Chris Turner

By Clarence Rode
December 17 2008

The betting is well under way for the job of manager of Hartlepool United, and the usual good bets and no-hopers are lined up for one of several hot seat events in English football at the moment. Blackburn Rovers may have acted fast to replace Paul Ince with Sam Allardyce, but there’s no sign of such speed at the Vic, where Pools are likely to take their time.

Chris Turner is doing the job in an allegedly temporary basis at the moment, and he’s one of the favourites to get the job long-term (Please note the picture of him above was taken while he was boss first time, and he's eaten a few Yorkshire puds since then).
But does he want it? If he had wanted a manager’s job, why has he been Director of Sport (whatever that is) for an oil company for the last few years? Turner is not employed by Pools, but by the club’s owners IOR and nobody has ever clearly explained what his role is, not publicly anyway.
Turner might have done better than most first time round at Pools, though he signed far more dummies in his time than the sacked Danny Wilson (right) did, but he didn’t do so well when he moved on to Sheffield Wednesday and Stockport, sacked by both clubs.
If a team is as good as its last result, surely a manger is as good as his last job ... which makes Turner, er, not very good.
And possibly not very hungry, which is always a danger in a manager. But some bookies make him favourite for the job.
The leading odds: 5-4 Turner (see above), 6-1 Nigel Clough (good name, poor record), Stan Ternant (thanks, but no thanks), 8-1 Steve Fallon (who?), 9-1 John Ward (sacked at Carlisle), 10-1 Ady Boothroyd (can Pools afford him?), Vinnie Jones (somebody’s having a laugh), 12-1 Chris Wilder (who?), Ian Holloway (er, right), David Hodgson (even funnier than Vinnie), 14-1 Richard Barker (not yet), Colin West (hmmmmm), 16-1 Richard Money (sacked at Walsall, just appointed at Swindon), Brian Little (sacked all over), John Hollins (ditto), 18-1 Dave Penney (another joke entry), 20-1 Billy Davies (now you’re talking), Ian Dowie (sacked all over), Phil Parkinson (good idea), Joe Allon (Mike Newell has more chance), Maurice Malpas (sacked), Lee Sinnott (who?), Alex Inglethorpe (apparently doing a great job at Exeter.
Outsiders include Peter Beardsley (a mate of Ken Hodcroft, but no experience and that’s a risk), Alan Shearer (pull the other one), Neale Cooper (not on Hodcroft’s Christmas card list), Neil McDonald  (former Carlisle boss sacked in mysterious circumstances now coach at Leeds), Graeme Jones (assistant to Roberto Martinez at Swansea), Ian Butterworth (stayed behind after Wilson’s departure, knows the club and the squad).
Whoever gets the job, you can probably bet that the newcomer will be a surprise choice and that there will be no leaks before the announcement, with owners IOR more secretive than the Kremlin ever was.
It’s going to be interesting., and it's going to be guesswork all the way.