Greatest NUFC Manager (of your lifetime)

[kingxlnc]

The only four in the modern era that matter are

Keegan
Howe
SBR
Benitez



Average / Non Offensive
Hughton, Roeder


Rubbish
All the rest of them
I noticed no-one included Kinnear 


That's how bad it's been. 

Bruce was the worst of the lot. 
Pardew was the best of the bad ones. 

[Stal]

The Good (best at #1)

 

1) KK - Legendary and was our manager just as I started getting into football.

2) EH - Got me believing again, excellent coach, well spoken, won us a cup and is making us a force again. Want him to be our ferguson, but more pleasant. Great appointment for the new regime. I trust him with my club entirely, even if his "Eddie Time" subs are a tad predictable.

3) SBR - Loved we had such a classy football gentleman who had ties to the club too. Did have glaring weak spots in some of his signings, but I still love him.

4) RB - Much like Eddie, got me to start hoping again. Became a great link to the fans which had been eroded by the shit ownership for years. Did very well with what he had.

5) GR - I liked him. Did well for us in Europe and he did love the club. Nothing spectacular.

6) CH - Did alright and didn't back down in the face of shitty ownership. Replaced by a cretinous toady. 

7) OA - Putting Ossie in simply for the training story that Steve Howey tells about him and needed to try and balance out my list.

 

 

The Bad (worst at #1)

 

1) sb - slum landlord with creepy ties to the media and a bag full of excuses should never ever have been anywhere near our club. Hate everything about him, from his made up lies, rewriting of history, wanker no-mark of a son, lack of tactical ability. Funny how such a "great manager" is never linked seriously to his beloved man u by his press chums when their manager slot becomes vacant.

2) ap - smarmy, deceitful, mike ashley puppet who only did well in his first season because of inheriting a CH team. Absolutely the catalyst for dragging down our hopes and dreams of being anything other than a team of also rans. It's only because sb got hired by the fat cockney wanker that he isn't top of my hated list. How many managers inspire a website dedicated to their sacking?

3) gs - what the fuck was Sheppard thinking? Mediocre at his very best at any club he managed, questionable character who dined out on his Liverpool playing days. Signing Boumsong seemed iffy. Never liked him, inappropriate to hire him. Also, the ALi Dia story at Soton should be talked about way more than it is.

4) sa - never liked him, even when I heard his name before even his Bolton days. Another shit Sheppard hire.

5) s mc - I  really hoped we would dodge this bullet but it seemed Lee Ryder was insistent that he was def going to be our next manager. Apparently graham carr really wanted him. Never liked the ferguson arselicker who fleeced us money-wise by making us pay compensation to derby and then wouldn't fuck off before Rafa came in, dragging his heels so he'd get paid off. Another who should never been anywhere near this club, only good thing he did was getting rid of the accomplices of the next fuckwit next on my list...

6) jc-  Fucking pardew lickspittle and fake letter writing "best coach in the league". Wasn't qualified to put cones out, never mind manage a premier league club. 

7) RG - Should have been a great appointment. It wasn't. Treatment of Rob Lee and selling Steve Watson to Everton were particularly unpalatable, never mind the derby loss. Funnily enough I predicted he would blame Shearer and Ferguson coming on for us losing and couldn't believe it when he actually did. Had no feeling for the club. A shame.

8) KD - I get it, guy who pretty much replaced KK at Liverpool as a player and did ok as Liverpool manager should be a great appointment. High profile for sure. Bafflingly seemed to want to replace every player in our squad with left backs. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8 by Stal

[llcoolc157]

1. Keegan all day every day. It wasn’t just the football club, he simply loved the whole city the fans the people, just everything about Newcastle... And I’ll always be grateful to this wonderful man…

2. Sir Booby… probably similar to the above and a true gentleman… 

3. Eddie… delivered last season and made sure after 50 years of supporting this team I can finally rest easy knowing I’ve seen us win something…

4. Arthur Cox… those 2 seasons travelling all over between 82-84 were extra special. As was the forward line of Keegan, Beardsley and Waddle…

5. Rafa… great job under difficult circumstances and a twat of an owner…

[Kanj]

Howe. 

[Skeletor]

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

 

 

[Earp]

Keegan presently with Howe second. This may change depending on what happens over the next season or two. John Carver gave SB a decent run for his money for being an absolute weapon. 

[frankpingel]

1,KK

2,EH

3,JH

4,SBR

 

[Stal]

12 minutes 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

 

 

 

 

That's pretty close to perfect 

[Elma]

I'm just pleased that Roeder is viewed generally positively by others. He was captain when my brother was in the youths/reserves and he was always brilliant when 10-11 year old me visited Benwell.

 

Such a great bloke. Very good player and did a very decent job as manager. One of the few non-family/friends I've shed a tear for when they died.

