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3rd Best Manager?


paulwantsapint
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We should also throw Harry Redknapp, Steve Wigley and George Burley (who, incidently was booed in the Scotland match today for his questionable tactics) into this discussion! :wink:

 

 

Although, I would go for WGS.

 

;) Even the Scots are not stupid...

 

To answer the point, I would say Glenn Hoddle. Who knows where we would be now if Spurs hadnt come knocking ?

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I liked the Branfoot tenure.

 

It's better than now!

 

It just makes you realise how far we have come since Lowe and Cowen made the club a plc. How many managers have we had?

 

Too many.

 

The 3rd most important man we had guiding the team was Nigel Pearson!

 

The 3rd best manager in my opinion will be the one to get us promoted the rest (even Lawrie in the early days) were much of a muchness. I quite liked Souness at the time and was sorry to see him go because we lacked ambition in those days too.

 

I can hear you say change the record Yorkie - but there is one thing common about all the managers coming and going lack of investment to move to the next level.

 

Who is responsible for that?

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I liked the Branfoot tenure.

 

It's better than now!

 

It just makes you realise how far we have come since Lowe and Cowen made the club a plc. How many managers have we had?

 

Too many.

 

The 3rd most important man we had guiding the team was Nigel Pearson!

 

The 3rd best manager in my opinion will be the one to get us promoted the rest (even Lawrie in the early days) were much of a muchness. I quite liked Souness at the time and was sorry to see him go because we lacked ambition in those days too.

 

I can hear you say change the record Yorkie - but there is one thing common about all the managers coming and going lack of investment to move to the next level.

 

Who is responsible for that?

 

Guy Askham

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I would go for Chris Nichol, good tenure, nice football, flirted with relegation but whats new there, continuation of stability and represented what Southampton was about.

 

I thought we found a replacement for Lawie and Chris, in both Jones and Strachan but of course both left because of Lowe and Sturrock could have been a contender if given a bit more time.

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Wgs!He dragged us into the fa cup final and to 8th in the league!

 

It's a results orientated game we play, so I'd agree.

 

That said, I can see JP being ranked quite highly if he carries on the way he has. Not necessarily remembered for the same reasons as WGS (league position, FA Cup, Europe) but for getting a decent performance from an enforced youth team with little investment. That deserves respect.

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I would go for Chris Nichol, good tenure, nice football, flirted with relegation but whats new there, continuation of stability and represented what Southampton was about.

 

I thought we found a replacement for Lawie and Chris, in both Jones and Strachan but of course both left because of Lowe and Sturrock could have been a contender if given a bit more time.

 

Nicholl was poor. Yeah, the 4-1 Liverpool game, 4 up front, bla bla bla....... we sunk from top 6 to bottom 6 in a very short space of time. You could argue he started the rot. Talk about Rupes "academy", we had a magnificent bunch of kids coming through then, mixed with a quality, albiet ageing core, and he turned us in to the most frustrating, NAIVE bunch of journeyman. Rose tinted glasses mate.

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Nicholl was poor. Yeah, the 4-1 Liverpool game, 4 up front, bla bla bla....... we sunk from top 6 to bottom 6 in a very short space of time. You could argue he started the rot. Talk about Rupes "academy", we had a magnificent bunch of kids coming through then, mixed with a quality, albiet ageing core, and he turned us in to the most frustrating, NAIVE bunch of journeyman. Rose tinted glasses mate.

 

 

In 1989-1990 we finished 7th under CN, we played some mental football in those days and saw the likes of MLT, Shearer, Rod Wallace come through the youth system. Branfoot about destroyed our youth set up and its arguable that it didnt recover until Walcott. He was not the best manager in the world and had taken us as far as he could I agree, but was far better than what came next.

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In 1989-1990 we finished 7th under CN, we played some mental football in those days and saw the likes of MLT, Shearer, Rod Wallace come through the youth system. Branfoot about destroyed our youth set up and its arguable that it didnt recover until Walcott. He was not the best manager in the world and had taken us as far as he could I agree, but was far better than what came next.

 

In hindsight yeah, and I have to agree the year you mention was enjoyable, but the year following McMenemy, (and other years) were really poor compared to the previous 10. The "movement" to get Nicholl out was every bit as strong as other subsequent fan protests (not that I'm necessarily condoning it). Perhaps, and with hindsight I tend to accept, that teh Nicholl days weren't too bad, but to think of teh side he inherited in 86, and the youth of 88/89 etc I just can't accept he's teh 3rd best manager we've ever had ! At best, he was beautifully naive. And as a hulking, no nonsense centre half, surprisingly so.

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I think all in all probabiltly Chris Nicholl. Things may have turned sour towards the end but I think (although I haven`t checked) that he was manager for 6 seasons so he must have done something right. Who is to say that things wouldn`t have turned sour with WGS, GH,etc if they had stayed as long as Nicholl?

 

We were never world-beaters under him but we knew that we were capable of beating anybody on our day. You used to go to games with a certain amount of confidence (not always justified!) unlike recent years.

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WGS took us to a cup final, into Europe again ( albeit by default),and to 8th in the final league table( and 4th at one point.).

 

On the above statistics he is no3 in the Saints managers list.

 

It was however a great shame that Alan Ball's spell came to an abrupt end as I believe he had started to make things happen at The Dell.His track record elsewhere was chequered to say the least but I felt he had found a perfect setting at The Dell to flourish.

 

Hoddle too left too early and we can only speculate as to what he might have achieved over longer.

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For me, it's got to be WGS. Being only 16 I haven't experienced the 'glory days' that came before my time, but WGS was a fantastic manager. Charisma, a great tactician and a brilliant motivator. If we still had him now we'd definately be in the Prem and we'd be pushing for a UEFA Cup place imo.

Wishful thinking though ;)

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Nicholl for me. At the time he was pretty unpopular but his failing was that he didn't keep us up in the top 6 or 7, like Lawrie had. The football was a joy to watch though. Watching Casey spray 30/40 yard passes out to Tiss and Rod Wallace on the wings. Those were the days!

 

Paul Rideout was an under sung hero of that era.

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Chris Nichol is very under-rated. His teams were solid at the back (perhaps he should be next manager) and established themselves well in the top division.

 

When have we ever been solid at the back!! I think one season under Nicholl we scored something like 67 goals and conceeded 66 - awesome.

 

WGS surely.

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The fact that TB & LM are the "top" managers speaks volumes for continuity and sticking by people. LM had the worst start possible and then struggled to get back up with the likes of Channon in the side, but the club stoood by him and reaped the dividends.

 

For me CN was not the right choice to follow LM and when people talk about when the rot set in, that was it for me. LM left a great legacy behind and we needed some to build on that. CN was not that man. We never reached the same heights again.

 

I don't think there is a firm third. WGS, GH and GB all had their moments but no one really stayed around long enough to have what you could call a "career" here.

 

What I find really sad is that over the last half a century, we only have had two oustanding managers - but then many clubs in that time have not even had one...

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;) Even the Scots are not stupid...

 

To answer the point, I would say Glenn Hoddle. Who knows where we would be now if Spurs hadnt come knocking ?

 

Who knows if we had had him back, at least we would still be watching Premiership football.

Still the mouthy minority knew better.

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