Greatest NUFC Manager (of your lifetime)

[PauloGeordio]

Keegan

Eddie

Sir Bobby

Rafa

[Collage]

21 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Insane is hyperbole just to make a point tbf, but I do think there's no contest between what they achieved in the contexts they each had.

 

SBR came in when the club had just been rebuilt into one of the biggest in Europe, had big spending power over most of the league, had just been in the CL, and the competition at the very top was Man United and Arsenal, with Liverpool and at a push Leeds the only teams knocking on the door. We finished 11th, 11th, 4th, 3rd, 5th and got into the CL twice, but won no silverware.

 

Howe came in after 14 years of Ashley, with most of the league miles ahead of us in every aspect, 6 teams with miles more spending power and pull and capable of winning the league, and all of the clubs knocking on the door now knocking at the door of top 4 rather than the title and there have been loads of them: Villa, Leicester, Wolves, West Ham, Brighton, Everton, Southampton etc. The league overall is miles more competitive now than SBR's era. We've finished 12th, 4th, 7th, 5th, got into the CL twice in and won our first silverware in 55 years.

 

 

 

When SBR came in the club was in a bad place tbf, after Dalglish and Gullit, finished 13th two seasons in a row after the Entertainers years. SBR transformed the club, although not as much as Howe obviously. We haven't been as close to winning the league since then.

[Vedder]

24 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Insane is hyperbole just to make a point tbf, but I do think there's no contest between what they achieved in the contexts they each had.

 

SBR came in when the club had just been rebuilt into one of the biggest in Europe, had big spending power over most of the league, had just been in the CL, and the competition at the very top was Man United and Arsenal, with Liverpool and at a push Leeds the only teams knocking on the door. We finished 11th, 11th, 4th, 3rd, 5th and got into the CL twice, but won no silverware.

 

Howe came in after 14 years of Ashley, with most of the league miles ahead of us in every aspect, 6 teams with miles more spending power and pull and capable of winning the league, and all of the clubs knocking on the door now knocking at the door of top 4 rather than the title and there have been loads of them: Villa, Leicester, Wolves, West Ham, Brighton, Everton, Southampton etc. The league overall is miles more competitive now than SBR's era. We've finished 12th, 4th, 7th, 5th, got into the CL twice in and won our first silverware in 55 years.

 

 

 

I see it a bit differently. Howe came in with PSR headroom and could attract players with the expectation that Saudis would find a way to make us the new Man City. I feel like saying this is undermining his achievements, which I don’t really want to do. 

[Kid Icarus]

10 minutes ago, Collage said:

When SBR came in the club was in a bad place tbf, after Dalglish and Gullit, finished 13th two seasons in a row after the Entertainers years. SBR transformed the club, although not as much as Howe obviously. We haven't been as close to winning the league since then.

Yeah I remember it well. It was bad, but it always felt like we were a good managerial appointment away from being back in the mix. Despite Dalglish and Gullit not working out, we signed some very good players and had one of the best strikers in the league. 

 

What SBR did was excellent, but I honestly think what Howe did was miraculous tbh.

[HaydnNUFC]

I was only alive during Keegan's second stint; though I've always been made aware of his impact and legacy. It's what the club is now. Given Keegan himself tries to forget about his second stint, I'll do so here, and go for Howe as the best, followed by Robson, Benitez and Hughton. 

 

There was a similar discussion I remember a while back about our all time PL managers and found my post in that, it's below. Nowt's really changed tbh.  

 

On 13/10/2022 at 01:11, HaydnNUFC said:

Could add my own personal TOO YOUNG category for this template which will have almost all of the fuckers in  but I will try and muster some thoughts/feelings about them.

 

HATE

Bruce

Pardew

Souness

Allardyce

 

DISLIKE/DISGUST

Gullit

Carver

McClaren

 

APATHY

Shearer

Dalglish

 

FONDNESS

Roeder

Hughton

 

ADORE

Keegan

Robson

Benitez

Howe

 

Keegan and Robson are easy to explain as to why they're in the category they are.

