History of Club Managers

With the imminent announcement of Morison as team manager I was thinking back through previous City managers to try and remember who the last manager was to be poached by another club, or leave for another job (in other words not be sacked) and I was struggling to recall one. Someone can probably enlighten me and Frank O’Farrell doesn’t count ;-)

It then made me think that not all clubs are like this and so I considered our nearest neighbours: I can think of Brenda, Potter, Sousa and Martinez who all left the JBs for jobs with other more aspirational clubs. (admittedly they had Brad Bobley and a few other as well!)

Is this a reflection on poor planning and recruitment at our club over multiple owners and decades (in other words a very long time), or simply clearer thinking and a bit of luck at the JBs?

It doesn’t overly bother me but the contrast seems stark and can’t be lost on the people who run the club: why do we seemingly only
ever sack managers and never employ anyone that other clubs actually want to employ as a result of their success here?

Maybe Morison will break that mould.

Didn't Bobby Gould go to Wales from us, or was he there before us

Think Len Ashurst went to Sunderland
Phil Neil went to Man City

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Originally Posted by insider

Think Len Ashurst went to Sunderland
Phil Neil went to Man City

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Ah yes - Ashurst to Sunderland. Good one.

(Man City must have been desperate if they poached Phil Neal from us!)

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Originally Posted by Armitage Shanks

Didn't Bobby Gould go to Wales from us, or was he there before us

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I just looked: Gould went from Wales to us to Cheltenham Town to Weymouth Wanderers - so a downward spiral even by our standards.....

Frank Burrows went to Portsmouth I believe.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Frank Burrows went to Portsmouth I believe.

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I think he took Jimmy Gilligan with him

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Frank Burrows went to Portsmouth I believe.

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Wasn't that initially as assistant manager to John Gregory?

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Originally Posted by Bobby Dandruff

Ah yes - Ashurst to Sunderland. Good one.

(Man City must have been desperate if they poached Phil Neal from us!)

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Neal went to Man City to be their assistant manager. Bit strange to ditch a managerial role to be someone's deputy but probably says more about us at the time.

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Originally Posted by insider

Think Len Ashurst went to Sunderland
Phil Neil went to Man City

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Lennie Lawrence had a decent run within the management team of clubs at the highest level.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Wasn't that initially as assistant manager to John Gregory?

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Yes, I think that’s right, but then he got the job a few months later.

OK, from the replies so far it sounds like:

Ashurst to Sunderland (thanks for the reminder - I recall it being quite painful at the time) is the only one, with all the rest leaving to become assistants to another manager. (Burrows going to Pompey and taking Gilligan with him, was also a blow)

I think that Lennie Lawrence was also sacked by the club.

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Originally Posted by Bobby Dandruff

OK, from the replies so far it sounds like:

Ashurst to Sunderland (thanks for the reminder - I recall it being quite painful at the time) is the only one, with all the rest leaving to become assistants to another manager. (Burrows going to Pompey and taking Gilligan with him, was also a blow)

I think that Lennie Lawrence was also sacked by the club.

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Yes, Lennie Lawrence was sacked at the end of 04/05 and Dave Jones was appointed a few days later.