Leeds United
Blackwell left Sheffield United for
Leeds United to join
Peter Reid as his Assistant Manager in 2003. He remained in this role under
Eddie Gray following Reid's dismissal before taking over as manager of Leeds in the summer 2004 following the club's relegation from the Premiership. Handed the task of rebuilding Leeds' team after huge debts forced the jettisoning of its highly paid stars, Blackwell made a record number of signings for the club in
2004–05. He focused on value for money, buying players that, while talented, had not made the highest grade. Although early results were poor, perhaps affected by boardroom turmoil that saw the new board struggle to put the club onto a sound financial footing and in time led to its takeover by
Ken Bates,
Blackwell led the side to challenge for the playoffs, before a run of draws slowed progress, leaving Leeds in mid-table.
Blackwell had been seen as a temporary appointment, perhaps to be replaced by a more glamorous name, but his success in stabilising the team – and his initial popularity with fans – led Bates to suggest he had a long term future at the club.
In the summer of 2005 Blackwell was given financial backing and bought some high profile players for the new season. Proven strikers Richard Cresswell, Rob Hulse and Robbie Blake gave Blackwell plenty of firepower up front, while
USA winger
Eddie Lewis arrived to supply the ammunition. Once again Blackwell had convinced in-demand players to join Leeds. Blackwell's shrewd tactics away from
Elland Road and attacking style at home (where 9 out of 10 matches were won) proved very effective and, by the end of February,
Blackwell had guided Leeds to 3rd spot and an almost guaranteed play off spot, with automatic promotion remaining a possibility. The Leeds team however then produced some distinctly average performances and settled for their play-off place. This made a lot of Leeds fans disgruntled and many blamed it on Blackwell using the same tactics week in week out, with teams being able to predict this and counteract them.
Blackwell took his Leeds team into the Championship play-off final, after beating Preston North End 3–1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. However Leeds lost the final 3–0 to Watford on 21 May 2006. A string of bad results followed in both pre-season and the start of the 2006–07 and on 20 September 2006 his contract as Leeds United manager was terminated. As Blackwell left the club, Leeds were lying 23rd in the table, with seven points from eight games.
Luton Town
On 27 March 2007, Blackwell was announced as the new manager of
Luton Town and began his tenure with a draw against
Burnley.
[3]
The club entered
administration in late 2007, and in January 2008 Blackwell announced he would leave Luton after working a month's notice. However, he was sacked a week after making this statement.
[4][5]
Sheffield United
Blackwell, took the position of
Sheffield United manager replacing
Bryan Robson on 14 February 2008 until the end of the season. He was assisted by his former
Luton Town assistant
Sam Ellis.
[6]
After the Blades 2–0 defeat at home to
Charlton Athletic on 1 March 2008, Blackwell was critical of his team's performance, describing it as "insipid" and "embarrassing" in an interview on
BBC Radio Sheffield.
[7][8] Since then, the team went on a five game unbeaten run drawing at
Ipswich Town and winning four in a row against
Plymouth Argyle,
Coventry City,
Norwich City and
Barnsley to improve his chances of landing the job permanent. The 4-match winning streak ended to a 3–1 defeat against
Preston North End. The team responded with a 3–0 victory against
Leicester City,
James Beattie scored his first hat-trick of the club in that game. In his first Sheffield derby as manager, the Blades showed much improved passion levels as they came from 2–0 down against
Sheffield Wednesday to draw 2–2 with Beattie scoring a stunning free kick very late in the game to rescue a point. This was followed by a 2–1 victory at Burnley, with another superb Beattie free kick, and a 2–0 victory over Hull when United went down to ten men after skipper
Chris Morgan was sent off. In the penultimate game of the season, the Blades won 2–1 against Bristol City with Speed scoring a brace. With one game remaining in the season, United remained in with a chance of making the play offs, a considerable achievement after the Robson era. Sheffield United lost 3–2 on the last day of the season against Southampton and finished ninth, four points off the final playoff place.
In the 2008–2009 season Blackwell took Sheffield United to
The Championship play off final after beating
Preston North End 2–1 over two legs. Sheffield United lost the final 1–0 against Burnley.
On 14 August 2010 after losing 3–0 to
Queens Park Rangers, the club website confirmed that Blackwell had left the club by mutual consent.
with his own players and staff, Is this what Cov want ?
