Merseyside's managerial disasters: Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere's top of the flops
After Rob Edwards' disastrous reign at Tranmere ended yesterday we look back at some of the worst manager's throughout history on Merseyside
Roy Hodgson
Bad football managers are ten a penny.
And like the rest of the country, Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere have had their share.
Following the sacking of Tranmere's Rob Edwards yesterday, here's a look back at some of Merseyside's worst managers.
Liverpool manager Graeme Souness consoles Rob Jones after he was sent off against Coventry in September 1993
Graeme Souness, Liverpool, 1991-1994
As a player for the Reds, the talismanic midfielder wreaked havoc. As a manager he did so for all the wrong reasons.
Having taken over from Kenny Dalglish in 1991, who had won three league titles, two FA Cups and never finished lower than second in the league, Souness went on to dismantle the club resulting in three years of upheaval.
Despite winning the FA Cup, Souness' side finished sixth in his opening campaign in a reign which became noted for ill-judged tactics, woeful transfer dealings and poor man management.
Having fallen out with numerous players past and present, Souness' interview with the Sun on the the third anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster compounded a miserable managerial campaign.
Former LFC manager Roy Hodgson
Roy Hodgson, Liverpool, 2010-2011
"To get a result here would have been Utopia." It still seems crazy to think a Reds manager would use those words having lost in the Merseyside derby.
But that was Roy Hodgson's Liverpool managerial career in a nut shell. Having lost 2-0 to Everton, Hodgson added: "I can only analyse the performance. There is no point trying to analyse dreams."
Hodgson's stay at Anfield, however, was nothing short of a nightmare. After seven games the Merseysiders were third from bottom, having lost to Blackpool at home and League Two Northampton Town in the League Cup ("formidable opposition" according to Hodgson), the 66-year-old left in January 2011 - much to the relief of everyone concerned.
Mike Walker, Manager of Everton FC
Mike Walker, Everton, 1994
Walker was appointed Everton manager in January 1994 and in the space of four short months, took the Blues from mid-table security to serious relegation candidates.
Joining from Norwich, the perma-tanned silver-haired limelight lover lost the dressing room instantaneously, winning just 4 of his opening 18 games rooting the Blues to the bottom of the table.
The final game of the season saw Everton 2-0 down to Wimbledon before that goal from Barry Horne and two from Graham Stuart preserved Everton’s Premier League status - and bizarrely Walker's job.
The following season, after 16 games and just one win, Walker was finally axed and his replacement Joe Royle led the Blues to FA Cup glory.
Former Liverpool manager Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor, Liverpool, 1956-59
Best remembered for being Bill Shankly's predecessor, Taylor has the unenviable status of being the only Reds boss never to have managed in the top flight.
A fine half back, Taylor would endure contrasting fortunes as a player and manager at Anfield as he struggled to find consistency as boss for the Reds in Division Two.
Despite signing Johnny Wheeler and Roger Hunt, the Reds finished third in 1957, fourth in 1958 and after a frustrating start to the 1959-60 season, Taylor finally resigned.
His successor would go on to have unprecedented glory and, in doing so, alter the face of Liverpool Football Club forever.
New Everton manager Ian Buchan being introduced to the players in July 1956
Ian Buchan, Everton, 1956-58
Buchan's appointment was doomed from the off.
The Everton board never afforded him title of manager, instead handing him the title of ‘Chief Coach’.
A commitment to improving team fitness saw Everton acquire an enviable reputation as the fittest team in the First Division, but that didn't help his average side play football.
This was typified on the opening day of the 1956 season when Buchan used a cunning psychological ploy to undermine newly promoted Leeds United.
“We’ll get off the team bus and jog the last two miles to Elland Road,” he barked. “They’ll be surprised by how super-fit we are.”
They were surprised at how shattered Everton were - coasting to a 5-1 win on an opening day to forget.
Struggling against a general perception of himself as merely a caretaker, Buchan eventually stepped down in 1958.
John Barnes
John Barnes, Tranmere, 2009
John Barnes's tenure at Tranmere was a comic farce.
Working alongside assistant, Jason McAteer, the pair were sacked with the club languishing 22nd in League One.
Barnes and McAteer arrived amid much fanfare at Prenton Park on June 15 but their reign proved a calamity losing eight of 11 league games.
Rovers slumped to their heaviest defeat since 2004 during a 5-0 reverse at Millwall - the division's lowest goalscorers, who were 4-0 up inside 27 minutes.
Barnes' managerial career ended mere moments after finishing a press conference for Tranmere's next match when the club announced his and McAteer's contracts had been terminated.
Source: Peter Guy
/ Echo
