Torquay United Fans Forum

Burnhamgull wrote:Surely John Cornforth deserves a mention?

From dog walking to football league management...........and back to dog walking.

Saunders, May, Knill and Hargreaves all get a nod of acknowledgement for their efforts.....

Cornforth was undoubtedly rubbish, but of the 12 games he had in charge he won 4 and drew 3. May beats him all ends up.

Surely John Cornforth deserves a mention?

From dog walking to football league management...........and back to dog walking.

Saunders, May, Knill and Hargreaves all get a nod of acknowledgement for their efforts.....

Totally agree with tomogull

I really want to hear how Chris Hargreaves accounts for the dazzling form in September after an awful start and why the team was never able to recapture anything close to that form - if he is unable to analyse how he turned it round after Gateshead etc and then how and why the form dipped again then how can he conceivably have a future here - yeah yeah we know they're young, inexperienced, inconsistent etc but what was it? I think given the disastrous disciplinary problem that helped signal the end of the form that the dressing room was lost from quite early on.

In terms of finance, it has to be Wes Saunders. He spent £155,000 - more than any other Torquay United and the best he managed was the 9th placed finish.

Plus, we looked destined for relegation under him until Colin Lee arrived in 2001.

brucie wrote: Then there was Arthur Daly's brother, the old fire starter himself Dave Webb.

Careful Brucie ....... you forgot to add ALLEGEDLY

By far the worst manager ever at Plainmoor is wide-boy David Webb. An absolute disaster for the club. I'm sure the likes of Stefano and Trojan will back me up. The three already mentioned - Paul Compton, Eddie May and Lubos Kubik closely follow, and I would add Alan Knill. For me, Chris Hargreaves isn't quite in that category yet. He has four games left to lift us into the top half of the table. We all agree that this season has been dreadful and if he can't get us into the top half, then he has failed. No excuses.

What puzzles me is that these same players who are not performing now are the same players who were playing such attractive football last September when our hopes were high. They must take some responsibility of course but the main responsibility lies fair and square with the management team.

It's got to be Compton. His most (in)famous quote (when asked about the forthcoming opposition):
'No, we haven't had them watched; its eleven men against eleven, isn't it?'
And another: 'I'm off for some chips' (when the team was losing at half-time).

In the 25 years I've been a regular I am struggling to think of worse. Although eventually I have decided that Eddie May was probably equally useless.

Eddie May From: 17 November 1995 to: May 1996 P32 W3 D11 L18 Win % 9.38

No doubt he would use the excuse of Hargreaves that most of the team weren't his players. He did sign Paul Baker and Alex Watson. He did also sign the useless Paul Ramsey though.

But yes, I think it would be a good slug match between the two of them.

Luboš Kubík

During my brief 5 or 6 seasons it has to be Hargreaves.

Knill was truly embarrassing but did at least have a basic comprehension of how management worked and exercised a modicum of common sense. CH has neither. I honestly believe that the biggest mistake the board made wasn't appointing Knill, it was appointing CH to try and get the club to safety. It was quickly apparent that CH was exceptionally inept even for someone relatively inexperienced and any fan on the terraces could have done a better job. This is not a flippant comment. I truly believe this.

CH was allowed to carry on this season and WOW! Car crash.

How is this bloke still being paid to manage footballers? Not his fault. The fault of the people who gave him the gig and who then couldn't / can't find the cash to rectify the mistake and give him his P45.

Well it got me thinking who has been the worst manager that Torquay have (or at least during the time that I have been going ie 50 years or more)

I have seen some pretty poor managers in that time. I would nominate Eddie May as up there as probably the most incompetent. Bloody clueless did we ever win a game when he was in charge. Then there was Arthur Daly's brother, the old fire starter himself Dave Webb.

Or Ludicrous Kubik, he never really had a chance. Then there was Paul Compton and Wesley Saunders - feckin useless the pair of them.

Mcfarland got some good players in but couldn't get them to play. Rosenior was the opposite - got his team to play but had no contacts whatsoever, ended up signing a box of frogs.

Frankensteins monster Shaun Taylor - piss useless.

Then there was **** - a legend in his own mind. He is not in the running though as he did buy his way out of the Conference. Mind you the arrogant little twerp has fecked up everywhere he has been since.

Alan Knill - prick.

Then there is Hargreaves. Mandate to keep us up or to get us back at the first attempt. Well bought in a whole load of dross signings last season and made a complete hash of keeping us up.

This year he has gone from bad to worse - he has nigh on got the team relegated again. Regularly beaten by a whole host of crap part time park players Hargreaves wins the prize for me hands down. The worst manager EVER? - Step forward Chris Hargreaves.