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Winston Ingram
13-10-2009, 07:17 PM
http://blog.sport.co.uk/Football/424/Top_Ten_Meddling_Chairmen_.aspx

Can't believe Vlad is only no.2:confused:



1. Flavio Briatore – The Michael Winner-looking QPR owner and motorsport tycoon is now banned for life from Formula One after ordering one of his own drivers to crash. Which will at least free up more time to phone in substitution demands from Kuala Lumpur, as he is alleged to have done last April when Lee Cook replaced Liam Miller against Crystal Palace. Briatore is claimed to have often picked the Rangers side during Paulo Sousa's reign as manager, changing his selections shortly before kick-off and even giving a pre-match team talk.

2. Vladimir Romanov – The Lithuanian Hearts owner’s son Roman admitted in 2005 that no manager would have one hundred per cent control of team selection under his father's regime. He said: "One hundred per cent? Definitely not. Maybe 50 per cent, maybe 60, because there are different reasons for choosing the team." As much was apparent when Romanov, who made his first fortune selling bootlegs of The Beatles and Elvis, sacked George Burley - despite winning the opening eight games of the 2005/06 season – because of his refusal to comply with faxed-over team selections.

3. Terry Smith – When manager Kevin Ratcliffe quit Chester City three games into the 1999/00 season citing interference from new chairman Smith, things looked ominous. When the club were eventually relegated, the former American football coach still hailed the campaign as a success, claiming his side had met "nine out of 10 pre-season targets". The 10th, of course, had been to stay up. Amongst other bizarre decisions, Smith once famously took his players to McDonald's for a pre-match meal.

4. Michael Knighton – Knighton once claimed to have received a telepathic message from aliens saying "Don't be afraid, Michael". However, he didn’t mention if the aliens had instructed him to name himself Carlisle United manager, which he did in 1998. "I'd been a PE teacher, I'd been interested in sports science all my life,” he said at the time, no doubt convincing all and sundry that he truly was the man for the job. Until, that is, he got them relegated, only staving off relegation to the Conference off the back of appointing Nigel Pearson as manager and that incredible game in which substitute goalkeeper Jimmy Glass scored a last-minute winner. There’s a film in here somewhere.

5. Barry Fry – Having been manager of Peterborough for nine years, Fry was unable to keep his mitts off first team affairs after he assumed control of the club. In 2006, Fry appointed Ron Atkinson as a team consultant to manager Steve Bleasdale, and allowed Sky's cameras to film inside the dressing room for a reality series called 'Big Ron Manager'. They caught a series of clashes between Fry, Atkinson and Bleasdale, including one which sparked the latter's resignation during a pre-match team talk after Fry told him, "It's clear that you're muddled up, that you don't know what to do" and promptly announced a new starting XI and revised tactics. Bleasdale said: "Ron would ring me up and talk about formations and I would tell him we didn't have the players for his formation. Then he would agree to my formation, but retract it the following day.”

6. Dmitry Pietrman – The Ukrainian had designs on managing Racing Santander, whom he had just bought, but was told that he’d need to complete a six-year coaching course. Pietrman responded to this, referring to George W Bush, with: "There's a dork out there running the most powerful country in the world without a qualification to his name. And you want me to have a diploma to run a football team?" The answer was yes, so he appointed old friend Chuchi Cos as manager and made himself official club photographer, a position which also allowed him to bark orders from the touchline.

7. Milan Mandaric - Brought in a director of football over Harry Redknapp's head at Portsmouth: an unknown Croatian called Velimir Zajec who reported directly to Mandaric. Redknapp is wont to describe points of objection as "a load of old tosh", and he may well have rolled out what is fast becoming his stock phrase on this occasion.

8. Alan Sugar - Amongst other contentious actions while chairman of Spurs, Sugar sacked Terry Venables the night before an FA Cup final and appeared on television with a Jurgen Klinsmann shirt saying that he wouldn't wash his car with it. In October 1998, former Tottenham striker Teddy Sheringham released his autobiography, in which he launched a scathing attack on Sugar, claiming that he was the reason that he had left Tottenham in 1997. Sugar does something else these days. On telly, or something like that. Perhaps you've heard of it.

9. Tom Hicks and George Gillett - Did the deeply unpopular American pair really buy £20m Robbie Keane for Liverpool without the consent of manager Rafael Benitez? It's the thought that counts, right?

10. Florentino Perez - The one-man instigator of Real Madrid's Galacticos policy. Who will he turn his attentions to next?

Phil D. Rolls
14-10-2009, 08:18 AM
Surprised to see the owners of Notts County aren't mentioned, as they seem to have Vladist attitudes towards running the club.

Liberal Hibby
14-10-2009, 09:03 AM
The most surprising thing is that Knighton is at no 4 - any chairman who actually appoints themselves manager surely has to win the title?

New Corrie
14-10-2009, 01:02 PM
The most surprising thing is that Knighton is at no 4 - any chairman who actually appoints themselves manager surely has to win the title?


Enter Ron Noades, former Palace and Brentford owner who appointed himself Brentford manager. When interviewed after a poor Brentford result he said, that (I, the owner) will give (me, the manager) the dreaded vote of confidence when we meet on Monday.

Bostonhibby
14-10-2009, 05:52 PM
Phah! fads like Briatore come and go, quality interference endures, there is only one Vlad. You have to judge these things over time.

Phil D. Rolls
14-10-2009, 05:55 PM
Phah! fads like Briatore come and go, quality interference endures, there is only one Vlad. You have to judge these things over time.

:agree: absolutely, Vlad will go the extra mile now he is slipping down the league.

Bostonhibby
14-10-2009, 06:01 PM
:agree: absolutely, Vlad will go the extra mile now he is slipping down the league.

:agree:replace himself with a few more of his mates in the transfer window, problem solved!