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He signed some awful players didn't he.

What on earth are we going to do with Casal for the next 2 seasons?

A lot of the rest will deal with itself.

Not quite in Ken Beamish's league but still one of the worst 5 in my time watchnig Town. Actually quite an achievement considering some of the twats we've employed as managers. Les Allen, Dave Mackay, Colin Todd and Andy King make up my other 4.

Casal was a truly remarkable signing...for all teh wrong reasons.

Right up there with Juan Cobian, Marco Tuomela, Kim Heisselberg, Adrian Bakali or (going back a bit) Richard Greene. Who remembers him? Reg? He certainly won't be remembered for his achievements in a Town shirt :eek:

Andy King took us to the play-offs though, so is, arguably, the best Swindon manager of the past 10 years?

Like who? MM signed very few players of his own, the likes of Cox and McManatee, having already been lined up.

I'll give him that but he was a PR disaster ( I hear Tom Jones son speaks highly of him ) and tactically clueless. That night at 'Nam still remains one of my most depressing days watching Town.

Best of the worst maybe.

Well I was thinking along the lines of Nalis, Casal, Kanyuka, Marshall, Awankwaah.

Are there any successes there then?

I would accept the last as arguably being a reasonable signing.

King was a fucking genius. It's a shame he divided the fans, but it's hardly his fault that some of our fans were too stupid to see his greatness. Will we always have to pander to the lowest level of our support?

Well Marshall is one of those non league punts that may yet come off...Nalis although not what we'd hoped for has been a decent pro and not been a complete waste. Pat K I suspect came through the same route as Cox and Macca.

Casal has been a waste, but we know MM needed a left back, thought he'd got Mulgrew who is very good, and then panicked.  Who knows maybe a pre season and Casal might be of use next season.

 Even our very best managers have bought some right stiffs....MM really didn't have long enough, or the chance to sign enough to judge either way really.

 Danny Williams bought Ken Keyworth...nickname Rigor Mortis, along with such as Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Barry Lowes (Troggs song chant)

 Macari...Tony Evans....Joke Findlay  Ardiles...Shaun Close

we stay up and all of a sudden reg wants to find the positive in everything!!!

Yeah strange isn't it...40+ years of following the Town, and I'm happy that we're not going down. Might even go and sink a few tonight by way of a small celebration.

Here's my perspective on malpas...

He put back our progress in the 3 year plan and his appointment was Fittons biggest mistake which he has now learnt from.

Again I totally agree 100%.

As for worst managers.....well Iffy and King have to be there tactically with Malpas, mix in Todd and Beamish and you have my 5 worst managers in my time watching the Town..truly dire.

At least King could spot a good player...but he couldnt manage them and tactically was out of his depth totally, along with being one of the nastiest most arrogant wankers I have ever had the misfortune to converse with, otherwise he was alright!

Malpas is history, as is this season from next week.

Let us look forward in bemoaning Danny Wilson ;)

Malpas was toss ! I may be biting here but bollocks to it......King gets credit for taking us into the play offs ? The side he had then should have got automatic promotion, with a half decent manager we would have. King was, is and will always be a football moron ! (sorry shouldn't have put football in that statement)

Nope you're wrong. King was a decent manager that's why he got that team into the play offs.

Fuck right off,King worked wonders in impossible circumstances and if "The side he had then should have got automatic promotion" thats just kudos to him isnt it.

It amazes me that some of the king out brigade still can't admit they were wrong all these years later. They should be ashamed.

King = Great Scout who knows a good player but is tactically inept and unable to manage the players!

King was shit...no thaught for the fans...and i can tell you the players he braught in were on alot more wages than other managers since have been able to offer....oh and not forgeting the new Henry he braught in...if he was that good why isnt he managing now.

King was a reasonable manager and a brilliant scout. With a good number two he was very good in this league (Crosby, Harford) but without he did occasionally look lost. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Mike Walsh)

I'd rather have Wilson, but King should not go down as a terrible manager. Pretty nasty bloke by most accounts maybe, but he did a decent job.

When we first sign Marshall it looked like a major mistake, he was totally out of his depth in the first game I saw him play. But he has improved a lot since then, he still has a bit to go but I reckon he could make it.

Can't see the problem with taking a gamble on players like Marshall, I imagine they aren't paying him much.

I agree that what he did that season was brilliant.

I've only seen Marshall play recently (only gone to games at this end of the season), and my first impression was still that he's out of his depth. God knows how he must have been before.

 8) Still argueing pro kingy all these years later..

Wheres Ben Wah Wah he'd love this thread.

Why should I be ashamed of not pandering to a manager that blamed everything (players, pitch, referee, fans, weather to mention a few) and never admitted like you that he got it wrong ..............consistently. I guess you weren't on the coach to Notts County when we heard he was getting his second stint at the Town and the news was met with a collective groan. Perhaps we should get rid of Wilson and give him another go ?

We can only dream.

Actually I think I might have been on the coach to notts county. Although wasn't his first game in his first stint away at notts county too? Might have been that one I went to.

Kingy kept us up in difficult circumstances. He shouldn't have been sacked in the first place.

It was very noticeable that his teams got worse when Crosby left.
I think Andy King was good at spotting talent, but a poor coach.

