Alan Buckley

Tony's Verdict:  Town's most successful manager ever, but not loved. Never forgiven by many for his resignation and move to West Brom. Not forgiven either for returning and then buying loads of ex-West Brom players. Two winning trips to Wembley in 1998 made the unbelievers even more unforgiving. A small man in a small town who knows what he likes and likes what he knows. After match comments are restricted to "I thought our passing and movement was quite exceptional/poor today" or "we're a small club and we do our best". His teams always play the same way, 4-4-2, two tricky wingers and small forwards, ball players at the back and a defence which caves in under the high ball. Except when they don't, of course.

Prime public personality traits are exaggerated stubbornness and irascibility. Seems to have been at Town forever, even when he was at West Brom his ghost-like figure seemed to hang above Blundell Park. If he wasn't signing one of our players, he was trying to sign someone we were trying to sign. Most redeeming feature? He's not Brian Laws. His most unappealing feature for some is that he isn't Laurie McMenemy. There's only one Alan Buckley, and he's ours, whether we, or he, like it or not.

Never yet been manager of a relegated team. So his CV is not yet complete.