Worst manager in Premiership?

Jonny Arson

Graeme Souness without a shadow of a doubt. Anyone care to disagree???

Big Nelly

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Graeme Souness without a shadow of a doubt. Anyone care to disagree???

No

s8n

I disagree. What makes him a bad manager??? He's just unlucky to have a poor set of unruly players at the moment but while hes nothing but an above average manager, I would'nt call him poor.

Villain

I was going to say Sir Alex just as a wind up but probably not the best idea, I'd reckon it is Souness, he seems to fall out with players too often and he was doing badly at Blackburn before Newcastle signed him up.

Please please don't start a thread asking who the best is, I don't think I could hack the Man U and Arsenal fans

RuggieBear

s8n wrote:

I disagree. What makes him a bad manager??? He's just unlucky to have a poor set of unruly players at the moment but while hes nothing but an above average manager, I would'nt call him poor.

Suggest a worse manager.

I reckon it's him as well but i've never rated him at all...what exactly has he ever acheived in his managerial career....

~Rebel~

Has to be souness. In fairness tho can't rest all the blame on him, i'd imagine the board said "right we've got a load of scumbags, who's 'ard enough to control them?" and it completely backfired to the max, as it was pretty much destined to do all along - souness can't get on with anyone with that attitude. Was always going to lead to confrontations and exits. I really dont think newcastle is a very fun place to play at the moment, seems total lack of team spirit and really that has to go down to the manager, wrong man for the wrong job, doesn't seem to have bothered to have any amount of man management. Players play better when they're happy.

Souness - in short, chip on his shoulder and the king of alienation.

Rossonero

Rafa Benitez, IMO.

The only good player he's brought in is Alonso. After seeing them against Palace last week and how awful and uninterested they seemed, it looks that it's a coaching/managerial problem.

Sure they're in semi's. They had an easy run up until Juve, and Juve were out of sorts.

Speaking of Managers taking the crest of a wave, I'm not pleased with Ancellotti. He makes too many tactical errors.

super_furry

Brian Robson. He wasted millions at Middlesbrough and still brought them down. Was so bad that he had to bring in Venables to save his arse. I can't believe West Brom gave him a job, but he'll still take them down too.

~Rebel~

super_furry wrote:

Brian Robson. He wasted millions at Middlesbrough and still brought them down. Was so bad that he had to bring in Venables to save his arse. I can't believe West Brom gave him a job, but he'll still take them down too.

Is this worst manager of this season or ever? Think robson's done reasonably well this season, always going to be a major stugle to stay up. (admittedly sucked in the past)

BolBill

Rossonero wrote:

Rafa Benitez, IMO.

The only good player he's brought in is Alonso. After seeing them against Palace last week and how awful and uninterested they seemed, it looks that it's a coaching/managerial problem.

Sure they're in semi's. They had an easy run up until Juve, and Juve were out of sorts.

Speaking of Managers taking the crest of a wave, I'm not pleased with Ancellotti. He makes too many tactical errors.

You, my friend, would want to lay off whatever it is you're smokin ' !!!!!

LegacyUser

I like Souness. He has just been unlucky this season. He did well with Blackburn didn't he?

I think the best manager this season would have to be Mourinho and Moyes.

alfie

Rossonero wrote:

Rafa Benitez, IMO.

The only good player he's brought in is Alonso. After seeing them against Palace last week and how awful and uninterested they seemed, it looks that it's a coaching/managerial problem.

Sure they're in semi's. They had an easy run up until Juve, and Juve were out of sorts.

Speaking of Managers taking the crest of a wave, I'm not pleased with Ancellotti. He makes too many tactical errors.

2 La Liga titles and a uefa cup and he's the worst manager in the premiership - get real!

The Muppet

BolBill wrote:

You, my friend, would want to lay off whatever it is you're smokin ' !!!!!

He has a point. Benitz is not a bad Manager but he has yet to adjust to the style of play of the lower placed premiership teams. I heard him complaing about the physical nature of last weekends game. He'll have to adjust his tactics/players to account for that if he is to be successful in the premiership.

