Managers Worked Under

(1) Bob Alexander **** (1945-74)

• President of Junior FA

• Approachable Character

• Very Strict

• If He Said Something - That Was Law

• Nobody Rubbed Him Up The Wrong Way

• Didn't Suffer Fools Gladly

• Good At Identifying What Player Would Suit Irvine Meadow

• He Knew Game Inside Out

(2) John Chryton **

• An Englishman

• Nice Man

• Reasonable Coach

• Wasn't At Meadow Long Enough To Assess Him In Detail

(3) Johnny McIntyre ****

• • Brought To The Club As A Player By Bob Alexander

  • Good, Good Player - Left Midfield

  • History Tells You About Him As A Player

  • Retired As A Player And Became Coach

  • Quite Heavy Duty With His Words

  • Good Coach

  • Straight To The Point

  • Quite Quick Tempered

(4) Davie Curlett **

• • Ex-Kilmarnock

  • Top Player At Killie

  • Pedigree Well Known

  • Good Coach

  • Nice Rapport With Players

(5) John Donachie **

• • Very Close Friend Of Sir Alex Ferguson

  • Spell With St.Mirren

  • A Nice Big Chap

  • Tactically Quite Shrewd

(6) John Minford *** (1989-90)

• • Played With Medda - Left Back From Hibs

  • Played With Hibs For A Good Few Years

  • Lived In Hurlford

  • Funny Big Guy

  • Took Training

  • Pass Marks

(7) Johnny Boyd ****

• • Great Player

  • Right Or Left Half From Greenock Morton

  • Was Captain For Morton

  • Well, Well Known

  • A Stalwart

  • Smashing Guy

  • First Class Coach

  • Good Knowledge

  • His Son Played For Medda For A Wee While

(8) Neilly Muggins ***

• • Very Good Player With Irvine Meadow

  • Nice Man

  • First Class Player

  • Fair Coach

  • Good Servant

(9) Davie McIlroy **

• • Played With Irvine Meadow Too

  • Small Chap

  • Outside Left

  • Good Servant

  • A Wee Character

  • Got A Lot Out Of Him

  • Used To Do Backflips When Celebrating Scoring A Goal But One Time Had To Get Stretchered Off After Doing His Back In

(10) Sanny McInespie ***  (1982-84)

• • Complicated Big Character

  • Controversial

  • Always Thought He Was Right

  • Alright Coach

  • Had To Be His Way Or Not At All

  • Good Trainer

  • Infamous One - Took Training One Saturday Morning At The Waterfront Before A Scottish Cup Tie At Arbroath, Training Went On & On And As A Result Nearly Missed Kick-Off - Players Had To Get Stripped In The Bus

(11) Allan Johnston **** (1986-89)

• • Ace Player

  • Different Class

  • Between Three Of My Favourite Ever Irvine Meadow Players Along With Hugh O'Brien & Eric Morris

  • Used To Drop Like A Bag Of Tatties And Could Win You Penalties All Night

  • Good With The Players

(12) Willie Knox **** (1995-96)

• • What A Lad

  • Record Second To None

  • Astonished He Came To Medda As He Was Auchinleck Talbot Through & Through

  • Him And 'Bob Alexander' Were Similar

  • Knew What Players Were Right For Irvine Meadow

  • Wasn't Very Coach Oriented - Used To Say To The Team, You Know Who We Are Playing - Now Go Out There And Get Stuck In

  • He Knew His Players Would Do The Business

  • Reminded Me Of 'Colombo' - Used To Go Into All His Different Pockets To Try And Find The Teamsheets

(13) Davie McKellar ** (1996-97)

• • Ex-Rangers Goalkeeper

  • Delightful Big Chap

  • No Airs Or Graces Of Who He Was

  • Tactically Quite Astute

  • Quite A Short Time At Meadow

(14) Milton Thompson *** (1985-86)

• • Honest Chap

  • When He Said Something About A Player He Meant It

  • 110% Effort & Time For Irvine Meadow

  • Very Dedicated

  • Generous To Help The Team

  • Good Coach

(15) Jim O'Donnell *  (1993-95)

• • Been Round The Block

  • Knew The Game Well

  • Rather Egotistical

  • Wasn't Bad In Coaching Department

(16) Iain McQueen *** (1991-93)

• • Heavy Duty

  • Not A Slouch

  • He Was Decent

  • Good Talker

  • Players Would Always Listen To Him

  • Short Fuse

  • Used To Kick Tables And Throw Things Around The Dressing Room

(17) Jack McCartney * (1997)

• • Experienced

  • Knew The Game Quite Well

  • He Was The Boss Man

  • All Revolved Around Him

  • Not Easy To Get Along With

(18) Ward White *** (1997-2001)

• • Ex-Celtic Man

  • Lovely Chap

  • Nice Guy

  • Alright Coach

  • Very Clever

  • Had Always Said To Me That He Hoped Not To Be The First Meadow Manager To Be Relegated But Unfortunately That Did Indeed Happen

(19) Robert Reilly **** (2001-2003)

• • A Star In His Own Galaxy

  • Knows What He Is All About

  • Top Notch

  • Thought He Was Still Senior

  • His Only Problem Was He Did Not Get On With People Too Well

  • Only Meadow Manager To Move Dug-Outs - Moved 'Home' Dug-Out To Far Side Of Meadow Park (Winton Road Terracing)

(20) Ross Findlay *** (2003-05)

• • Another Who I Was Surprised To See Come To Meadow As He Is Steeped In Talbot History - 'The Auld Enemy'

  • Good With Players

  • Quite Funny

  • Friendly And Agreeable

  • Good-Natured And Likable

  • Quite Amiable

(21) Chris Strain ****  (2005-2013)

• Another Who Played For The Meadow

• Not A Bad Coach

• Spoke A Lot Of Sense

• Not So Good At Man Management

• Nobody Has A Record Like Him

• Most Successful Manager In Irvine Meadow History

• Won A Lot Of Trophies At Meadow And Made History On A Few Occasions By Winning Evening Times Cup Winners Cup (First Ayrshire Side To Do So) & Defeating A Senior League Side (Arbroath) In The Senior Scottish Cup

• Strain - Number One IMO Due To Results And Number Of Trophies Won

Interview - Monday 17th February 2014