Rovers best ever manager!

[rover-n-out]

Spotted this on Yahoo News, and thought I would share, and to get your opinions. Cheers.


Sport
Football
Revealed: Doncaster Rovers' best ever manager
This week, as part our sports nostalgia series, we can reveal the best ever manager of Doncaster Rovers.
By John Coyle
Tuesday, 16th February 2021, 3:43 pm

Peter Doherty, right, is pictured in 1959 talking to Johnny Crossan while on managerial duty for Northern Ireland. Picture: Central Press/Getty Images
Peter Doherty, right, is pictured in 1959 talking to Johnny Crossan while on managerial duty for Northern Ireland. Picture: Central Press/Getty Images
Rovers historian John Coyle has been counting down the top ten Rovers managers of all time over the last couple of months.

And at the top of the list is Peter Doherty – the ‘innovator’ who helped the club prosper in the old Division Two during the 1950s.

Do you agree? Let us know – email sport@doncastertoday.co.uk.


1 PETER DOHERTY (1949-1958)


Peter Doherty was one of the finest footballers of the 1930s and 1940s, a gifted inside forward with an eye for goal.

In addition to his 16 full caps for Northern Ireland, he won a Football League champions medal while with Manchester City and was a member of Derby County’s FA Cup winning side.


He joined Rovers as player-manager for a fee of around £8,000 after spending nearly three years at Huddersfield Town. He was to lead Rovers into their most successful era.

Doherty’s appointment brought immediate dividends as Rovers won the Division Three (North) title in 1949-50, the player-boss himself contributing 27 league goals.


He also made some important signings including centre-forward Ray Harrison and full-back Len Graham.

Doherty demonstrated the innovative approach that was to be his hallmark, setting up nursery sides in South Yorkshire and Newcastle and appointing a scout in Ireland.

He also supervised the building of a nursery ground at Thorne.

Rovers’ previous efforts in Division Two had been short-lived, but Doherty saw to it that the club survived and prospered at the higher level.


Rovers’ best placing was 11th in 1950-51, but they were seldom in danger of relegation and the era featured some memorable games.

A 4-3 victory over Doherty’s old club, Manchester City, after Rovers trailed 0-3 at the interval, was the highlight of 1950-51.

FA Cup triumphs over Middlesbrough and Sunderland were followed by the famous tie with Aston Villa in 1954-55 when Rovers beat the First Division side in the fourth replay.

However, results do not reflect Doherty’s real value as a manager.


He was an innovator, introducing floodlights for training and then using them for a series of well-attended friendlies.

He brought Alick Jeffrey into the first team before the Rawmarsh youngster had celebrated his 16th birthday and saw his young protégé emerge as an outstanding footballer.

Doherty retired as a player at the end of the 1952-53 season (just before his 40th birthday) but he had already taken on the part-time role of manager of the Northern Ireland national side, a position he held until 1962.

Doherty’s main problem was that Rovers never quite enjoyed the attendances required to support his progressive policies or, more crucially, to allow him to hold on to his best players.


In December 1957 Rovers were forced to sell goalkeeper Harry Gregg, a player discovered by Doherty, to Manchester United for £25,000.

Doherty was upset by this decision, but in any case, his position was coming under threat. Rovers were second from bottom of Division Two in January 1958 and rumours abounded of disputes between Doherty and Hubert Bates member of the Rovers board.

On 20th January 1958 the club announced that Doherty had resigned to take up a similar post at Rovers’ Second Division rivals Bristol City. His contract was believed to be of five years’ duration, although he was only to stay for two years before being sacked.

He later worked for Notts County, Aston Villa, Preston, Sunderland and Blackpool in various capacities.


Perhaps his greatest managerial achievement was to take Northern Ireland to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Sweden in 1958.

Doherty, who was a champion of players’ rights and an opponent of the maximum wage, was in many ways a men before his time.

His departure from Belle Vue heralded a grim period in the history of the Rovers.

Doherty died in April 1990, aged 76.


Senior record with Rovers

First match: 20th August 1949 v Bradford City (away) won 2-1

Last match: 18th January 1958 v Stoke City (away) drew 0-0

Played 389, Won 133, Drew 109, Lost 147, Winning percentage: 34.2%


Recap: The Top 10

10 Fred Emery

9 Stan Anderson

8 Sammy Chung


7 Lawrie McMenemy

6 Billy Bremner

5 David Menzies

4 Jackie Bestall


3 Dave Penney

2 Sean O’Driscoll

1 Peter Doherty

[DRNaith]

My Dad was a fan during the Doherty era and used to speak fondly of those days and the manager.

[Draytonian III]

Peter Doherty was born in Magherafelt so was Dean Shields who is now the assistant manager of the Northern Ireland’s ladies team

[Branton Rover]

No Dickov? Lol

[scawsby steve]

Doherty's team was the first Rovers team I ever saw as a young kid. The whole team was packed with talent, but Alick and Harry Gregg were simply world class, and Bert Tindill was the best striker I've ever seen at the Rovers.

[sheffield exile1]

I am going to put something into the mix which I hope can stimulate a bit of debate and thought on here. Define best. Best as in if you have a forward thinking board, enthusiastic chairman, funds available and a promotion/moving upwards board. Put into that mix perennial low crowds (Tony Bluff/Barry Watson's book refers to low 5-6,000 crowds pre -WW2), also never equating to the crowds expected in the Doherty era, meaning low income. Moving onto the decline and fall late 50's early 60's post Doherty. Straight from Division 2 to 4 in successive seasons followed by stagnation in the 60's -90's with a selling board Kitchen/O'Callaghan through to Mike Jeffrey and the Richardson debacle of selling out to that ****.  Pep Guardiola could struggle at Rochdale. So I am so glad Lawrie Mac and Super Stan in there as they did a lot with little. Even Begara wasn't a bad manager, and the frustration at Hull that day of F*ck off to Uruguay" chants were pure frustration as no-one could save us by then. So I am looking at what qualities a Rovers manager had in all circumstances, not when we had ambition and backing which didn't happen in most of my early lifetime.