SteM

I'm not that gone on Souness but I don't think he's the worst manager in the Premiership. He's not even been at the club a full season and had a lot of sh!t to deal with from players when he first arrived it seems.

super_furry wrote:

Brian Robson. He wasted millions at Middlesbrough and still brought them down. Was so bad that he had to bring in Venables to save his arse. I can't believe West Brom gave him a job, but he'll still take them down too

Whatever he wasted at 'Boro, that's fair enough. But West Brom were already in a dire situation when he took over and they have a slim chance of surviving in the Premiership now. They're a point behind the 2 teams above them with a game in hand on them.

PHB

I think Benetiz is the best manager in the entire world, and I'm a United fan talking about a Liverpool manager, thats how highly I rate him. Mourinho has made the same comments about the physical nature, its just that his players skills can overcome them.

---

Worst manager is McLarenI think. Middlesborough have huge potential but no real results to show for it. I thought they could challenge at the start of the season, but instead have drifted into mid table mediocrity

alfie

The Muppet wrote:

He has a point. Benitz is not a bad Manager but he has yet to adjust to the style of play of the lower placed premiership teams. I heard him complaing about the physical nature of last weekends game. He'll have to adjust his tactics/players to account for that if he is to be successful in the premiership.

Yes he has a point but this thread is about the worst manager in the premiership and quite frankly its not rafa benitez, i dont think Liverpool would be this far off 4th place if we didnt get the amount of injuries we've had this season

super_furry

A new manager coming in always gives a club a momentary lift. That, coupled with the outstanding form of Zoltan Gera has helped West Brom, but they'll still go down and Robson will still be a terrible manager.

Badabing

Mick McCarthy

Raskolnikov

It has to be Souness. He's taken a team that should be challenging for a UEFA cup spot at very least and now has them languishing at the bottom half of the table. His signings? Boumsong has been ok, very debateable wether or not he's worth £8m, Babayaro and Faye are simply not good enough for a team that last season would have challenged for the Champions League spots. He also managed to lose Bellamy, love him or hate him, you can't deny he's a tremendous talent that Newcastle can't afford to lose. Combined with the mass of dead wood left over from the Robson era (Bramble, Butt, Ameobi, O' Brien, Robert, Kluivert, etc) you've got a chairman who's interference only serves to ruin the club. The whole situation is a disaster for Newcastle. To sum up Souness, he's taken a club that had some serious problems, and so far, has only made them worse.

What Newcastle need is a Martin O' Neill or David Moyes type manager who can actually work with and motivate players.

Whoever said Benitez is either trolling or bonkers. Considering that they've had almost an entire first team on the injury list, Benitez has done brilliantly to get Liverpool as far as they're at now. Robson has actually done well this season, he had a rocky start but the Baggies recent preformances have given them a slight advantage over the other relegation battlers.

_blank_

Badabing wrote:

Mick McCarthy

Funneh.

My vote goes to Robson.

Cianan2

Im not really sure who is the worst, but the person i dislike most is Souness. Im not "Joe Knoweverythingaboutmanagingafootballteam", but he hasnt done great. Newcastle should really be up in 4th or 5th challenging Liverpool and Everton for the 4th spot but instaed they're....14th,10 places and a good 20-odd points lower than they should be.

Keano_sli

Harry Redknapp, left Portsmouth to go to Southampton and will end up going down with them and sounds like he makeing noises to walk away already. Ultimate mercenary, face that looks like hes been slapped by a wet fish.
But Souness is also a useless C**t!

Xterminator

Souness did well at blackburn, and walked into a bad situation at newcastle, and has done ok. He did what had to be done with Bellamy, and will clear out some of the absolute knackers robson collected at the club.

I mean a team with Woodgate, Bellamy, Dyer, and Bowyer in it! All they needed to complete the poker of scumbags was that spitter at Bolton ...[size=-1]Diouf![/size]

How does that make him a bad manager?