That said, he was better than Malpas

malpas was fucking shit.king had one good year.poor coach but a good scout

Malpas appeared to have limited contacts in England / D1 having never played or managed here before  - was not a good motivator & a fool to take a job without his own background team.
Just a shame Fitton left Byrne in charge for so long before appointing Wilson to leave us battling against relegation Jan - April.

I still can't understand most of the ill feeling towards King, on the whole he did a good job here... I also dont get how in discussing our worst managers, Jimmy Quinn has managed to escape thus far. He was a fucking disaster.

Jimmy Quinn gets let off some as his hands were tied. We sold players beneath him and he had no chance. We all new and accepted it was mission impossible. Iffy gets the same let off too.

I was sick to death of defending King at the time he was manager. I didn't get how he went from acceptable appointment after the appointment of the  worst manager in my time of watching Town (Todd) to public enemy #1 after being reappointed after some "name" came in (Evans).

Kingy did a good job finding the players, but I have to admit he was a PR disaster every time he opened his gob (less so than Malpas) and also fans were less than enthusiastic over his lob someone big up front (Heywood, Van Der Linden). But options in our strikeforce at the time was garbage, so you could sort of see wherehe was coming from.

His last act was to gamble our budget on Thorpe/Cureton in the hope getting the same sort of partnership as Parkin/Mooney. Obviously it was a disaster as Thorpe was past his sell by date and it didn't really click for Cureo. But I am convinced we would have been closer to survival with King than Iffy.

King did have a habit of turning seasons around at christmas.

When we appointed Iffy, who was himself second choice to Allan Reeves, who had a broken leg, it was pretty clear we were fucked as a club (again). And not what the King Out fans (me included by the end) wanted or were expecting.

King has to be one of the clubs most controversial ever characters, up there with Diamond Mike and Joey Beauchump!

To be honest, our crowds seem a lot more chilled out since Fitton took over. King seemed to ramp up conflicts with the fans and let them spiral out of control!

But he did sign Sam Parkin and Tommy Mooney. A strike force that was a joy to watch.

Along with McMahon, King is the most obnoxiuos cunt we've had as a manager. A truly unlikeable person. If you're winning every week then people will put up with it but when you are tactically bankrupt it doesn't make for a good end result. Compared to Beamish, however, the guy was a genius but still bottom 5 for me.

I want King back. :D

I'd say King's intention was for one of Thorpe/Cureton to play with Fallon....another King signing who turned a profit.

King needed to be with a decent coach like Crosby...who you can probably see at The Emirates today...unfortunately like all, STFC managers they eventually get undermined by goings on behind the scenes.

Crosby going because he was offered an insulting deal. With the money on offer for an assistant, King could only get someone like Walsh, who was on the dole, and glad of anything.

Walsh was good at gathering in the cones thought.

This, I'm fairly sure will be etched on his gravestone. Whether officially or unofficially it remains to be seen.

What where the cones thinking though?

Malpas always gave me the impression he was just grateful for a job. As we know we are likely to be signing a number of new players i would rather wilson doing this than malpas.

King = The only manager to have been given a managers job after threatening the club with court action

When Malcolm Crosby left after being offered a poor in his words contract, then King went down hill.  King is probably the best there is as a scout, but as a manager he needed a really good assistant and a gag.

If there had been no manager instead of Malpas, the Town would have been better off.  He destroyed the confidence of the team and then blamed the players for his own incompetence.  He did exactly the same thing at Motherwell, whose fans warned us "The Undertaker" had arrived.  Malpas was an obvious mistake after only ten games in charge. 

Yes Mr. Malpas and Mr. King, you are still responsible after the players have crossed the white line.  If your team does not win enough games, the fans and the board are not happy, and you are replaced. 

 

Danny wilson manager, Andy king assistant? might not go down well with the fans, and never going to happen, but scouting and actually managing the team properly, not a bad combo.

Budgie won't be replaced, he would have been by now if it was going to happen.  Wilson does the talking, Budgie shuts up, seems to work.  Even doughnuts in anoraks aren't complaining.   

there is no doubt in my mind that budgie will stay with us as assistant manager. im pretty sure him and dw will do a good job together too. at least Danny asserts some authority unlike maplas.

I didnt mind King.

Malpas was a disaster and the first manager that made me fume after McMoan.

Iffy, Quinn etc etc had to work under difficult conditions.

That night at Brighton in the JPT will haunt me forever......Malpas last match thank fuck.

I wish him well at ICT though - nothing personal.

This thread seems to show two things - we all agree on Malpas, and King still completely splits the fan base.  I actually liked King - I would never argue that he didn't have his faults, far from it.  However, it could have all been different had the last 30 seconds at Brighton not happened. 

That playoff team was one of the more entertaining to watch of the last ten years as well. 

As for his PR skills - well, he had none.  While this could be controversial, it did always lead to an honest and entertaining interview.

The main thing that has changed with DW, and the first time it has happened in a decade, is that we are winning hard to, or must win games, i fully expect that to continue next year, and it to include wins against top of the table sides, and hard cup games, for too long under a succesion of managers, we've bottled those for some reason. Ones that spring to mind are, Southend JPT, histon, Oxford, Notts county etc etc.

The man speaks sense, couldn't agree more.

*Speaketh.