| Marcus Bignot 20:00 - Nov 3 with 4585 views | Northernr |
Utterly depressed by the Brexit and Sherwood threads so how about this... Marcus Bignot about to be manager at Grimsby, worked his way up by managing Birmingham Ladies and then Solihull Moors, part time team he's promoted into the Conference.
Thought he was a really good signing for us twice. Proper full back who could actually play the position. Rarely gets a mention when we're looking back fondly on those times. |  | | |  |
| Marcus Bignot on 20:03 - Nov 3 with 3845 views | runningman75 |
Good luck to him. Played for us in my favourite times of supporting QPR when we had no money, expectations and one of our connections with Bristol Rovers I presume part of the Oli influence. The times when We are QPR rang true around the ground. |  | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 20:05 - Nov 3 with 3826 views | Lblock |
I remember him playing centre back a couple of times. That's how desperate we were at times back then.
You are totally correct, he was one of the good ones and seemed a proper decent bloke |  |
| Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal |
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| Marcus Bignot on 20:21 - Nov 3 with 3771 views | MrGrieves |
Absolutely loved him. It might be nostalgia, but I can't remember him having a bad game. |  | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 20:27 - Nov 3 with 3749 views | Roller |
Sent packing by the administrator, but came back for more.
Is is time we added him into the "next QPR manager" equation? |  | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 20:27 - Nov 3 with 3747 views | Neil_SI |
I agree, I think Marcus Bignot was really underrated and underestimated. He played with great commitment, personality and enthusiasm for the cause. One of those players who knew his job and played with a smile on his face.
I hope he does well, good luck! |  | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 21:02 - Nov 3 with 3631 views | WestbourneR |
Great little player, versatile and committed and not bad on the ball. I remember when he first joined he even played centre mid... with Alex Bonnot and... Steve Palmer?
Ah, my favourite times at Rangers in recent years really. Such a good atmosphere around the club. |  |
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| Marcus Bignot on 21:06 - Nov 3 with 3620 views | eghamranger |
Sean Walsh (comedian and rangers fan) was on fantasy football last week on Sky and did his one to eleven best Qpr team since 2001 and put him as our best right back. He was quality and he was put in as a decent right back and used to sing 'come on your rs ' when playing.
Hope he does well. Had the right attitude to succeed |  | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 21:09 - Nov 3 with 3609 views | daveB |
I loved Bignot, a really good player. When he first joined he was outstanding in central midfield then switched to full back
A really nice bloke as well |  | | |
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| Marcus Bignot on 21:12 - Nov 3 with 3595 views | Northernr |
| Marcus Bignot on 21:02 - Nov 3 by WestbourneR |
Great little player, versatile and committed and not bad on the ball. I remember when he first joined he even played centre mid... with Alex Bonnot and... Steve Palmer?
Ah, my favourite times at Rangers in recent years really. Such a good atmosphere around the club. |
We agree! I'll book the photographer for the occasion. | | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 23:43 - Nov 3 with 3410 views | DesertBoot |
Really good defender and an equally nice guy too. Good luck to him. |  |
| Wish I could be like David Watts |
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| Marcus Bignot on 23:47 - Nov 3 with 3404 views | kensalriser |
I don't remember many games in the sort of detail some do, but I vividly recall Bignot's probably one and only goal for us, in a 3-0 win against Bury.
It was a poorly attended night game (I'd guess 8000 or so), cold and probably a bit drizzly. We took advantage of the then ability to move from the lower Loft into Ellerslie and selected plum seats for the second half (we were shooting towards the School end) and were rewarded by a perfect view of our third goal, Bignot's beautiful curler into the top far corner from somewhere near the left of the box. It was just a little twist on his normal 9 iron chip up the line, a shot he spent perfecting through all his time with us. |  |
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| Marcus Bignot on 23:57 - Nov 3 with 3394 views | Northernr |
| Marcus Bignot on 23:47 - Nov 3 by kensalriser |
I don't remember many games in the sort of detail some do, but I vividly recall Bignot's probably one and only goal for us, in a 3-0 win against Bury.
It was a poorly attended night game (I'd guess 8000 or so), cold and probably a bit drizzly. We took advantage of the then ability to move from the lower Loft into Ellerslie and selected plum seats for the second half (we were shooting towards the School end) and were rewarded by a perfect view of our third goal, Bignot's beautiful curler into the top far corner from somewhere near the left of the box. It was just a little twist on his normal 9 iron chip up the line, a shot he spent perfecting through all his time with us. |
Remember the goal really well but had to look up the details. Scored in injury time to crown a 3-0 win. Pacquette and Leroy Griffiths with the other two (dream team).
Looked it up on Soccerbase since and it's a Saturday game though, not a night match, just one of those January days that never bothered getting light in the first place. 10,003 the gate.
How about this for a team...