Blackburn are a small club in terms of support and finance, yet they came up from the old 1st division, stayed up, qualified for europe via the league, & won a trophy, (league cup) all under Souness.

How is that bad? So called bigger teams like Spurs, Villa, Middlesboro etc havnt had the same level of success in the last few years.

My money for worst boss would be on Chris Coleman, whose season has steadly got worse, and compared to this time last year, are playing crap. They may be relegated yet!

X

pickarooney

Steve Bruce is no great shakes.

sleepwalker

souness how the hell he is still employed as a manager at premiership level is ridiculous

My vote goes to Robson.

i have to say i use to think this but he is doing an amazing job at west brom at the moment and if he keeps them up he will have achieved a miracle

fade2black

Graeme Souness took a gun to the temple of Liverpool FC and pulled the trigger. They subsequently went into a coma, each year thinking that next year would be their time to awake...there are signs of one eye opening this week Doctors have said....

LegacyUser

fade2black wrote:

Graeme Souness took a gun to the temple of Liverpool FC and pulled the trigger. They subsequently went into a coma, each year thinking that next year would be their time to awake...there are signs of one eye opening this week Doctors have said....

Em right.

And why all the hating on Souness to everybody!? What has he done that is so bad!??!?!? Newcastle is in a mess and it is not his fault!!!

mike65

As I refuse to play "bash the Hun" I'll nominate Wenger for Arsenals sh1te turn in the CL (again!)

Mike.

Jivin Turkey

Having had a quick look at the table I dont think there are any particularly bad managers in the Premiership.

People might hate Souness for some reason but it doesnt make him a bad manager. Newcastle were in a shambles before he took over, and they are no worse now as regards the league. Less than two weeks ago they were in the semis of the FA cup and quarters of the UEFA cup, Im sure all Newcastle fans were happy enough with the season then.

The teams capitulation this month started against Villa when Bowyer and Dyer did their thing, thats not Souness' fault.

He did very well at Blackburn, and was only in charge for the first six games this season so their poor form then is hardly anything to judge him by. As has been said he took them from Div1 to the UEFA cup (through the league) as well as a League Cup win.

As regards who is the worst, its difficult to say. But going on past history Ill go with Bryan Robson, and even IF they say up, and that is a big if, he would still be my choice.

Big Nelly

Xterminator wrote:

I mean a team with Woodgate, Bellamy, Dyer, and Bowyer in it! All they needed to complete the poker of scumbags was that spitter at Bolton ...[size=-1]Diouf![/size]

Woodgate? he is in Madrid sitting on his ass all season in the sun! hasnt even kicked a ball.....

Anyway I still think Souness.....some say he did a good job at Blackburn but every Blackburn fan I know where over the moon when he left to go to Newcastle.....was working towards distroying the club....some of there best players had left because he couldn't manage them and had fallen out with them so no option but to leave....could start naming players but would be here all day.....just to see how crap he was see how well Hughes is doing with the same bunch of players compared to him.......

He went to Newcastle then and instead of steadying the ship he has made it 10 times worse.....when did Bobby ever left a player with the match winning capacity of Bellamy get onto TV or let him go on loan??? everyone says its Bellamys fault but I if you look at Souness's record then I think its his man management.....has there been a whisper from Bellamy since he went to Celtic? nope because O'Neill is a proper manager.....

Also the Dyer-Bowyer fiasco.....FFS........why they ever sacked Bobby for this man I will never know....Ok Bobby had problems with Dyer, but that was only one player who hadnt performed in 2 seasons so was no loss.......

So in other words I think Souness.....wonder will he sell Given and Carr as well seeing as he usually doesn't like Irish players in his side!!

pickarooney

As for Souness, two words - Ali Dia. Could you ever live that down

pickarooney

How about the worst manager in the Premiership - EVER (part 1)?
I'm sure Spurs would have a fair few candidates, maybe Man City as well.