 

Other than that I really can't seperate Howe and Keegan. I'm hoping Eddie will make that easier in the coming years.

 

Sir Bobby just behind.

 

 

Edited January 9 by Elma

[ponsaelius]

I think Eddie winning a cup puts him #1 personally.

[ponsaelius]

10 hours ago, Lucky said:

#1 King Kev, there’d be none of this without him.

 

#2 SBR - classy.. impossible not to respect him. Sorted out a mess and gave us some fantastic years.

 

#3 Eddie - has probably had things at his disposal the first 2 could only have dreamt of but he saved us from almost certain relegation and given us air to breathe so we could go on to do the things we’ve done since. Right up there in the conversation.

 

#4 Rafa - he just got it. Knew what we needed and repeatedly kept polishing turds. Sad the way it ended. Someone I’d have loved to have seen backed properly.

 

Honourable mentions Roeder & Hughton.

 

Maybe compared to SBR, but Eddie started from a lower bar.

 

You have to take any level of investment etc in context of the time and the opposition. We were one of the big spenders in the 90s and broke world transfer records, at a time when the PL was much poorer than it is now.

 

By comparison Eddie has only had the same if not less spending power than all the other big clubs, and our wage bill remains probably only about the 7th/8th biggest in the league.

 

 

Edited January 8 by ponsaelius

[Astroblack]

Howe. Everything he’s done for the club, I sometimes tear up thinking about it. Even when he’s on a bad run, I know he’ll turn it around. Slap a 10 year contract on the table, I don’t want to ever want to see him go. 
 

When he was at Bournemouth he was my ultimate fantasy manager(cue JoeyT with an Office reference) and I always thought he’d end up at Spurs and do to them what he’s done with us. Fortunately, we got the takeover and he came here. 

[Paullow]

Howe

Keegan

Robson

Benitez

Hughton

Roeder

Dalglish

Pardew

Gullit

McClaren

Allardyce

Souness

Bruce

[kingxlnc]

35 minutes 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

 

 

Disagree that Kenny Dalglish was non-offensive

Broke up KK team. Scored 36 goals all season. Signed old timers like Rush and Barnes. Signed Des Hamilton and Andreas Andersson. Got rid of Ferdinand and Ginola. 
Majorly overrated. 

[trx345]

How bad was the break off between Robson to Souness?

 

Anyone remember that Stephen Carr goal away at Southampton?

[Colos Short and Curlies]

I can't look beyond KK as number 1.

 

SBR repaired a lot of damaged and restored our reputation, allowing for us to once again spar with the best. If only he had come in post Keegan or had opened up the pathway to have Jose replace him.

 

Howe has worked wonders in rebuilding from Ashley's mess and of course has established us as a force again with a trophey, however if we had gone down that season we had the backing to quickly recover. Which leads on to..

 

Keegan saved the club and that's not hyperbole, we go down and it's likely that it's game over. He then built the club to be on par with the best on the country, and one of the best in Europe. Without him the rest of the discussion is irrelevant. Then add in the vocal calling out of Ashley and his continued love for the club. The intangibles put him (imo) clear of a trophy but if Howe gets longevity he will end up running him close

 

 

[Cronky]

My top five - 

 

1. Eddie - no question for me. He's the complete package and he has massively and consistently over-achieved on the resources available.

2. Sir Bob - another over-achiever who took us from the bottom to the Champions League. 

3. King Kev - he had his flaws, but he completely changed the club's identity and expectations. We will never go back to a pre-Keegan situation.

4. Jim Smith - a very unlucky manager who never got his chance with a big club. He was a bold innovator. 

5. Joe Harvey - I was a bit young to assess him properly and he managed in a very different era. Still, he won a trophy and stayed with us for a long while, so he's in.

[TBG]

Andy Cunningham

[Jinky]

Much as I love KK, Sir Bobby and Howe, my vote has to go to Joe Harvey.

 

He did wonders with a self-funded squad (no big-money backers, or massive debts).........took us from from 2nd division obscurity to European glory, and giving us some of the most entertaining players in our history.

[Dyeyzzon]

Howe is the GOAT for me simply for that trophy. Even if we win more trophies I'll just never forget what that first taste was like. I've just never broken into tears randomly for the rest of the week at work man. 

 

I'll do an oddball choice for my personal favorite and say it's Hughton. I'll never forget how imperfect yet lovable that team of his was, and the insane results they had. The 6-0 vs Villa after they relegated us, that 5-1 in the derby...but then he'd put in a totally different gameplan and win 1-0 away to Arsenal the next game. I think that was Newcastle at its most "plucky underdog" state, perhaps embodying the manager himself as someone we didn't initially plan to have for the Championship run but went with anyway. Him getting sacked almost feels like he achieved martyr status of that regime.