[goalkick]

Would agree about Doherty.was fortunate to see him play many times in a team of accomplished players.fond memories of belle vue in those days and the huge difference in the sat match experience between then and now.   Players around then included Bert tindill , bycroft len Graham and Paul Todd. He attracted many quality players during his managerial spell and the team was a pleasure to watch.

[BillyStubbsTears]

No complaints with Doherty at No1, but I'm not having Bremner at 5. Given the resources he had, and how he transformed a moribund club twice, he's got to be in second place.

[deksykes]

Didn’t see the Doherty team,but the O,Driscoll team that won the play-off final and played in the championship was the best I,ve ever seen.Doubt I personally will see football of that quality again down there.

[sheffield exile1]

My point exactly- resources and opportunity vs cash restrictions and nedgativity - have had to come off tonight's threads as I am still too mad!

[Lifelong supporter]

I am going to put something into the mix which I hope can stimulate a bit of debate and thought on here. Define best. Best as in if you have a forward thinking board, enthusiastic chairman, funds available and a promotion/moving upwards board. Put into that mix perennial low crowds (Tony Bluff/Barry Watson's book refers to low 5-6,000 crowds pre -WW2), also never equating to the crowds expected in the Doherty era, meaning low income. Moving onto the decline and fall late 50's early 60's post Doherty. Straight from Division 2 to 4 in successive seasons followed by stagnation in the 60's -90's with a selling board Kitchen/O'Callaghan through to Mike Jeffrey and the Richardson debacle of selling out to that ****.  Pep Guardiola could struggle at Rochdale. So I am so glad Lawrie Mac and Super Stan in there as they did a lot with little. Even Begara wasn't a bad manager, and the frustration at Hull that day of F*ck off to Uruguay" chants were pure frustration as no-one could save us by then. So I am looking at what qualities a Rovers manager had in all circumstances, not when we had ambition and backing which didn't happen in most of my early lifetime.

Bergara was a shocking manager.
Even said he wasn't going to manage home games if crowd got at him.
Basically he just did what Richardson told him.

[River Don]

I think id put Sammy Chung higher up that list.

He was a very thoughtful manager and did a lot with very little.

But I think his legacy is the engagement with supporters, that policy of speaking to fans and opening the club up really lead to the formation of the VSC. In many ways it began laying the foundations of the club we have today.

[Chris Black come back]

Very glad to see Sammy up there. A fine manager and a finer human being.

I am afraid that you do have to give McCann some serious credit. Took a side sniffing around in bottom half and in one season turned it round into an exciting, energetic, attacking side that had our best FA Cup run for years and came within a whisker of making the play off finals / got cheated at the end of that game.

Probably unpopular but I’d have him on that list somewhere.

[scawsby steve]

Very glad to see Sammy up there. A fine manager and a finer human being.

I am afraid that you do have to give McCann some serious credit. Took a side sniffing around in bottom half and in one season turned it round into an exciting, energetic, attacking side that had our best FA Cup run for years and came within a whisker of making the play off finals / got cheated at the end of that game.

Probably unpopular but I’d have him on that list somewhere.

Grant McCann; horrible man, brilliant manager.

[BillyStubbsTears]

McCann left the club in a far worse state than he inherited. That's quite something to achieve in one year.

When Moore took over, we had just 3 of the players who started at Charlton signed on, plus James and Gomes.

A reight f**king mess, he left.

[Chris Black come back]

There is maybe something in that, although he did what he did for understandable reasons - problem was that he left with his close season plan half done and with all the problem that then ensued after he departed. If he had stayed then the plan to slim down the squad and add more quality may have borne fruit - COVID aside obviously.

[graingrover]

Scawsby  Steve .I pick up on your comment about Tindill being the best forward you have ever seen at Rovers .I spent my youth watching that team and agree that Tindill was very good very good ,a tireless worker who could play all  across the front line and a regular goalscorer .Because there are obviously few of us who saw him there is not enough support to get him into the Rovers legends gallery unfortunately .
I agree Doherty was our best manager working on a shoe string budget yet he attracted top talent including Harry Gregg and the Irish internationals McMorran and Len Graham ....and of course discovered Alick Jeffrey .

[Glyn_Wigley]

Just about all our managers have worked on a shoestring budget, but it must have been a lot easier when there was the maximum wage not only keeping the wage bill down but also keeping down the pulling power of other clubs.

[BillyStubbsTears]

There is maybe something in that, although he did what he did for understandable reasons - problem was that he left with his close season plan half done and with all the problem that then ensued after he departed. If he had stayed then the plan to slim down the squad and add more quality may have borne fruit - COVID aside obviously.

My take has always been that he didn't have the confidence in himself to repeat what he'd done in 18/19. He'd inherited a very strong squad that was criminally badly managed and underperforming. He made some good additions to that, but the foundations were already there. When he lost those foundations in the summer of 2019, I don't think he fancied himself to rebuild. So he jumped at the first chance for a bigger job, even a poisoned chalice like Hull.

And it's pretty clear that the players couldn't stand him, for whatever reason.

Moore showed that it was possible to rebuild the squad and make us contenders, even with a month less pre-season time than McCann would have had.

[Chris Black come back]

Who did he sign that summer he left? Was it just Madger and Sheaf on loan?

[Bailey Vickerage]

He signed halliday aswell I’m pretty sure

[RugbyRover]

Halliday & James?