The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Formic wrote:I would never have voted for Talbot on the strength of the Conference promotion alone, given how long that took, but I do believe he did a good job in the first two league seasons - spotting the issues we had, unearthing Onandi Lowe, blending in the likes of Barry Hunter, Andy Edwards and Stuart Wardley, and getting the best from the likes of Burge and Unders in their first league seasons, bringing through Gary Mills, John Dempster and David Bell etc.

(I accept he couldn't go too far wrong with the Bignot or Hall signings, and he did sign Scott Partridge, and fail to get the best from Rodney Jack as well).

He did still have serious funds from Max, but we've seen that it doesn't always guarantee success.

I totally agree, which is why he won my vote in the end, although I very nearly opted for Ashby. 8 of the 11 players in the All Time XI were signed by Talbot, and 1 (Burge) graduated from the youth team under him. As Formic says, some of them were far too good for the level they joined at, but he did discover the likes of Paul Underwood and for that you have to give him credit.

I can't say I ever really liked OBN (although I did meet him on several occasions, and he always seemed perfectly amiable) but you can't argue with the success he (eventually) achieved, and it's also worth considering his contribution behind the scenes, for example the introduction of the youth system, of which he played a significant part.

Somebody else joined me with a vote for Hunter