 

Looking back I absolutely loved Benitez, hung off his every word, watched every press conference, loved the job he did here and was absolutely devastated when he left which was the primary reason I chucked my ST. Because of that it's hard to not put him in adore but in the hopefully incredibly unlikely scenario that we're looking for someone to succeed Howe I wouldn't want him back in any capacity. Didn't when we'd just drawn 1-1 at home to Watford and had 1 win after 20 games last season, wouldn't in future.

 

Howe is perfect for us, I remember clamouring for him when Bruce was still stinking the place out pre takeover and was very happy with him post takeover. His philosophy, work ethic and how he conducts himself in front of the cameras is everything I want in a Newcastle United manager.

 

I hated Bruce with every fibre of my body, most hated manager of ours for me. Complete antithesis of Howe in every regard, belittled the club and consistently patronised the fans. Hopefully he's absolutely finished in management so I don't have to hear or read his name again.

 

I didn't despise Pardew as much as I do now or as many on here do at the time, but I do now and strongly resent the revisionism of him becuase of that 1 season. It went so much more deeper than the football on the park: he's the reason I think Ashley set in stone the modus operandi of the club as one who never strove for success, deliberately went out of the cups and avoided Europe because the extra games 'may increase the risk of relegation'. That's his legacy and it still hasn't worn off on this fanbase.

 

I hate Souness because of how he talks about us now, still endlessly bitter at doing a shit job to the point where he belittles us. We're 'not a proper club' yet 'there's more pressure up there than anywhere else'. Fuck off man, you took a team that finished 5th to 14th whilst falling out with and getting rid of some of our best players. Granted you didn't want Owen and wanted Anelka, but look at the results; 5th to 14th, danger of being in a relegation battle when he was sacked, capitulation at Lisbon, the Cardiff semi final performance, ugh.

 

Allardyce was a fat mess who played shite football but never pretended to be otherwise. Should never be at clubs like us and Everton, should be at basket cases like the mackems, Bolton and Palace. Hence the respective fan reaction to him.

 

Gullit was terrible with how he handled the senior players and it turned ever so toxic behind the scenes at the start of 99-00 but he knew when it was time to leave.

 

Carver was just embarrassing and incompetent but simply should never have been given the rest of 2014-15. The decision to give him the interim job almost sent us down which is astounding given where we were in the league when he was given it.

 

McClaren was an uninspiring, wet flannel but again should never have been given the job in the first place. Another Charnley masterstroke.

 

Shearer was just a desperate roll of the dice that didn't work.

 

I posted a couple pages back but Dalglish is an odd one to me. Surely at the time it was the most logical appointment to make; only manager besides Ferguson to have won the PL, worked with Shearer and Batty at Blackburn, his success at Liverpool as a manager and the romantics about succeeding Keegan in some form again? When he had Keegan's side, we only lost 2 league games under him from when he took over in January '97 until the end of the season and had some great wins at home, thrashed a lot of teams including the memorable wins against Leicester and Forest. Probably as mentioned prior in this thread he just didn't have the money? Ginola asked to leave in March '97 like plus a lot of Keegan's team were aging but those replacements, fuck me. But I never see him as a fraud or owt.

 

Roeder took us on a hell of a run and was a great tonic post Souness in 2005-06 but again should probably have not been given the job. Great person however who dispelled that 'Geordies hate cockneys' myth and is sadly missed.

 

Will always admire Chris Hughton for what he did here, we looked absolutely fucked in pre season 2009 but he won us the Championship at a canter. Had great days under him and should never have been sacked when he was.

 

 

 

 

 

[Dyeyzzon]

It’s great to also remember them by their quotes

 

“Trust me, one day you will get your club back & it will be everything you wanted it to be”

 

“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”

 

“We’re not here to be popular, we’re here to compete”

 

conversely…

 

”How’s the bacon, did you say?”

 

[Weezertron]

41 minutes ago, Dyeyzzon said:

It’s great to also remember them by their quotes

 

“Trust me, one day you will get your club back & it will be everything you wanted it to be”

 

“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”

 

“We’re not here to be popular, we’re here to compete”

 

conversely…

 

”How’s the bacon, did you say?”

 

 

"Yohan Kebab"

[PauloGeordio]

1 hour ago, Dyeyzzon said:

It’s great to also remember them by their quotes

 

“Trust me, one day you will get your club back & it will be everything you wanted it to be”

 

“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”

 

“We’re not here to be popular, we’re here to compete”

 

conversely…

 

”How’s the bacon, did you say?”

