Just who are the candidates for the title of Southampton Football Club's Greatest Ever Manager, here we look at the only possible nominations.
With a near 127 year existence it might be pertinent to think that there are a number of likely candidates for the honour, however the first thing to realise is that it wasnt till 2011 that Saints actually had a manager, George Swift being apointed in April 1911, becoming the club's first ever Secretary/Manager, up until this point the Club's selections and signings etc were all down to a committee.
Next up was James McIntyre in August 1919 and his tenure saw Saints not only join the Football League but gain promotion to the second division in 1922, his successor was Arthur Chadwick who was the first ex player to run the first team, taking the club to an FA Cup semi final and stabilising it in the second divison.
George Kay took over in May 1931 and stayed five years, in truth Saints were mid table at best during his reign, however he resigned in May 1936 to take over at Liverpool and in 15 years at Anfield he guided them to their first post war Championship and an FA Cup Final.
Tom Parker was the next permanent manager and saw the club through the darkest of the war years before resigning, Bill Dodgin arrived in 1946 and it looked like he might become the first truly great Saints boss, almost taking the club to the top flight, missing out by four points in 47/48 and then in the following season by a solitary point having lost on the final day at Chesterfield after being eight points clear at the top with seven games left, Dodgin left that summer for Fulham to be replaced by Syd Cann, the new manager came even closer this time losing out only on goal difference to Sheffield Wednesday however the rot had set in and Saints would be heading downwards until the first of the "greats" was appointed.
Ted Bates is one of in my opinion only two men who at this present time can lay claim to the title of Saints greatest manager, not only did he give over 66 year service to the Club as a player, manager, chief executive, director and president, but he was the man who like Bill Shankly at Liverpool or Don Revie at Leeds, built the foundations that saw the club go from the Third Division to the top flight and establish itself as one of the best clubs in the land, Bates won the Division three title in 1960 and then followed that up in 1966 with runners up in the old second division to take the club to the top flight where they remained until his retirement in 1973, Ted's contribution as a manager to this club cannot be underestimated.
The only other contender is Lawrie McMenemy, after taking over from Bates, McMenemy was initially unpopular after taking the club down in his first season, however he brought in a mix of experience and journeymen aligned with star names and won Saints their only ever truly top notch honour the FA Cup in 1976, following this up with a run to the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners Cup, promotion back to the top flight and a League Cup final appearance, before truly taking Saints into the big time with the signing of Kevin Keegan and Peter Shilton as well as the Clubs highest ever League placing in 1984.
Since Lawrie there have been several potentially great managers but as of yet no one who can quite match either Bates or McMenemy, Chris icholl was much maligned, but in truth he took over the club and kept it on track through six difficult seasons, before the managerial merry go round of the 1990's started, Alan Ball seemed like he might go on to become a Saints legend as a manager before money lured him to Man City, as did Hoddle before Spurs came lurking.
The new millenium has at least brought two candidates, in truth Gordon Strachan performed minor miracles in transforming the club from the verge of relegation to a top 10 club and an FA Cup Final appearance and Europe, if he had stayed he might well have started to rival Ted & Lawrie, but he didnt and now we will never know.
Perhaps Alan Pardew could have been the man, again we will never know, however his work at Newcastle United since shows that he had what it takes.
The only other real contender could be Nigel Adkins, but as good as he has been in his first two seasons at the Club he has a little way to go yet, I would still have him fourth in the list, although Im sure that every Saints fan hopes that he does go on to a higher placing, I certainly do.
So far the signs are good, although he didnt have the rebuilding work to do that ed Bates did, he has equalled bates record of getting the club promotion from the third tier to the second and then into the top flight, if we want to be pedantic Bates did win the third division title, but to counter balance that Adkins didnt need six years between promotions. Nigel can start to earn his place in the top three of Saints managers by like Bates McMenemy and Strachan before him, by proving himself in the top flight, if he can take Saints to a comfortable mid table position next season with a sniff of a cup run, then I think he can leapfrog WGS to third.
However the hard work will then begin, a managerial great at a club is not just about one or two seasons, its about many, McMenemy and Bates are hard acts to follow, especially since the way football has been going it makes it difficult for any manager to win anything unless he is at one of the big clubs, certainly there seems little chance of Adkins replicating McMenemy's second place finish in 1984, this isnt being nasty to Nigel, its a fact of life about modern football, but thats another story.
So hopefully the next few years will see Nigel establish himself alongside Ted Bates & Lawrie McMenemy as one of the top three Saints managers of all time, it will take something truly great like an FA Cup win to get above those two due to their very different and individual contributions to our club, but as I sa football has changed and if Nigel can put together a run of seasons as Gordon Strachan did then OK he might not emulate Lawrie or Ted for that matter but his achievements will still be gigantic.
So im afraid the younger generation need to wait a year or two yet before proclaiming King Nigel, Ted & Lawrie still reign supreme, but for the first time in a very long time we now genuinely seem to have a contender for their crowns.