by Mid Sussex Royal »
24 May 2021 14:04
oldebiscuit Royal Rother Pathetic dismissal of the huge achievement of 2 promotions and a Cup competition in which we beat 3 top flight teams - all in the space of 5 years.
He may have been limited but he was a very successful manager for us.
Oh, and I’m not usually one of those tedious pedants with such an empty life that I have to point out spelling mistakes, but, in this case, I feel the need. Whatever your origins, it’s SIMOD not Simon.
Simon, Very good spot, and well pointed out, but my mistake isn’t undermining a Nation’s language.
However, I wouldn’t put my comments down as a pathetic dismissal, more of a realistic assessment.
Promotion one was Maurice Evans team that Branfoot took over in an unpopular Smee move, whilst we occupied the top four. Yes, Ian took it on and was in charge when we crossed the line.
Promotion 2 was an excellent achievement as I have already acknowledged, but asi have said, it was after this that he was out of sorts.
Please don’t take the Daytripper Cup as a serious result.
Agree with both posts to an extent and it shows how Ian Branfoot split fans' opinions probably more than any other manager in my time, would have been fun if HNA was around back then.
The football was never good to watch but you had to balance that with WWW which it was for a prolonged period
I agree the first promotion was Maurice Evans' squad and I'm convinced Maurice would have taken us up too but whether we would have made the next step up in my view is doubtful. But there is no doubt he was very harshly sacked, football is an entertainment business and in the first half of the season before Evans was sacked I really enjoyed the games which were very entertaining with several high scoring wins and from memory Trevor Senior had 20 goals by the end of October...it became much more pragmatic, even dull, following his sacking with the crowd pleasers such as the late Dean Horrix soon sold and replaced with harder working players. Sanchez, who I always rated, was sold to Wimbledon for peanuts.
The Simod Cup though was a fine achievement as as has been mentioned above, even before the final, Clough's Forest played a full first 11 as did Coventry in the semis, and a very decent Bradford side in the quarters going for promotion. That said, there was an element of default in it as some of Branfoot's desired first 11 were cup tied resulting in a more measured build up....why this side was never given a chance in the league, particularly when we were struggling, only Ian knows.