 

Should add:

 "We need to realise we're now the head of the mouse, and not the tail of the lion"

[Erikse]

John Carver. Atleast according to himself.

[Erikse]

Quite a few here mentions everyone except Kinnear.

 

 

Edited January 9 by Erikse

[oldtype]

Howe won a cup. The end.

[kingxlnc]

4 hours ago, Dyeyzzon said:

It’s great to also remember them by their quotes

 

“Trust me, one day you will get your club back & it will be everything you wanted it to be”

 

“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”

 

“We’re not here to be popular, we’re here to compete”

 

conversely…

 

”How’s the bacon, did you say?”

 

Which one of you is Simon Bird…

 

We will play sexy football

 

This group of lads
 

We didn’t pose a fret 
 

Dust worselves down 

 

I will love it if we beat them

 

this cloob 

[Thumbheed]

If I was trying to be objective as possible, I'd say Howe is the greatest manager we've had. 

 

I think in those days, moving the needle with teams performances had a far bigger impact on results than it does nowadays. The league is now so much stronger and far more competitive than it was back then, so you have to be able do far far more than just be a good team to achieve what Howe has. 

 

Getting into the CL twice, for was harder than what Keegan achieved although the symbolic value in what Keegan achieved is priceless and rightly puts him at the top of other people's list.

 

But for me, when you add a trophy to the mix and it's hard to put anyone above Howe. 

 

I think that whilst the leagues far stronger as a whole, we sometimes forget just how closed it was at the top.

 

 

Edited January 9 by Thumbheed

[TheEntertainer]

It's got to be Keegan right? He took us from 20th In the second tier and almost relegated to the 3rd tier, to two second place finishes in the top division at a time when Man Utd were miles better than everyone else in the league, so without their incredible dominance we'd probably have won the league. 42nd best team in England to 2nd. Completely insane achievement and not a one off as we finished high every season under him. Played fantastic exciting football as well. Probably coloured by the fact that he came in when I was 9 so that whole period was when I was really starting to understand being a football supporter. Fantastic time to be a Newcastle fan. 

 

Robson and Howe have both been great as well, but I don't think anyone can come close to Keegan for me. I don't feel the same way about Howe as I do about Keegan and Robson though, although looking at it completely objectively in terms of achievement, Howe is probably number 2. Robson is 2nd in my heart though. 

 

I don't hate Pardew though so that probably makes my opinion null and void.  

[gdm]

Keegan

howe

SBR 

 

for me. Think if we got SBR a few years before I think he’d have gone on to be the best ever but this club doesn’t exist as it is without Keegan. 

[Dan Gleebals]

22 hours ago, Skeletor said:

THE HERO: Kevin Keegan

THE LEGEND: Sir Bobby Robson

THE SAVIOUR: Rafa Benitez

THE GOAT: Eddie Howe

 

THE NICE GUYS: Chris Hughton, Glenn Roeder

 

NON-OFFENSIVE LOSER: Kenny Dalglish

 

SHOULD BE ARRESTED FOR FOOTBALL CRIMES: Graeme Souness, Alan Pardew, Ruud Gullit, Steve McClaren, Sam Allardici

 

PLEASE DIE SOON: Steve Bruce

 

 

This is spot on. Aside, KD - I personally found him very offernsive but that probably has more to do with my absolutel dislike of Liverpool.  He completely dismantled a very good squad and filled it with shit.

[Moose]

Ranking managers based on win percentages ignores important context so I'll factor in how well they done with the resources available to them and the general feel good factor around their tenure. Also, I'm too young to remember The Entertainers, Dalglish & Gullit with any clarity, so with that in mind:

 

Gods:

1. Eddie Howe (The Hero) - Saved us from relegation, qualified for CL twice, worked wonders with a limited squad despite spending restrictions and injuries and gave us a team to be proud of. Oh! He won us a trophy too!

2. Sir Bobby (The Godfather) - Qualified for Europe numerous times with an exciting squad, deserved more support from the hierarchy. A wonderful ambassador for the club, a man I'm immensely proud to call one of our own.