~Rebel~

Big Nelly wrote:

Also the Dyer-Bowyer fiasco.....FFS........why they ever sacked Bobby for this man I will never know....Ok Bobby had problems with Dyer, but that was only one player who hadnt performed in 2 seasons so was no loss.......

Even at that Dyer came out a little earlier in the season saying he wished he had put more effort in for bobby, that he was a great manager and that dyer himself put a lot of blame on himself for the sacking. Bet most of the players wish bobby was still there now that they have the spewing volcano of rage that is souness.

The Muppet

I, m on the fence on this one too. I agree with Jivin Turkeys assement of Souness achievements but as has already been pointed out he was caught out by the ALi DAi fiasco and he has had serious trouble with good players in every dressing room he has ever managed . For his lack of man managemnet skills I would pick Souness but if it's to be judged on achievmenets with consideration to available resources he is by no means the worst.

A Dub in Glasgo

mike65 wrote:

As I refuse to play "bash the Hun" I'll nominate Wenger for Arsenals sh1te turn in the CL (again!)

Mike.

I'll do the 'Bash the Hun' and nominate Souness

One of the best times was 2 years ago when Celtic played Blackburn in the UEFA Cup, Souness gave the infamous 'men against boys' talk after the 1st leg. 2nd leg at Ewood Park, Celtic wiped the floor with BR and wiped the smug smile of Souness.

RuggieBear

pickarooney wrote:

As for Souness, two words - Ali Dia. Could you ever live that down

i had quite forgotten that.....14 minutes of shame. At least he had the balls to haul the chancer off

Big Nelly

For those confused

Calamitous signings are, thankfully, unavoidable in football so we thought we'd pay tribute to the men that still haunt the memories of their fans now, whilst giving the rest of us permanent rib damage!

Ali Dia - Southampton

In 1996 Graeme Souness immortalised himself in football folklore by falling for an amazing scam that resulted in him signing a player, so bad, that it made Gerard Houllier’s decision to buy Bruno Cheyrou look inspirational.

It all started when Ali Dia, a desperate 30 year-old nobody, convinced his agent to phone the Southampton boss pretending to be World Footballer of the Year George Weah recommending ‘his cousin’ (Ali Dia) as the next big thing.

Souness fell for it quicker than Robert Pires looking for a penalty and Dia was instantly signed up on a month’s loan. As you can imagine, Souness was eager to see what his new acquisition could do, but the Gods of Football Humour were smiling down on the Dell and a proposed reserve game, and Dia’s debut, against Arsenal was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

That close shave didn’t deter the ‘striker’ who tried to build up his credentials by saying, “I feel I have a bit of pace and I can dribble well. Hopefully I can now show enough of that to the manager and maybe get a place in his squad.”

Once again, Souness took the bait and Dia suddenly found himself on the bench in Southampton’s next game against Leeds. But the unthinkable was to follow.
Despite Souness never seeing Dia kick a ball, he brought him off the bench.

After one minute the whole crowd had to pinch themselves, trying not to believe that Coco The Clown was playing. Dia had the touch of an elephant and the deadliness of a fly. He couldn’t control a ball to save his life and after 14 minutes of 'Bambi on ice' the substitute was substituted, and his loan rapidly terminated.

After such a humiliation, you would expect that Souness would have learnt his lesson about taking on a player who clearly can’t play football. I guess this wouldn’t be the right time to mention the £7m he spent on Corrado Grabbi then… oops!

Ali Dia and Graeme Souness… we salute you!

Emmo

Surely if the best team is the team thats on top of the premiership the worst manager should be the one at the bottom. The table never lies?

Emmo

The Muppet

Emmo wrote:

Surely if the best team is the team thats on top of the premiership the worst manager should be the one at the bottom. The table never lies?

Emmo

That's too simplistic and does not take into account of the resources available to the managers.

Big Nelly

Emmo wrote:

Surely if the best team is the team thats on top of the premiership the worst manager should be the one at the bottom. The table never lies?

