS as DoF perhaps??)

[fanimal]

Ted Bates managed real men, not overpaid pampered big heads like the majority of modern premier players. Lawrie mac arguably had the most awkward mix and got most out of them in 1984 when we were genuinely a bloody good team, fit, entertaining, much better even than late 2003. With Ted in the background, fantastic leadership.

[krissyboy31]

Isn't sad that in reality there are only 3 Bates, McMenemy & Strachan

WGS was a bright spark but cannot hold a candle to what we achieved with the other two

Bates 1st Team
McMenemy 2nd Team

(WGS as DoF perhaps??)

Agree completely. As the Chris Nicholl thread has proved, he deserves a mention, but Bates and McMenemy are way above the others.

(Although for those old enough, and I doubt there's many, a certain Ernest Arnfield?, did get Saints to Two FA Cup finals. Duncan will probably confirm etc.).

[krissyboy31]

In recent years, Saints haven't been short of managers, so we have a wide selection.

That is true StL but we have certainly been short of GOOD managers. RL can't half pick them!!

[Badger]

Ted Bates.

As much as Lawrie did at the club,and as great a hero he was to me in the 1970's/early 80's his achievements are dwarfed by Ted.

Although Lawrie elevated us into the big time Ted took us from obscurity in the old third tier (south) into Europe.

(No doubt in my mind whose achievements we now need to repeat.)

[Badger]

WGS is only a contender to make the numbers up,nothing more.Always felt Alan Ball was destined to succeed at Saints as a manager,but sadly not,his tenure cut short in my view by boardroom mismanagement (DoF and all).That was a sign of things to come.

[mynameisthehulk]

Big LM for me.

St Landrew...you appear to have chosen someone called "Rob Wallace" on the A team subs bench...is this the mysterious 4th Wallace brother? A typo? Or just plain ignorance of Saints players post 1947?

[St Landrew]

Big LM for me.

St Landrew...you appear to have chosen someone called "Rob Wallace" on the A team subs bench...is this the mysterious 4th Wallace brother? A typo? Or just plain ignorance of Saints players post 1947?

Oh the shame..! But now fixed. Ta.

[saint_stevo]

Gordon Strachan.

Our best manager since a ball with a big leather lace and massive shorts.

[paulwantsapint]

Ted Bates Was
The Father - God - of Saints

Ted sadly passed away late 2003 - Saints became terminaly ill early 2004

Lawrie Mac was the Godfather

The only man who can even come close to Sir Ted

[rpb]

Ted Bates for me too - from Div 3 South to Div 1, always showing steady improvement

[Jack the Saint]

Lawrie Mac for me. An FA cup victory one year and then promotion the next and then taking us to 2nd in the league (when at another time we could well have won it but for a fantastic Liverpool side) is a fantastic achievement and shows that managers need time to be successful, it's such a shame that nowadays that just doesn't happen.

[Thedelldays]

only one nomination?

has to be Ted, no one else came close
clearly that have and have done better

lawrie mac

[derry]

Without Ted Bates achievements and building blocks Lawrie McMenemy would never have been employed or had the tools to move on. We had no money when Ted took over, in little over 10 years he took us from the third to the first division.

Ted bought his first player for £1000, exhanged Charlie Livesey for Cliff Huxford and £16000, brought in George O'Brien, and *ick Conner, won promotion to the second division, 5 seasons later won promotion to the first division. Without Ted there would be a pretty poor Saints.

Shame is Lowe and his managerial colleagues have just about succeeded in destroying everything Ted built.

It has to be Ted for me.

[corsacar saint]

Ted Bates.

[Toomer]

Without Ted Bates achievements and building blocks Lawrie McMenemy would never have been employed or had the tools to move on. We had no money when Ted took over, in little over 10 years he took us from the third to the first division.

Ted bought his first player for £1000, exhanged Charlie Livesey for Cliff Huxford and £16000, brought in George O'Brien, and *ick Conner, won promotion to the second division, 5 seasons later won promotion to the first division. Without Ted there would be a pretty poor Saints.

Shame is Lowe and his managerial colleagues have just about succeeded in destroying everything Ted built.

It has to be Ted for me.

Derry I agree with every word.

[SuperMikey]

I'm only a young'un, so the only one of the frontrunners i've seen manage a Saints team in my lifetime was Gordon Strachan. He seemed like such a passionate man, very charismatic and witty and he knew how to get the best out of our players. So my nomination goes to him.

However, I also recognise that LM and TB played huge parts in the club's history, and one of them will win inevitably, and we would probably be playing the likes of Eastleigh and Sutton Utd this season were it not for them.