 

Great:

3. Rafa Benitez (The Samaritan) - I dread to think how low we would have sunk without his intervention. A great manager who had absolutely no business wasting his time with the Mickey Mouse charlatans who were 'running' us at the time. 

4. Chris Hughton (The Gentleman) - Done a commendable job guiding us through the quagmire of the Championship and helped foster a great team spirit among the players, was doing a fine job in the PL until what happened happened.

 

Fine:

5. Kevin Keegan (2nd stint) (The Return of the King) - Took a while to get going but the excitement around his return was incredible to witness, shame it was short lived and ended the way it did.

6. Glenn Roeder (The Nice Guy) - One good season followed by a bad one, a thoroughly decent guy and done his best.

 

Crap:

7. Sam Allardyce (The Glutton) - Signed absolute dross, played shit football. End.

8. Alan Pardew (The Charlatan) - Done remarkably well to finish 5th, yes, it was helped by some wonder goals and several other teams having bad seasons but it was fun at the time. Downhill from there punctuated by his ridiculous excuses, the derby defeats and being a shill for Ashley. Elevated in this ranking by how highly he speaks of the club.

9. Graeme Souness (The Destroyer) - Tore down a perennial top 5 team in a remarkably short space of time, chased away good players, signed shit ones and was a horrible old cunt to boot. Set the wheels in motion for relegation.

10. Steve McLaren (The Calamity) - Nice enough guy but getting that team relegated takes a special kind of shit manager, way out of his depth and should have never been hired in the first place.

11. Joe Kinnear (The Clown) - A drunken buffoon but his legendary rant was funny.

 

Bruce:

12. Steve Bruce (The Wretched Obese Horseman of the Football Apocalypse) - I don't even known where to begin. I suppose the best way I can sum it up is that he made me try my best to detach from football and kid myself that I didn't care anymore. I have the utmost respect for everyone who stuck with the club during his tenure, it was just too much for me I couldn't handle seeing Bruce and Ashley suffocate the life out of it like an anaconda. A bitter, plastic Geordie, utterly consumed by the shadow of Rafa the entire time. I hated everything about him from his non existent tactical acumen to his 'woe is me' sob stories in the media.

 

Alan Shearer & John Carver were only ever interims so they don't qualify but rest assured they were both shit. 

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by Moose

[Sima]

Rating Hughton and Rafa above Keegan is fucking wild.

 

 

Edited January 12 by Sima

[Moose]

11 minutes ago, Sima said:

Rating Hughton and Rafa above Keegan is fucking wild.

 

Based of his 2nd stint.

 

The first Newcastle game I watched was the Arsenal Cup Final so I remember nothing about The Entertainers, but I acknowledge that he's on the Mt.Rushmore of Newcastle figures based on his first spell. 

 

 

Edited January 12 by Moose

[St. Maximin]

Sorry I know this is a very unwelcome opinion on here but how was Bruce the worst of the lot?

 

We played some absolute honking football most of the time and he’s a complete melt, but we comfortably stayed up two years in a row. Can’t say that about Kinnear and McLaren for starters. Also we had very few good players under him. I mean we were often doing better than Brighton, who had several players that have gone on to be top Prem players. Did we really have a squad that was at least 12/13th on paper? I’ve asked this before and no one has said so. Our star players then included Almiron and ASM, who has disappeared into obscurity. Ruining Schar was pretty unforgivable mind.

 

I know positions don’t remotely tell the full story, but they are how managers get judged ultimately. 

 

 

Edited January 12 by St. Maximin

[Rocker]

9 minutes ago, St. Maximin said:

Sorry I know this is a very unwelcome opinion on here but how was Bruce the worst of the lot?

 

We played some absolute honking football most of the time and he’s a complete melt, but we comfortably stayed up two years in a row. Can’t say that about Kinnear and McLaren for starters. Also we had very few good players under him. I mean we were often doing better than Brighton, who had several players that have gone on to be top Prem players. Did we really have a squad that was at least 12/13th on paper? I’ve asked this before and no one has said so. Our star players then included Almiron and ASM, who has disappeared into obscurity. Ruining Schar was pretty unforgivable mind.

 

I know positions don’t remotely tell the full story, but they are how managers get judged ultimately. 