QPR: Digby; Forbes, Shittu, Palmer, Murphy (Perry); Bignot, Bonnot, Peacock, DouDou; Pacquette (Fitzgerald), Griffiths
Fcking Aziz Ben Askar was an unsused sub. Chronically under-used that bloke. Quality player. A dozen Moroccan caps after he'd finished sitting on our bench, one of the few criticisms you could have of Holloway at that time. And I remeber Ron Gould and others reached out to the club offering French conversation, social life, companionship and whatever to him and his wife after moving here and got nothing back. Anyway, rare negative on what was supposed to be positive thread. | | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 00:32 - Nov 4 with 3367 views | Boston |
I believe he has been earning a decent rep for his managerial work. | |
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| Marcus Bignot on 01:43 - Nov 4 with 3330 views | FredManRave |
This has reminded me of a piece I saw on him a while back on our BBC page and surprisingly it's still there so now it's here;
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36425814 (Dated 06 July 2016)
Marcus Bignot's journey: From rejection at Birmingham to Solihull, via Crewe
Solihull Moors manager Marcus Bignot is old school.
He doesn't do Facebook. He doesn't do Twitter.
More than that, the 41-year-old Brummie, reared from the school of hard knocks, believes in serving a proper apprenticeship as a manager - just as he did as in his 20 years as a player, at almost every level of the professional game.
The boyhood Birmingham City fan released as a teenager by his favourite team played in non-league for Telford United and Kidderminster Harriers.
He then found his way back into the professional game with Crewe Alexandra, Bristol Rovers, QPR, Rushden & Diamonds and Millwall. And, before he became manager of National League new boys Solihull Moors, he helped to cut his teeth in women's football, coaching Birmingham City Ladies.
But it is as manager of Solihull, where he has worked for the past five years without a contract, that he has done most to enhance his growing reputation - and all at a time when Telford and Kidderminster have gone in the opposite direction.
So much so that when the Moors went up in April, it was actually the Harriers they swapped places with, in the process becoming the top non-league side in the Midlands.
"Why," asks Bignot, "do these things happen? Why did the fates decide that we go up at the expense of Kiddy? I wanted to manage Kiddy, I could have managed Telford. Instead, I'm at Solihull."
Hard times at Damson Park
Although he retains an interest in Blues Ladies, purely on the coaching side, it is as manager of the Moors that Bignot is currently most preoccupied as he prepares for life in the fifth tier of English football after winning the National League North title last season.
Solihull were the first of the National League's four newly-promoted clubs to go up last season, following a highly satisfactory campaign in which the Moors won 25 of their 42 league games, to go up by nine points.
A successful conclusion to his fifth season in charge. But it was not always like that at Damson Park, the home of the club created in 2007 by the merger of two under-achieving non-league local rivals Solihull Borough and Moor Green.
Having taken over following the death of long-serving boss Bob Faulkner and the departure of his assistant Micky Moore to Mansfield, Bignot's managerial career did not start well.
"I didn't know the level," he said. "I didn't know the players. I lost my first seven games and I was suspended for five of them."
The Moors turned it around to avoid relegation. But worse was to come off the field the following season when the financially-challenged club were close to going under. "We nearly folded," he winces.
"It never got reported. That's how tightknit we had the dressing room.
"There's a reason why two clubs merged and it wasn't because they were doing well. I remember the chairman saying we had a £30,000 deficit and that we might struggle to reach the end of season.
"A friend of the club, Ian Atkins [the former Birmingham City and Everton midfielder] introduced us to Mike Turl, who we knew at Bristol Rovers and was a very successful local businessman here in Solihull.
"Ian invited him down to look at the books. I'll never forget the meeting. It turned out it wasn't £30,000. It was more like £60,000. His advice was you need to shut the doors and fold the club.
"Staff went without pay from January to the end of the season and every player took a 10% pay cut. It was a horrible period, but we had to do it."
"That's when the lightbulb switched on," continued Bignot. "Mike Turl told me if you're going to do this you've got to know the business side of running a club. It's not a lesson Jose Mourinho is ever going to have to learn, but it's why I wanted this journey.
"The higher you go up in football a sponsorship deal does not scratch the surface of a first-team budget. Here, it's massive. But it's not all based on money and it didn't happen overnight. We had a three-year strategic, business plan, a lot of hard work and sacrifices. But, if you have people who go above and beyond, then you know success is coming.
"In five years, we've been through everything. Back then we had a first team and an under-18 team. Now we're a community interest club with 30-odd youth and junior teams, reserves, an academy and a disability section. What we've done off the pitch in three years is remarkable. But what you get in non-league is good people who do it for the love.
"When we first came in we were averaging just over 200 crowds. Now we're past the 700 mark and we have to the end of this season to get the ground up to 4.000 capacity.
"In football today too many fans are outpriced. But there's something special about non-league. Fans can still speak to the manager and rub shoulders with the players. And we're the cheapest in this league. It's £13 on the door next season. Most Conference North clubs charge more than that.
"We're now the top Midlands non-league club, the fastest growing club in the Midlands. But the story isn't finished yet."
Proving Mrs Thomas wrong
"Being released by Birmingham City was not great," recalled Bignot. "All I'd ever wanted to do was play for Blues.
"I remember going to the dole office for the first time. It was on the same road as my school (Institute Road, in Kings Heath).
