Manager of the Season (Conference Premier)

[Cardsfan]

I've put a few options above, the poll will be up for 2 days. If there are enough votes in the "other" section I'll add a few more managers in.

 

[CrazyImp]

David Holdsworth.

 

[Sparrow]

Tough one this.

My first thought was Darrell Clarke (not sure who Darren Clarke is as suggested in the poll), although it'll come down to how the play-off final goes. He dealt with their unconvincing start very well and missing out on the title on the final day having just come down is impressive.

Barnet weren't touted to win the league but Martin Allen has really showed what a good manager can do at this level. Perhaps blowing the ten point lead or whatever it was could sway a couple of votes.

Askey has done another remarkable job with Macclesfield given everyone had them down for relegation at the start of the season. However, having been in contention for the title and ending up outside the play-offs will have been disappointing.

12th, 9th and now 7th for Garry Hill back in this league whilst working off a limited budget and being part-time. Just missing out on the play-offs means he won't win it though.

Chris Kinnear has done a top job at Dover. They looked pretty doomed when we beat them 6-1 and the majority thought they wouldn't stay up before the season either but they had quite the turn around. Next season will be a lot tougher for them.

Clarke if they win play-offs but otherwise Allen.

 

[Shotsfan1993]

Chris Kinnear for me - excellent job at Dover not just in the league but also in the FA Cup!

 

[Cardsfan]

No idea why I put Darren.... And it won't let me edit it either

 

[Master D]

Wilkin.

 

[Southern Shayman]

Yeah got to be Kinnear for me, especially after the not so great start - to get the confidence back and build.

 

[Urban]

Allen somehow didn't win any Manager of the Month awards. If he doesn't win Manager of the Year then the whole league is as farcical as its Twitter account.

 

[Jemfy]

Allen somehow didn't win any Manager of the Month awards. If he doesn't win Manager of the Year then the whole league is as farcical as its Twitter account.

Having not paid attention, are there any months where he had a better month than whoever won it?

 

[les.gtfc]

What's Paul Hurst done to upset you?

 

[GTFC1979]

What's Paul Hirst done to upset you?

Who is Paul HIRST......?

 

[BeesKnees]

Having not paid attention, are there any months where he had a better month than whoever won it?

Three months when we had the best ppg
August, Aspin won because Halifax won first five games of the season. ,
December, Kinnear unbeaten in the league and cup results.
April, We were joint top with Bristol but Hill won because Eastliegh had 5 wins in a row.
No complaints really but I doubt it happens that often that a manager winning the league gets no awards

 

[les.gtfc]

Who is Paul HIRST......?

Ooops. Embarrassing typo.

In my defence though the I and the U are next to each other on the keyboard.

 

[dan_wrexhamafc]

Gone for Askey , made a good squad who played some decent football and nearly got play offs. working on peanuts

 

[Gashead]

Was a toss up between Kinnear and Askey for me, although Allen ran it close.

Kinnear just about won it due to the FA Cup run, which could have seen Dover go off the rails in the league but then they had that run which nearly got them into the play-offs, pretty spectacular.

Askey has done an excellent job too given that pre-season predictions weren't flattering at all. I didn't think they'd get relegated, but certainly nowhere near the title/play-off race. Very close second to Kinnear, but as I've mentioned Dover's FA Cup run plus the fact that they were pretty much nailed on to go back down in pre-season was the deciding factor.

Allen has done very well too, but I get the impression that their budget is a fair bit higher than Dover and Macc, and whilst they've overachieved I think most expected them to be 'there or there abouts'. Aside from certain pessimistic Barnet fans

 

[Luke Imp]

I think there are quite a few contenders.

Burr did well to get Chester to mid-table considering they were left in limbo with the Hereford/Salisbury situation, Askey at Macc on a low budget, Hill at Woking, Clarke's stabilised Rovers quickly, Allen probably had Barnet overachieving slightly and Kinnear at Dover after a terrible start to the season.

 

[GTFC1979]

I would have thought that Paul Hurst getting the worst GTFC side ever to the play off final might be worth one or two votes.......?

 

[Greenacres]

I base my choice on what a manager has achieved with the resources available to him. For me it isn't based on how exciting his team played or even how high up the table they finished but purely on someone who managed to weave a silk purse from a sow's ear. Two managers came immediately to mind and they were Devonshire and Hill. Braintree were an awful team to play against, their tactics were often just to destroy the way their opponents wanted to play, but they were effective most of the time and that must be down to the tactical genius of Devonshire. My choice however is Hill at Woking, that he managed to keep a challenge for the play-offs going until virtually the end of the season with a team of part-time players is little short of miraculous. Clearly some of that is down to the players themselves but Hill is due significant credit for producing a team that actually played some pretty entertaining football, all the more remarkable when considering the resources available to most of their opponents.

 

[Lew]

Why has no one mentioned the tactical genius himself?

 

[DarkSithLord]

Gone for Askey , made a good squad who played some decent football and nearly got play offs. working on peanuts

Gone for Askey too for the pretty much the same reasons as above

 

[BeeArmy]

Askey has done a great job at Macc on a very tight budget. They are a good footballing side who were one of the favourites to be relegated. Instead, they just missed out on the play offs.

 

[Chris FGR]

Paul Hurst has done well under a lot of pressure from a fanbase who wanted him out. Strong contender imo.

Askey, Hill and Kinnear have all done very well on limited resources.

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

All this limited resources is BS. EVERY club sets a budget, and every club has a limit to it.

Richard Hill no question - First ever season on the Conf Prem and a 4th place finish.
Im not 100% certain, but i believe that is the highest ever finish in any clubs first season at this level.
And dont even bother to throw he had a massive budget up.

 

[Master D]

He had a massive budget.

 

[Cardsfan]

All this limited resources is BS. EVERY club sets a budget, and every club has a limit to it.

Richard Hill no question - First ever season on the Conf Prem and a 4th place finish.
Im not 100% certain, but i believe that is the highest ever finish in any clubs first season at this level.
And dont even bother to throw he had a massive budget up.

Yeah, but some budgets are lower than others....

 

[DontBringBertie]

All this limited resources is BS. EVERY club sets a budget, and every club has a limit to it.

Richard Hill no question - First ever season on the Conf Prem and a 4th place finish.
Im not 100% certain, but i believe that is the highest ever finish in any clubs first season at this level.
And dont even bother to throw he had a massive budget up.

Not sure how he managed with just the 8 ex football league strikers.

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

Lower budgets, do not mean limited budgets.

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

...and a very inexperienced defence

 

[BeesKnees]

...and a very inexperienced defence

Can I just check that this is the inexperienced defence you are talking about?

Ross Flitney (30)
Paul Read (33)
Dean Beckwith (31)
Will Evans (23)
Chris Todd (33)
James Turley (33)
Mike Green (25)
Daniel Spence (25)

Five players over 30 and it's inexperienced?

 

[Shotsfan1993]

Richard Hill has done a good job, as did Pennock at FGR, as did Darrell Clarke, Martin Allen and Paul Hurst, however, I expected those 5 sides to be in or around the top 5.

I voted for Kinnear because I expected Dover to either go down or survive by the skin of their teeth - I did not see them finishing in the top 10!