By Albatross
November 6 2002

Peter Reid has turned down Sheffield Wednesday and CT looks like the favourite to take over. Albatross has a look at how he shapes up compared to some of the other Pools Bosses.
All the speculation about Chris Turner moving to Sheffield Wednesday has made me think a bit about the people I remember managing Pools over the last 12 years or so, and so I thought I'd do a review of them and say where I think CT stands in the long list of Pools Managers.

Bobby Moncur had just left and Cyril Knowles had taken over when I started watching Pools. Under Moncur we had looked certs for relegation, and CK had an unenviable job. It says a lot for him that with the addition of two players from Scarbrough - Ian Bennyworth and Steve Tupling - we produced the sort of form that would have seen us as promotion contenders and pulled clear of the bottom of the table. It wasn't always pretty to watch, but it was certainly effective. The following season saw Pools well up for most of the season, and it was then of course that tragedy struck; Sir Cyril fell seriously ill, and so it was time for the next manager.

Alan Murray was almost the last person you would have expected to take over. At the time he was the club's Commercial Manager, and everyone wondered what on earth GG was playing at. He however did provide the final bit of polish - most notably by the inspired loan signing of Kevin Poole - and took us up. It was still however very much a triumph for CK, and I still have vivid memories of thousands of Poolies on the pitch after the win over Northampton had sealed it, and the most appropriate song playing over the tannoy: "Nice One Cyril". While we had hoped against hope that Cyril would be back, it wasn't to be, and it was an emotional moment for all Poolies when we heard of his death the following season on the day of a game at Bradford. In some ways Cyril had proved to be the ideal lower division manager; a couple of low cost signings, and making the best of the players already there, took us from relegation certs to promotion candidates. Anyone who remembers the game against Maidstone - where a poor performance saw us 1-0 down at half time - will know he could put the fear of God into the players, as Pools scored 4 in 20 minutes after the break.

Murray presided over a very good season and a half after promotion, and proved to be quite astute in terms of signings. A mid-table finish after promotion was more than respectable, and before the money ran out and it all went wrong he had lead us to joint top at one point the following season. He was very unlucky to be sacked as the Gibson Era entered it's very nadir.

Next up was Viv Busby. It was hard to tell if he was much good or not, as he was forced to play youngsters and almost anyone else he could get to sign. When your full backs were Denny Ingram on the left and Dave Burgess on the right, you knew the barrel was being well and truly scraped. All of the good players were leaving, at one point there was a transfer embargo, and he lasted just nine months. Not many chances, but you felt that someone like CK would have done a lot more.

Now we were really into the realm of the cash-strapped, as John MacPhail became the next boss. He couldn't stop us from going down - mind you that would have taken a miracle - and a poor start the following season saw him leave after less than a year. Another who struggled with the financial constraints we were under, and one of a succession who failed to do much under them.

Then came the return of Dave McCreery. He also lasted less than a year, as Pools once more scraped the bottom of the barrel; at one point our Left Back was none other than Alan Walsh, the former Loid Striker who once scored four past us - not exactly a popular player! Another season of poor results say him leave and now it was time for Keith Houchen.

Houchen lasted a about 18 months, and provided almost a textbook example of why someone shouldn't try to play and manage. His discipline on the field was hardly a shining example - I'm sure he got sent off at least twice while boss, and the number of bookings he got for dissent was innumerable. More struggle, and then it was time for Mick Tait to become - surprise! Player-Manager.

Tait initially started quite well, but he had a number of big weaknesses. One was in terms of attracting players; I remember saying to someone that he didn't seem to have the contacts, and the reply was "He does have contacts - problem is they're all in the Northern League!" And sure enough that's where a lot of our signings came from. His teams always seemed to lack bite, which considering the way he'd played seemed to be unforgivable. And above all, he seemed to be too nice, not wanting to drop players even though they were so far out of form that it seemed impossible to play them. He did last about two years, and then we got CT.

Three and a bit seasons have seen Turner build a squad that is without doubt one of the strongest in Pools history - and one of the best in the division. The club overall seems a lot more professional. So where does this put CT in terms of the managers I've seen?

For me, the top one in my relatively short time watching Pools has to be Cyril Knowles. He turned Pools round in what seemed like no time, set us on the right path, and when tragedy took him from us, the loss was real. He handed Pools on as a much better outfit than when he had arrived, and that counts for an awful lot.

Next comes CT, closely followed by Alan Murray. Both had resources at their disposal and produced successful teams, but CT edges ahead because he has sustained the success for a longer period of time - though Murray might have done that too if Gibson hadn't pulled the plug on him.

Looking back over Pools history though, there are three other names that stand out: Fred Westgarth, who took Pools close to the old Div2 and made them renowned cup fighters; Brian Clough, who performed a similar turnaround to Sir Cyril; and Gus McLean, who finished off Clough's work and took us up for the first time. In that company, I'd say that there are two groups: Westgarth, Clough and Knowles are established Poolie Legends; then there's McLean, Murray and Turner. CT may eventually join the Legends group - but only if he stays and we win promotion. There'll be plenty of anxious Poolies hoping that he does exactly that.