 

 

 

 

[Big River]

4 minutes ago, St. Maximin said:

Sorry I know this is a very unwelcome opinion on here but how was Bruce the worst of the lot?

 

We played some absolute honking football most of the time and he’s a complete melt, but we comfortably stayed up two years in a row. Can’t say that about Kinnear and McLaren for starters. Also we had very few good players under him. I mean we were often doing better than Brighton, who had several players that have gone on to be top Prem players. Did we really have a squad that was at least 12/13th on paper? I’ve asked this before and no one has said so. Our star players then included Almiron and ASM, who has disappeared into obscurity. Ruining Schar was pretty unforgivable mind.

 

I know positions don’t remotely tell the full story, but they are how managers get judged ultimately. 

 

you've answered your own question, there.

 

he was a fat fucking slob who seemed to take pride in the club being mediocre. because I think he knew it was the only way he would be anywhere near the place. the total opposite of what we'd just had in Rafa, who was obsessed with football and wanted to improve us on every level, which of course Ashley had no interest in.

 

Bruce was a patsy, but a smug, detestable, and willing one.

[St. Maximin]

4 minutes ago, Big River said:

 

you've answered your own question, there.

 

he was a fat fucking slob who seemed to take pride in the club being mediocre. because I think he knew it was the only way he would be anywhere near the place. the total opposite of what we'd just had in Rafa, who was obsessed with football and wanted to improve us on every level, which of course Ashley had no interest in.

 

Bruce was a patsy, but a smug, detestable, and willing one.

I haven’t though, because that doesn’t explain why he was the worst manager when his record suggests he clearly wasn’t. Maybe the most detestable. 
 

I don’t like him at all and I’m glad he’s been found out, but if he was worse than McLaren for starters logically no way would we have stayed up either season. Like I said, might be a low bar but finishing comfortably midtable twice with that terrible squad seems a better achievement than many other seasons we’ve had.  

[Cronky]

The factor with Kevin Keegan that isn't being mentioned much is that he was given major backing in the transfer market, relative to the times. I think only Man U were spending more. Every time the momentum stalled, he was able to go out and spend big. Sir Bob and Eddie didn't have that advantage.

 

Eddie's achievement in actually winning something is being underestimated a bit. There's a big gap between coming first and coming close. We had gone such a long time without a trophy, and the pressure that brought was only increasing over the years. Eddie conquered it in spectacular fashion.

 

I can't get over the fact that in winning the League Cup we faced five hours of football against the top two teams in the country, and blew them away. We scored 6 and conceded 1 with a team that, player for player, was considerably weaker. We weren't lucky. We were better than the opposition on the day.

 

In at least one of the games against Arsenal, Schar was leaving his defensive position and closing Rice down when he received the ball. Eddie had noticed that Rice, good player that he is, likes to have time and space, and Schar was the best player to deny him that. Arsenal don't like playing long balls so their main strategy of playing through the midfield was strangled. Now if that had gone wrong, everyone would have said that Eddie had been reckless. However he had the courage to try something unorthodox, and get his players to have faith in his instruction. It's that combination of brains and guts that makes Eddie so exceptional.

 

 

[Wolfcastle]

1 hour ago, St. Maximin said:

Sorry I know this is a very unwelcome opinion on here but how was Bruce the worst of the lot?

 

We played some absolute honking football most of the time and he’s a complete melt, but we comfortably stayed up two years in a row. Can’t say that about Kinnear and McLaren for starters. Also we had very few good players under him. I mean we were often doing better than Brighton, who had several players that have gone on to be top Prem players. Did we really have a squad that was at least 12/13th on paper? I’ve asked this before and no one has said so. Our star players then included Almiron and ASM, who has disappeared into obscurity. Ruining Schar was pretty unforgivable mind.

 

I know positions don’t remotely tell the full story, but they are how managers get judged ultimately. 

 

 

 

Went backwards under him in every way and were just waiting to be relegated when he left.  Kinnear and McLaren didn't take us discernably backwards just presided over continued shambles. Our results under Kinnear would have kept us up too. Was getting better than a point a game and 35 would have kept us up but he was living joke of a manager.

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by Wolfcastle