Turner leaves for Sheffield - so who takes over?

By Albatross
November 7 2002

So it's goodbye from him.... Chris Turner has officially left for Sheffield Wednesday and so there's room at the top at Pools. Who will get it? Albatross takes an early look at some of the runners and riders.

So he's gone. It's not exactly a surprise, I think as soon as Yorath went there was no doubt CT would be interested. He leaves behind him a squad that is possibly better than any Pools boss has ever handed on to his successor, and so whatever you think about his departure the question that we now have to ask ourselves is who will that successor be?

A quick sniff around reveals the League Managers Assocaition's list of out of work bosses. Leaving aside the obvious no-go candidates (such as George Burley and Peter Reid), there's still plenty of people on the list. There are also a few names not registered that might be interested as well.....

Going through the LMA list, the following might well be worth a look: Colin Addison (though I'm not convinced), Viv Anderson, Alan Buckley, Alan Cork, Roy Evans, John Hollins, Andy Kilner, Roy McFarland, Jan Molby, Steve Parkin, Bruce Rioch, Andy Ritchie, Nigel Spackman, Kevin Wilson, and Mark Wright. There are plenty of other names, but they are either well out of range or in my opinion not the sort of manager we're looking for (Tommy Taylor, Wes Saunders and John Beck for example).

Of those names, some may of course not be interested - namely Anderson, Evans, Rioch and Spackman; others I would shy away from due to bad experiences elsewhere - such as Jan Molby, Alan Buckley and John Hollins. That still leaves a few left.

The name on most people's lips seems to be Steve Parkin. There's no doubt that Parkin did a good job at Mansfield, and a better one at Rochdale before going to Barnsley; with their problems he was always up against it. He knows our division, likes to play football (our contests with Dale over the last few seasons have shown that), and would surely be interested in coming to Pools.

The other name that stands out for me is Andy Ritchie. He was starting to turn Oldham into a successful side, and departed because of a disagreement with the board rather than performances on the pitch.

The logical choice would be Colin West, but the question is whether he will follow Turner to Wednesday. There's no news on that front yet, but as a former Wednesday Player West may also find the lure of the Sheffield job too much to pass up. Martin Scott has done a cracking job with the Youth Team, but might not be ready for such a big step up on a permanent basis. I have no problem with either acting as caretaker for a spell, and a lot depends on what West decides to do - and if Turner offers him the job.

While there are a few senior pros in the Pools squad, I'm not sure any of them would be interested in a Management role just yet. Hopefully we're past the days of appointing a player as a cheap option anyway.

No doubt there will be a plethora of applications, and it will be interesting to see who else announces their interest. Paul Gascoigne reputedly applied for the Exeter job, but I can't help feeling that it would be a seriosly risky move - while Gazza could be a great coach, I'm not convinced he could make the grade running the whole show. Similar sentiments apply to Peter Beardsley - though there might be one or two communication difficulties there as well! Another name mentioned is Nigel Clough; he's taken Burton Albion into the Conference, and might be interested in taking another step up after serving his apprenticeship there. The name of David hodgson has been mooted, but whether the ex-Loid would take the job is questionable; he would almost certainly get an "interesting" reception from certain elements in the crowd.

The important thing for Pools is not to make a rush appointment. We spent a while deciding on CT, and it paid off big time; the way to keep us up there this season is to make the effort to appoint the right man.