Why We Should Absolutely Adore Buckle...

[cambgull]

... And want to have his proverbial football babies.

Just been looking at the Wikipedia page for us and looking through the managers list, there is one glaring fact that really does stand out.

In our entire history, there have only ever been 8 managers who had a record with more wins than losses;

Name Nat From To P W D L
John McNeil Scotland June 1947 March 1950 125 50 33 42
Eric Webber England October 1951 May 1965 676 272 163 241
Frank O'Farrell Ireland May 1965 December 1968 162 76 34 52
Allan Brown Scotland January 1969 October 1971 125 43 42 40
Dave Smith Scotland October 1989 April 1991 90 34 31 25
Neil Warnock England March 1993 May 1993 3 2 1 0
Don O'Riordan Ireland August 1993 October 1995 98 36 31 31
Paul Buckle England 2 June 2007 Present 200 95 46 59*

*200th game was at least 4 or 5 games ago, obviously needs updating a bit.

I think it's fair to say that Buckle is by far our most successful manager by record, although Warnock technically beats him, 3 games doesn't really count does it?! Nearly half of all games played won is a fantastic record.

I thought I'd also throw Leroy's record into the hat too...

Leroy Rosenior Sierra Leone 9 May 2002 25 January 2006 184 59 59 66

I hope this shuts up any Buckle haters out there!

[bixieupnorth]

not me, buckle out!

[robc]

I'll let others do the hard work in finding out the specifics, but you have to take into account the level each respective manager managed us at. Buckle of course will, by the end of this season, have had 2 years in the 5th tear and 2 in the 4th, so that changes things slightly. Whilst Leroy had (off the top of my head, so might be wrong) the first 2 seasons in the 4th tear, one in the 3rd, and then 1 back in the 4th.

Anyway, I have been critical of Buckle in the past, and I still think he goes on runs, i.e, great runs and terrible runs, and that's why he polarises opinions so much. I cannot deny however, that his resilience astounds me, no matter how bad it seems to get at points, he always seem to bounce back and defy expectations time and again. I am now certain that he will be a top (at least Championship) manager in the future.

[royalgull]

Quite right to point out his record, but it's the big decisions he gets right time after time that is the most impressive thing for me.

That's before you factor where we are now as a football club to the one he inherited. A total shambles that looked destined for a LONG time out of the football league.

He was pillared for allowing Woods to go, he favoured Robertson we won promotion and what's happened to those 2 players.

he was pillared for allowing Todd, Sills and especially Hargreaves to go, He favoured Ellis, Benyon and at the time Mansell in midfield. Again where are those players.

He was pillared for signing Branston. 'an over the hill useless thug'. He's now one of our most important players.

He has moulded a team of young lads, cast offs and a couple of experienced lads into a good football team on a shoestring budget.

he and the consrtium have given us a football team that is worth supporting and one that is competitive in the football league and should be for years to come even after he's moved on to absolutely no doubt better things.

When he walked in the door, we had 3 first team players, no youth setup and were about to embark on a non league journey. We'd been in the press as a laughing stock for sacking a manager after 10minutes and having 3 different owners in a day.

No one is laughing anymore.

[cambgull]

I'll let others do the hard work in finding out the specifics, but you have to take into account the level each respective manager managed us at. Buckle of course will, by the end of this season, have had 2 years in the 5th tear and 2 in the 4th, so that changes things slightly. Whilst Leroy had (off the top of my head, so might be wrong) the first 2 seasons in the 4th tear, one in the 3rd, and then 1 back in the 4th.

Anyway, I have been critical of Buckle in the past, and I still think he goes on runs, i.e, great runs and terrible runs, and that's why he polarises opinions so much. I cannot deny however, that his resilience astounds me, no matter how bad it seems to get at points, he always seem to bounce back and defy expectations time and again. I am now certain that he will be a top (at least Championship) manager in the future.

The level you are playing at is fairly irrelevant really, the task is to build a squad capable of competing at that level. Buckle started off with nothing and had to build a team capable of consolidating a place in the conference, with most of us thinking that we'd be there for a while. He built a team from nothing who not only competed but were unfortunate against Exeter in the play offs the first year, but then proceeded to get promoted the next year. He has now moved into a new league, consolidated us in the league (can I add that we were 17th last season which should surely mean only a few more games won than the season in L1) and then built upon it again. Leroy built a team capable of great football and beating any team on it's day but not capable of taking the step up. Infact, only David Graham and Alex Russell were really good enough to compete in L1.

I suppose what I'm trying to say, but failing miserably is that I'd have much more confidence on PB building a team capable of competing in L1 than Leroy, and, perhaps most importantly of all, attracting decent players to come to us.

[Fletch]

The level you are playing at is fairly irrelevant really, the task is to build a squad capable of competing at that level. Buckle started off with nothing and had to build a team capable of consolidating a place in the conference, with most of us thinking that we'd be there for a while. He built a team from nothing who not only competed but were unfortunate against Exeter in the play offs the first year, but then proceeded to get promoted the next year. He has now moved into a new league, consolidated us in the league (can I add that we were 17th last season which should surely mean only a few more games won than the season in L1) and then built upon it again. Leroy built a team capable of great football and beating any team on it's day but not capable of taking the step up. Infact, only David Graham and Alex Russell were really good enough to compete in L1.

I suppose what I'm trying to say, but failing miserably is that I'd have much more confidence on PB building a team capable of competing in L1 than Leroy, and, perhaps most importantly of all, attracting decent players to come to us.

