Third Time Lucky? |
Buckley's Seventh Heaven
By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 16/06/2007
ALAN Buckley is currently sitting in 7th place in the all-time list of Grimsby managers whose spells in charge of the Mariners have lasted 31 games or more. It has been a remarkable turnaround from the nadir at Plainmoor of a 4-1 defeat back in January, their seventh consecutive defeat.
Buckley is just four points away from where he was at at the same stage in 1997, which led to the Mariners' annus mirabilis of two victorious Wembley appearances and promotion to what is now the Championship.
Buckley's first spell back in 1988 is perhaps more comparable to his current and third reign at the club however, being in the same division and with the Mariners being in a similar place in the league when he took over. Grimsby are currently 5 points ahead of where they were at the start of Buckley's first spell at Blundell Park.
The full table is shown below:
Manager | Year | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Kerr | 1979 | 31 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 42 | 31 | 57 | 11 |
Lawrie McMenemy | 1971 | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 60 | 48 | 54 | 12 |
Bill Shankly | 1951 | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 57 | 34 | 54 | 23 |
Tim Ward | 1960 | 31 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 51 | 38 | 52 | 13 |
Alan Buckley II | 1997 | 31 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 47 | 29 | 48 | 18 |
Allenby Chilton | 1955 | 31 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 39 | 42 | 45 | -3 |
Alan Buckley III | 2006 | 31 | 13 | 5 | 13 | 40 | 44 | 44 | -4 |
George Fraser | 1921 | 31 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 43 | 41 | 44 | 2 |
Ron Ashman | 1973 | 31 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 35 | 27 | 44 | 8 |
Tom Casey | 1975 | 31 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 32 | 41 | 42 | -9 |
Bill Harvey | 1968 | 31 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 34 | 39 | 41 | -5 |
Brian Laws | 1994 | 31 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 39 | 38 | 41 | 1 |
Charlie Spencer | 1937 | 31 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 52 | 51 | 41 | 1 |
David Booth | 1982 | 31 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 47 | 45 | 41 | 2 |
Alan Buckley I | 1988 | 31 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 42 | 47 | 39 | -5 |
Mike Lyons | 1985 | 31 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 44 | 48 | 39 | -4 |
Russell Slade | 2004 | 31 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 35 | 34 | 39 | 1 |
Lennie Lawrence | 2000 | 31 | 9 | 7 | 15 | 31 | 46 | 34 | -15 |
Wilf Gillow | 1924 | 31 | 9 | 7 | 15 | 35 | 45 | 34 | -10 |
Frank Womack | 1932 | 31 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 52 | 69 | 33 | -17 |
Johnny Newman | 1976 | 31 | 9 | 6 | 16 | 33 | 44 | 33 | -11 |
Bobby Kennedy | 1969 | 31 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 26 | 33 | 33 | -7 |
Jimmy McGuigan | 1964 | 31 | 6 | 14 | 11 | 38 | 49 | 32 | -11 |
Paul Groves | 2001 | 31 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 32 | 41 | 31 | -9 |
Billy Walsh | 1954 | 31 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 30 | 53 | 30 | -23 |
H N Hickson | 1902 | 31 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 36 | 57 | 29 | -21 |
Bobby Roberts | 1987 | 31 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 37 | 51 | 29 | -14 |
Tom Johnston | 1962 | 31 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 42 | 60 | 26 | -18 |
Last season's successes, combined with some new summer signings, should hopefully see Buckley assemble a squad more in his own mould than that which he inherited from Graham Rodger. As I showed in an earlier article, Town's league position under Alan Buckley was ninth, so the play-offs is the very minimum Town should be aiming for this season. With the names above him in the table being associated with some of the finest managers in the club's history, any further rise up the table is likely to see Town in the top few places in League Two this season.
This site is by the fans, for the fans, and we will consider articles on any subject relating to the Mariners whether it be related to current news, a nostalgic look back in the past, a story about a player, a game or games in the past, something about Blundell Park or football in general. Click here to submit your article!
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