[Papa Shango]

I wasn't around at the time, but surely has to be Lawrie Mac? Only manager to win a major trophy, took us to our highest ever position, regularly had us in the top ten of the division, signed the likes of Keegan

[Kaiser Soze]

Gordan Strachan in my lifetime

[sotongomad76]

Lawrie Mac for me. An FA cup victory one year and then promotion the next and then taking us to 2nd in the league (when at another time we could well have won it but for a fantastic Liverpool side)

I've always been curious about this- as I wasn't around this time (nor in the UK for that matter) exactly how close did we come to winning it in 1983-84? I realise that we finished 3 points behind Liverpool and we only finished 2nd by winning our last two (i think) but were we ever on top during the season? Could we have won it (at least mathematically) going into the last day? Or was it just a quirk of the results on the final day that we finished so high?

[Mark Mywords]

Without Ted Bates achievements and building blocks Lawrie McMenemy would never have been employed or had the tools to move on. We had no money when Ted took over, in little over 10 years he took us from the third to the first division.

Ted bought his first player for £1000, exhanged Charlie Livesey for Cliff Huxford and £16000, brought in George O'Brien, and *ick Conner, won promotion to the second division, 5 seasons later won promotion to the first division. Without Ted there would be a pretty poor Saints.

Shame is Lowe and his managerial colleagues have just about succeeded in destroying everything Ted built.

It has to be Ted for me.

Absolutely right, Derry. And let's not forget the players that Ted brought through his "academy" such as Paine, Sydenham, Chivers, Channon, etc.

[Mister Neil]

Ted Bates - no questions, no debate! A True Diamond.

[eelpie]

Ted Bates with Lawrie as number two.

Seconded, with WGS and Chris Nichol third and fourth in that order.

[offix]

Ted Bates with Lawrie as number two.

Yup

[miserableoldgit]

Ted Bates for me too - from Div 3 South to Div 1, always showing steady improvement

Tend to agree, but under Lawrie we appeared in 2 Wembley Cup Finals (one of which we obviously won), were VERY close to winning the First Division Championship and attracted players like KK, Peter Osgood, Peter Shilton, Charlie George, Alan Ball etc. A very difficult decision, but I think I will go with Big Mac.

[St Landrew]

I've always been curious about this- as I wasn't around this time (nor in the UK for that matter) exactly how close did we come to winning it in 1983-84? I realise that we finished 3 points behind Liverpool and we only finished 2nd by winning our last two (i think) but were we ever on top during the season? Could we have won it (at least mathematically) going into the last day? Or was it just a quirk of the results on the final day that we finished so high?

I think I can answer your question. Saints were always behind in the race, but had many games in hand. And there was a major distraction in the FA Cup, with Saints being in the semi-final. The run-in was superb. Saints picking up points everywhere, despite losing the combative and skillful Steve Williams to an injury that kept him out for the rest of the season.

In fact, Saints could be said to have gone closer in 1981-82, when they finished 7th, because for several weeks they were top. It was only a bad injury to Steve Moran that kept him out of the side for the remainder of the season, and Saints failure to purchase a replacement striker [despite appeals from manager and start players alike] that meant that the form started to fall away a little. Saints finished that season 7th. We had a cracking side, but lacking the quality in depth to go all the way. Anyway, I think I've got my facts right here.

You should see the squad photos from those years. Amazing..!

[SaintSparky]

Ted Bates and Lawri Mac, as far as I'm concerned it should be a straight vote between to two of them only.

[Mr Saints]

Only 3 contenders and it's rather obvious who they are.

Bates - Mr Southampton Football Club
McMenemy - 1976, Ball, Keegan, Osgood, Div 1 runners up, the list goes on.
Strachan - If the **** Lowe had backed him, no doubt in my mind we would be a top 8 Prem club as I type this.

[Toomer]

Only 3 contenders and it's rather obvious who they are.

Bates - Mr Southampton Football Club
McMenemy - 1976, Ball, Keegan, Osgood, Div 1 runners up, the list goes on.
Strachan - If the **** Lowe had backed him, no doubt in my mind we would be a top 8 Prem club as I type this.

Can't disagree with any of the above.

[Leslie Charteris]

Only 3 contenders and it's rather obvious who they are.

Bates - Mr Southampton Football Club
McMenemy - 1976, Ball, Keegan, Osgood, Div 1 runners up, the list goes on.
Strachan - If the **** Lowe had backed him, no doubt in my mind we would be a top 8 Prem club as I type this.

Little there for me to argue with. I'd just add Chris Nichol = 3rd with WGS. It was fun watching when he was in charge and we haven't had a lot of that lately. :(

[St Chalet]

Ted & Lawrie will be a tight vote, and those two stand out.

WGS for press conferences please (If our team is to have a Spokeman St Landrew)

Honourable mentions to Chris Nicholl and Alan Ball.

[Leicestersaint]

It is a close call between Lawrie McMenemy and Ted Bates. I saw the team under both managers. Ted took us up twice and into Europe, while Lawrie took us back up, won the FA Cup, got us to the final of the League Cup and under him we finished second in the top division with that memorable win at Notts County (where i was with my brother).