Emmo

Where would Norwich/West Brom/Crystal Palace be if they had an open cheque book like Chelsea have????

johnor

Think without a shadow of doubt it would have been keegan, now id say its wotherington or souness.

Emmo

The Muppet wrote:

That's too simplistic and does not take into account of the resources available to the managers.

I know I was playing that card when people say that a team is the best in the premiership they never take these things into account.

For me this season the worst manager has been Arsene Wenger.

He once again had no reply to his teams failings in Europe. 1 Loss after a run of 49 unbeaten games ruins their entire season.

They started excellently.

Judged by his own high standards I think Arsene should be the worst this season.

Emmo

Xterminator

Big Nelly wrote:

Woodgate? he is in Madrid sitting on his ass all season in the sun! hasnt even kicked a ball.....:D

I mentioned Woodie, as part of the gang of knackers robson brought to Newcastle. And he did steady the ship at newcastle. Semis of th Fa cup, and the latter stages of Uefa cup! Not a bad season, given the shambles he took over!

Big Nelly wrote:

.just to see how crap he was see how well Hughes is doing with the same bunch of players compared to him.......:D

Hughes has brouht in Mokoena , Savage and Nelson.
Stephen Reid has come back to full fitness this year, something Souness never had either.
He's sold Fergeson (club captain), and dropped Tugay ..

Thats 6 1st team changes.

Big Nelly wrote:

W
hen did Bobby ever left a player with the match winning capacity of Bellamy get onto TV or let him go on loan???

Robson was publicly slated by Dyer and Robert.

Big Nelly wrote:

So in other words I think Souness.....wonder will he sell Given and Carr as well seeing as he usually doesn't like Irish players in his side!!

Yeh the way he nurtured Duff, bought Stephen Reid, gave premiership debut to [size=-1]Jonathan Douglas etc. Now he's at Newcastle, he's trying damn hard to hang onto Given!

Obviously he is anti Irish!

Or could you just be trotting out old cliches, that are untrue, and are perpetuated just cause he used to manage Rangers?

X

[/size]

MrJoeSoap

HAS to be Graeme Souness, see above Ali Dia post.

Boro

PHB wrote:

Worst manager is McLarenI think. Middlesborough have huge potential but no real results to show for it. I thought they could challenge at the start of the season, but instead have drifted into mid table mediocrity

Have you noticed Middlesbroughs injury problems PHB? The only team close to the same level of injuries (long and short term) this season, has been Liverpool. Thats not down to management. Thats down to bad luck. In crucial games there have been up to 4 or 5 teenagers on the pitch at the same time and as many on the bench. Its great for the youths but not particularly good when playing experienced professionals.

Despite that crippling injury crisis (which really reared its ugly head over christmas), Middlesbrough are in their best ever league position, did fantastically well in their debut european campaign and are in with an excellent shout of re-entering the uefa cup next season.

Worst manager? I dont think so.

=====================

My vote for the worst manager in terms of resources squandered has to be Souness. Newcastle - a big team with big name players. Yet they have (barely) just!) scraped their way to the 40pt mark. Thats unacceptable really. Ok, they had a decent cup run in europe, but they shouldnt be that bad in the league. Combine that with the scandals, the bust-ups, the fallings out and you have something bad going on there.

IMO (of course) Souness doesnt understand tactics, has no man management skills, and is a poor judge of player.

shelsfan

Yes, definitely Souness, Blackburn would have sacked him within a month if Newcastle hadn't wanted him, Blackburn were delighted to get rid of him without having to pay compensation!

eoinf

christian gross RIP without a doubt.

tottenham hotspurs
25-11-97 to 5-8-98

managed 29
won 10
drew 7
lost 11
for 40
against 45

Pigman II

I agree that it's Souness. The Ali Dia incident was just the icing on the cake for him as far as I'm concerned. All managers have their good & bad fortune and a thousand different things to deal with any given time but you'd have to be a Grade-A idiot to let something that happen to your team.

KdjaCL

Mc Carthy 1 win others nearly won something or at least tried too.


kdjac