 

KK and SBR - I'll just say I got into football too late to see them in their pomp. But I appreciate their role as culture bearers in shaping what this club stands for.

[GM]

11 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

#15 Graeme Souness (do I need justification?)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8 by GM

[GM]

2 hours ago, kingxlnc said:

I noticed no-one included Kinnear 

[Gawalls]

11 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Forgive me folks, I’ve never started a thread before.

 

With the news re KK, I’m curious to see where everyone would sit re best managers you’ve seen the club have.  I was alive for Arthur Cox and Jack Charlton but have no memory of them. 

 

I think the only rules I’d set are:

 

1) you need to have seen them in action

2) they’re permanent managers

 

Here are mine - admins feel free to shut me down if this isn’t a worthwhile topic3

 

#1 - KK (emotive and where we were when he picked us up and where he left us)

#2 - Howe (many things point to him as #1, I just can’t quite bring him there.  In short form, Howe should have a statue, KK should have a stand)

#3 - Robson (did a tremendous job, should’ve ultimately been removed a few months earlier than he was)

#4 - Benitez (obviously a genuine elite manager, shafted by the fat cunt)

#5 - Hughton (just love the man, given the bullshit he had to deal with - was also spot-on politically )

#6 - Jim Smith (built a side that was capable of promotion, fell at the last hurdle, all went wrong after that)

#7 Willie McFaul (isn’t going to worry ‘greatest managers lists’, but loved the club and was dealt a shit hand)

#8 Glenn Roeder (hardly a managerial great; but loved the club and did a canny enough job when he was there)

#9 Alan Pardew (I know some would put him lower, but given the circumstances hardly did the worst of jobs.  Seems like to talk about us in an alright fashion, unlike some of the cunts who’ll follow)

#10 Ossie Ardiles (‘Ossie’s babes’ were fun to watch even if they were shit, and a hard man to hate)

#11 Kenny Dalglish (football was awful; played his own son; defended the indefensable with Shepherd/Hall.  Still; there were good signings and a cup final)

#12 Ruud Gullit (obvious cunt; did sign a couple of useful players; did reach a cup final)

#13 Steve McClaren (I always hated the oleaginous cunt, but even with that he inherited a shit team rather than destroying a good one)

#14 Steve Bruce (plastic Geordie, my father (who used to work with his at Parsons) told me he his own dad couldn’t be arsed with him when he was at Man Utd; enough said)

#15 Graeme Souness (do I need justification?)

 

 

 

As above... Can't argue with any of this 

[Craig_ruk]

Im of a similar era to the OP, and i love the fact that he hasnt even included Allardyce.

 

Very close in the top 2, but got to have KK there just...

1. KK

2. Eddie

3. Bobby

4. Rafa

5. Hughton

6 Arthur Cox

7 Roeder

8 McFaul

9 Pardew

10 Jackie Charlton

11 Dalglish

12 Gullit

13 McClaren

 

And I cant split Allardyce / Souness / Bruce for the worst

 

 

[Superior Acuña]

Keegan - my first manager. I was v young, but we were the hottest thing in the country in my earliest football memories. Transformational.

Eddie - our first cup, that first survival season was amazing, followed by consistent euro challengers in a v competitive league

Bobby - gave me some of my best football memories as was at an age to appreciate more and went to loads of games. 01/02 was really a special season

Rafa - a light in darkness, promotion, saved us from the mess we were

Hughton - got us promoted easily at a time when i thought we'd keep sinking. that champ season was one of my favourites. would have kept us up too if not sacked.

Roeder - mediocre full season but that 05/06 with him was great fun as we surged for Europe from being proper shit.

Dalglish - clearly a talented manager but had a shocker. Do wonder if he couldve turned it around sometimes. Still gave us an FA Cup final and one of the club's most memorable nights v Barcelona. Didn't stick around long enough to create too much resentment.

Gullit - similar to Dalglish. Shit season but an FA Cup final. Credit for resigning.

Allardyce - poor, but didn't really get a proper shot.

Pardew - slimy character who solidified the club as just 'existing' under Ashley. In some ways him and Bruce are bottom for that. But above others for 5th season, clearly some talent around riding that momentum.

Souness - ruined the Bobby team, set us back at a crucial time as the PL was changing.

Kinnear- what the fuck was going on around then man

Bruce - we entered a new phase of mediocrity and pointlessness with him at the helm. Has his niche in management but it wasn't us. Wanted us to be shit and grateful for it.

McClaren - i have no animosity for him but that's partly cos his tenure was just so sadly pathetic. He's the only one of these I never saw in the flesh as our manager - came and went while I was living away and didn't visit during that period - mercifully. 

 

 

Edited January 8 by Superior Acuña