West Ham United legend Alan Devonshire has been in management since 1997, proving his capabilities in the lower leagues of English football. When you look at what has achieved so far in his managerial career it’s pretty impressive whether it’s lower league football or not. The question I ask is will he ever be considered for the manager position at West Ham United further down the line?
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He started his career as a manager at Maidenhead United in the Isthmian League second division. He would then go on to have three successful years in this role, winning the Isthmian Full Members Cup in his first season. He would then go on to lead Maidenhead United to have one of their most successful seasons, winning all 3 county cups and narrowly missing out on promotion. The following season saw him get the club promoted to the Premier League division and establishing themselves as a regular name in the league. Devonshire then declared his intentions to leave, resulting in him joining Hampton & Richmond Borough in the Conference South in 2003.
He would go on to manage them all the way to the play-off final of the Conference South. In his first season his ability as a manager saw the club finish 5th in the league which was enough to get the club promoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division. After the promotion he manage to guide the side to a 6th place finish, before getting them promoted again to the Conference South a couple years down the line and then securing a play-off place for the Conference National – not a bad record for any manager if you ask me. He stayed as manager up until 2011when he would seek pastures new with his current club Braintree Town.
His history as a manager proves he somehow always manages to reach the play-offs or either secure silverware, pretty much exactly what you want from a manager.
So far Braintree Town find themselves 13th in the Blue Square Premier League on 48 points (16 points of the play-offs). This season is proving one his most challenging yet, as a manager so it will be interesting to how the former West Ham midfielder will cope and see if he can keep his impressive record going and reach the play-offs.
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At the moment there is a lot of uncertainty whether or not Big Sam will stay at Upton Park, with the fans opinions very much divided. Is someone such as Alan Devonshire a manager you would consider leading our side out in the Premier League either in the near/distant future, or is he miss?
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why not!? i loved him as a player (as much if not more than di canio), he has more experience managing. perhaps a more refined and less loud character than Big Sam, but i go against the current on this one… i dont believe being extrovert outweighs the ideas. … West Ham need someone with a philosophy in their head that will conquer the league. Zola had a project to develop youth, playing alla Ajax, but without the tools or the support. … i still believe that is the path to righteousness. We need the manager with these ideas, the players to execute (look at swansea), and the support from the management to implement it in the right way (without risking relegation).
For me at the moment someone like David Moyes or Michael Laudrupp would be more suitable.
16 years in management and still in non-league football. Says it all really. And people reckon Di Canio isn’t ready yet!
non-league is not as bad as you think. ive seen set-ups there very focused and dedicated. players and managers with great potential. its not all thuggery and route one. … the biggest differences are the lack of facilities, continuity and time. AND not playing on quality pitches every week. … Give me those 4 things and i’ll give you a team ready for league football. it’s not the lack of players capable of doing it, it’s the lack of opportunity. i wager devonshire has been in the non league arena more through his choice than anything else.
Devo was my No 1 favourite player. His pace down the wing was frightening, but as Steve says 16yrs and no big league managerial skills. Di Canio, well, passion yep, but if you have read the local Swindon papers, his man management skills still leave a lot to be desired.
What people fail to realise Alan has managed for a number of years in none league on very small budgets and has had great success. He now is at Braintree and has kept them in the conference prem now for 2 years they are now in their 3rd season , they are a part time side and on a very small budget and I mean very small. And today we are lying third In the table how fantastic is that , yes above Luton and how big is their budget .