You could also have added that everyone seems to ignore the fact that the majority of the promotion side under Leroy were inherited from Roy Mc. He might have got them playing more attack minded, but the basis of a strong side was already there.
To me, that puts Bucks success at an even higher level....

[cambgull]

You could also have added that everyone seems to ignore the fact that the majority of the promotion side under Leroy were inherited from Roy Mc. He might have got them playing more attack minded, but the basis of a strong side was already there.
To me, that puts Bucks success at an even higher level....

Very true, Leroy was tactically good but I feel as an all-round manager, Buckle is better. I hope we can keep him for a long time because the club will definitely progress with him at the helm.

[mcgull1]

Where are the 'Sort it out Buckle' crowd tonight??, yes, the ones who at 1-1 with Rotherham were calling him tactically inept??

[ferrarilover]

For me, the key to understanding just how impressive PBs record actually is is knowing that he came from nothing, with no budget. Got us promoted, with no budget. Kept us up, with no budget, then got us in with a decent shout of the playoffs and a very VERY outside shot at automatic promotion, with no budget.
By 'no' of course, I mean relatively. Have a look at Rotherham, they value one player at between two and three times the value of our whole club, not squad, club, ground, players, staff, shop, B&L, everything.
Despite the loud and stupid protestations to the contrary by that fat **** masquerading as a manager at Gatwick FC, we didn't have anything like the biggest budget in the Conference and our budget these days ain't much bigger than it was then. We really are proving that there is absolutely no need to throw money at this division. Ok, we might have to spend a few quid if (and it is a big if) we go up, but were we to do that (we have the players here already, we simply buy the majority of our loanees), I think we could make a very decent fist of keeping ourselves in L1. That would be third tier football for a squad comprised for a total of, maybe, £150,000. Remind me Chelsea fans, how much was Fernando Torres?

Congratulations to PB on an excellent record in deeply challenging circumstances and for resisting the bright lights of the Championship and L1 with their 'massive' budgets and corresponding salaries. Long may you remain at our helm.

Matt.

[royalgull]

Where are the 'Sort it out Buckle' crowd tonight??, yes, the ones who at 1-1 with Rotherham were calling him tactically inept??

Same ones that had made a 'In Buckle we trust' banner, should have had 'When it suits' written on it as well. Bell ends.

[MidDevon]

Buckle has , in remember what is just his second season as a fotball league manager, outplayed the teams of two of the most experienced managers in league two, Dario Gradi of Crewe and Graham Turner of Shrewsbury.

Each year there has been considerable progress and that to me is good enough.

I love the fact that , in his own words, there are no "big boy charlies" at the club and the way he gets the whole team involved.

Things such as getting the youth team to clear snow off the pitch may seem insignificant, but are important in the "culture" of the club.

Once Buckle does actually move on, we will struggle to replace him.

[Fonda]

I'm delighted that Buckle is proving to be a far superior manager than i ever thought he would be. I've long had reservations about certain aspects of his management, but as time goes on he's ironing them out, one by one. The team is playing great football currently, and getting results consistently. Whilst not yet being the finished article, nobody can argue about the improvement in his own performance, and it's reflected on the field.

I'm not a big fan of stats though. They can be manipulated to prove pretty much whatever you want them to. And comparing managers from different era's (and different regimes) is not as simple as to look at who has won the most games. This club has been through some tough times in the past, so to compare the managers who were here in the lean times is somewhat unfair.

Buckle is doing a brilliant job currently. I doubt i'll ever revere him in the way i did Cyril Knowles or Leroy Rosenior but that is irrelevant. At the current time, i'm not sure anyone could be doing a better job with our team/squad/club than he is, and that's the pretinent point. Well done to him. I know i'm one of those that was too quick to be critical of him in times gone by. I always said i'd be delighted if he proved me wrong, and he's in the process of doing that. Long may it continue.

[Trojan 67]

What stands out for me about Paul Buckle this season is the improvement in his man management. No player this season, apparently, has thrown their toys out of the pram.

Another masterstroke of his improving management, is the way he took the squad by the scruff of the neck and got them over the double disappointment of the Crawley defeat and the subsequent missing of a huge payday verses Man U at Old Trafford. And not forgetting the defeat at home to Hereford three days later when the talk was of slipping into the relegation zone.

Many teams would have collapsed after that weekend, but not TUFC led by PB. Out went Woeful and Benyon and in came Stanley and Robinson followed by a couple more. With a more balanced and capable squad in place we now have a realistic chance of making the playoffs, maybe even automatic promotion.

Well done Paul Buckle.

[Southampton Gull]

I said at the time that Wroe and Benyon left I thought he'd made us stronger and I don't think many would argue with that now. He's used the loan system excellently this season and seems to have come back rejuvenated after the debacle surrounding the registration of Robinson.

I've never been his biggest fan but always hoped that we'd get to see his talent once the meddling CEO was moved on and he's convinced me that he does possess that talent. He's done a good job this season and has been unfortunate to receive criticism from some parts concerning things that weren't his fault. I hope he does lead us to promotion, then we'll see just how good he is when he has to rebuild the side yet again.

[SuperNickyWroe]

i suppose hes doing ok.

remember though when leroy got us promoted he got f**k all financial backing to keep us in league 1 and nearly did it.

oh, and one more thing......



BUCKLE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!