On balance, i would probably go with LM as his achievements seem a little greater than Ted's - but i could be persuaded the other way.

[Bailey]

Lawrie McMenemy, Ted Bates and Gordon Strachan are the only 3 genuine candidates.

A bit of a shame that there aren't more as it shows how minimal our success has been.

Still, I'd be happy with whoever wins it out of those.

[saintwarwick]

Ted Bates and Lawri Mac, as far as I'm concerned it should be a straight vote between to two of them only.

Agreed, it should be a straight fight between these two and I am going for Lawrie although it was a hard choice.

[alpine_saint]

Only going to vote for those from my time.

There is only 4 to choose from : Lawrie Mac, Chris Nicholl, Glenn Hoddle, Gordon Strachan.

I'm going to go for Lawrie Mac.

[Badger]

Shame is Lowe and his managerial colleagues have just about succeeded in destroying everything Ted built.

.

A topic for a different thread perhaps,but yes you are right.

In summarising the enormity of Lowe's mismanagement and achievement,he has undone the great work of both Ted,and Lawrie.Indeed once Lowe's tenure has finished neither Ted nor Lawrie need have existed,and the club will be turning back nearly fifty years.

[ottery st mary]

Ted Bates by a country mile and some......Lawrie as his 2nd in charge.

[Colinjb]

Gordon Strachan
Ted Bates
Lawrie McMenemy

[John Cool]

Alan Ball - built the team around LeTiss and we played some top footy :-)

[icehagman]

Lawrie Mac!

[SarniaSaint]

Ted Bates without a doubt. No one else comes close.

[sotongomad76]

I think I can answer your question. Saints were always behind in the race, but had many games in hand. And there was a major distraction in the FA Cup, with Saints being in the semi-final. The run-in was superb. Saints picking up points everywhere, despite losing the combative and skillful Steve Williams to an injury that kept him out for the rest of the season.

In fact, Saints could be said to have gone closer in 1981-82, when they finished 7th, because for several weeks they were top. It was only a bad injury to Steve Moran that kept him out of the side for the remainder of the season, and Saints failure to purchase a replacement striker [despite appeals from manager and start players alike] that meant that the form started to fall away a little. Saints finished that season 7th. We had a cracking side, but lacking the quality in depth to go all the way. Anyway, I think I've got my facts right here.

You should see the squad photos from those years. Amazing..!


Thanks a lot St Landrew- having never been to the UK means that whatever sliver of info I can pick up about our history is a bonus. I never realised we were a chance in 81-82.

[patred44]

Ted Bates by a country mile and half

[sadoldgit]

In some ways it is like who is your favourite Bond. A lot of people would go with the won who did the best when they were younger. Bates managed when I started suporting Saints but I saw more football under Lawrie Mac and he did build some of the best squads we ever had. Both enjoyed long career with us and both were given time, something that doesn't happen nowdays.
STrachan did well briefyly but looked like he had lost the plot after Christmas. Ok, he took us to a Final (by virtue of some kind draws) but bottled the team selection for the Final big time agter The Arse had ripped us aprt in the league just before. Burely in his one full season wasn't able to find the level of conistency to top the league, but did give us some great winds, not least putting 6 past Wolves away. Chris Nicholl was not the right choice to take over from LM and failed to build on his legacy. Only three manager maged to average a win every other game, Burley, McMenemy and Hoddle. Ted Bates was just under with 1.42 points per game but of course managed an awful lot more than anyone else.
We have had two great managers, Lawrie Mac and Ted Bates and you can argue who was the better until the cows come home. The rest came and went and some did okay in patches but I don't think that anyone else came close to those two.
The most enjoyment I have had being Saints fan came under those two. I enjoyed Strachan for about half a season (his post match interviews were always worth watching even if the result didn't go our way), Burley's play off season and Dave Jones's Great Escape. It was good to see Bally give Le Tiss his total support but the results were not fantastic in that period, it was more about enjoying Le Tiss.

[St Marco]

Ted Bates. Took us from the amateurs to the big time. Mr Southampton. Wish he was still here.

[Badger]

Ted Bates. Took us from the amateurs to the big time. Mr Southampton. Wish he was still here.

Actually,I'm pleased for his sake he is not.

[Dalek2003]

Lawrie, Ted, Gordon. Glenn and Chris on a par.

[St Landrew]

Lawrie, Ted, Gordon. Glenn and Chris on a par.

As with all nominations from past threads, the first one is the only one that counts. You'd better make your mind up. ;)

[DarrenLeTiss]

Glenn Hoddle

[Ponty]

Chris Nicholl for me. His tenure coincided with my formative years. Although I was a fan during Macca's reign, I was too young to appreciate all but the biggest name players.

[explorer saint]

Lawrie MaC

[Oz]

the dream team portaloo and wotte!

[St Landrew]

Well that's it peeps. The last nominations have closed, unless I get a request for backroom staff..! Now it's time to vote in the last poll.