Joe Royle or Keggy Keegan?

[Mike C]

Keegan, by some distance for me.

I don't think he ever really gets the credit for the way he turned the club round following Royle; a pretty abject season in the Prem, scattergun approach to Loan Signings, and supposedly a drinking and gambling culture in the club. We got found out that season, and I don't think we were many people's favourites to come up. Yet, by his first game, we were playing Champagne football. Keegan has a relatively short life-span at the clubs he manages, but there's no doubt the huge impact he has early on.

A lot of people's views on Royle seem to be coloured by the emotion of the Play-Off win. Trying to look at the season dispassionately, the best Royle could manage was 3rd in the Third Tier (the lowest League position in our history), then a 2-2 draw with Gillingham in the play-off final!

I know you can't look at football like that but, amazing though that day was (and I was there too), I think we'd all rather have won the league by a street and avoided the rollercoaster.

Royle is a good manager at getting teams promoted, but I feel is a bit lacking at the highest level.

Plus, he turned us down previously...

 

[Ray78]

Good knowledge.
I though Trabelsi was another decent Pearce signing who didnt really get going thanks to injury. I could be on my own with that one like...

Another player who had potential, Arsenal were meant to be tracking him (but at the same time were tracking a certain Greek striker) but injuries had gotten him as you have stated.

 

[Firthy]

Good knowledge.
I though Trabelsi was another decent Pearce signing who didnt really get going thanks to injury. I could be on my own with that one like...

Another player who had potential, Arsenal were meant to be tracking him (but at the same time were tracking a certain Greek striker) but injuries had gotten him as you have stated.

If only they had got that 'certain Greek striker'!
MIGHT have made things abit easier on Pearce.

 

[manimanc]

i`d say both of them,with big joe he signed andy morrison which seemed to galvanise the whole team at the right moment and behind big joe we had david bernstein who,in my opinion,most probably stopped us going bump by sorting us out behind the scenes and then king kev gave us a season of football that none of us will ever forget,it didn`t matter a jot to me it was the championship,the football we played was edge of the seat stuff....

 

[Firthy]

Keegan, by some distance for me.

I don't think he ever really gets the credit for the way he turned the club round following Royle; a pretty abject season in the Prem, scattergun approach to Loan Signings, and supposedly a drinking and gambling culture in the club. We got found out that season, and I don't think we were many people's favourites to come up. Yet, by his first game, we were playing Champagne football. Keegan has a relatively short life-span at the clubs he manages, but there's no doubt the huge impact he has early on.

A lot of people's views on Royle seem to be coloured by the emotion of the Play-Off win. Trying to look at the season dispassionately, the best Royle could manage was 3rd in the Third Tier (the lowest League position in our history), then a 2-2 draw with Gillingham in the play-off final!

I know you can't look at football like that but, amazing though that day was (and I was there too), I think we'd all rather have won the league by a street and avoided the rollercoaster.

Royle is a good manager at getting teams promoted, but I feel is a bit lacking at the highest level.

Plus, he turned us down previously...

Keegan never did it at the highest level either, and he had better oppourtunities than Royle.
At the very least Big Joe won an FA Cup, Keggy hasnt got anything to his name.<br /><br />-- Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:26 pm --<br /><br />Granted Keggy's style of football was far better.

 

[Ray78]

Another player who had potential, Arsenal were meant to be tracking him (but at the same time were tracking a certain Greek striker) but injuries had gotten him as you have stated.

If only they had got that 'certain Greek striker'!
MIGHT have made things abit easier on Pearce.

Our biggest problem was paying over the odds for players (Arsenal even then had that policy firmly in place if I recall). Pearce's problem was deploying him in his wrong postion. A similar situation is developing with Jo in my opinion.<br /><br />-- Mon Sep 20, 2010 5:39 pm --<br /><br />Both managers are equal in my opinion. Joe nearly messed up in getting us promoted from League 1 (needed penalties against Gillingham for us to progress) but got us back to the Premier League on the first attempt. He then got us relegated (even though we were not ready for it) from the Premier League rather meekly. Keegan got us playing some good stuff (albeit by spending some money) and won the Championship league title. His biggest flaw was wasting money thus putting us under tremendous finacial pressure.