"Whenever we talked about careers, my Geography teacher Mrs Thomas had often told me 'you won't be a footballer'. And I was thinking Mrs Thomas is nearly right here. But that just drove me on. I saw that as failure.
"I got into non-league football. Season after season passes by and I wouldn't say you give up on the dream, but realism comes in and I was fortunate to meet good people on the way.
"I came across a chap called Tom Stack. I was doing nothing in the day when I was at Telford. He got me into coaching and he believed in me. Even at 19 or 20, I was being told I'd got a career in coaching.
"It's not about the money. I was getting paid well. I was getting more playing for Telford than in my first year at Blues and in proper men's football too. But I fell in love with coaching."
"My years at the Bucks Head with Telford kind of mapped out my career. They moulded me, put my feet on the ground. That's where I matured and grew up.
"At Kiddy, under Graham Allner, I first saw how to manage a football club, then Dario Gradi took it to the next level.
"I could have been happy and content at Telford and accepted the situation but I still had the mindset to be a pro footballer. I spent all day in the gym and, when I went back in, I appreciated it all the more.
"The rumours and talk had stopped at Telford. And, when I went to Kiddy, they were then the biggest non-league club not just in the Midlands but in the country. We put in a great run, but Macclesfield were even better and we just got pipped for the title.
"There was a lot of attention around Lee Hughes, who was scoring all the goals and he went to West Bromwich Albion. But I was getting a bit of attention too and I went to Crewe.
"I knew Dario was in the stand watching me away at Hednesford. Harriers turned down the original offer but I had 100% faith in Graham Allner that it would happen. Straight from the Conference into the Championship. It showed it's possible.
"Under Dario, every coaching session he did, I'd be looking at it from my own perspective as a coach - 'what can I take from this?' I always had my coaching head on when I was at Crewe.
"Then it was on to Bristol Rovers to work under Ian Holloway, who then took me to QPR too, on deadline day. Each manager I've worked for has had an impact but Ollie had an impact on my entire life. He signed me three times.
"I went to Rushden, who had just come into the League and we stormed it, my first taste of winning something. But Max Griggs' business fell on hard times, the mainstays of the team all went. I went back to QPR and got promotion again with Ollie, to the Championship. I was fortunate enough to captain the club and play under John Gregory too. Some really good times.
"Then to Millwall. I was Kenny Jackett's first signing. I ended up having chronic tendinitis in my knee, which put an end to my time there, but what a place to play. You hear cliches about the crowd being the 12th man but that's really the case at Millwall. You have to play well. If you didn't, you'd be booed off.
"I joined not long after the riot (following the Birmingham City play-off semi-final defeat in 2001). I'll never forget telling one local journalist that I was a Birmingham fan and him telling me 'for God's sake don't tell them that.
Blues Ladies was my Championship Manager
Bignot's time in ladies football was clearly not wasted. His wife Emma was the long-time first-choice goalkeeper for Arsenal and the Republic of Ireland. "We met at the Women's PFA awards night," Mr Bignot reflects with a smile.
Not many managers can say that. But Bignot is a soccer boss of the 21st Century, equally versed in coaching girls, boys, women or men. A football man through and through.
He was the man who helped form Birmingham City Ladies and still retains a healthy interest in the club now they are up in the Women Super League.
"I modelled Blues on everything I learned from Dario at Crewe," he said. "I had live people to work with. Working with Blues Ladies was like having my own Championship Manager.
"I was working for the Birmingham County Football Associate doing a festival at Billesley Park. It was a five-a-side tournament and I was responsible for the warm-ups. One of the teams was wearing the Blues strip and one of the girls was the sister of one of my friends at school. I didn't even know she played.
"I got speaking to his dad, who was the chairman and manager, and he said 'would you come and do some coaching? We've only got one player left and she's thinking about going.' That player was [England international# Karen Carney. She stayed, we went around and got the best under-12s we could find.
"They paid subs. And, out of that, they gave me a pound each. What a touch. I started coaching, then they wanted me to become manager, so I thought why not?
"We shot through the leagues. We overtook Villa and Wolves and won 10 Birmingham Senior Cups on the bounce. And Karen went on to get over 100 England caps, so did Eniola Aluko.
"Karren Brady was going to pull the plug, only for them to be saved by a private benefactor, but I could not keep committing to coming up from London, as I was at QPR by then.
"I love Birmingham City Ladies. To see them progress from where they were, to being the best in the Midlands, to compete nationally, then in the Champions League is a fairytale story.
"When the Women's Super League came in and Blues came knocking, I said of course I'll help but it will have to be under the radar. I didn't want to get stereotyped and pigeon holed.
"I've got to get in with my career making a name for myself in the men's game. It's a hobby for me. I will always help the ladies because I love doing it. But I just don't want to be at the head of it.
"I look back on my playing career with pride but I've had more pleasure on this side. You get more satisfaction when you invest time in others and you see them succeed. And one day I want to manage in the Football League and mirror my playing career."
Bignot In. |  |
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| Marcus Bignot on 09:09 - Nov 4 with 3192 views | BrianMcCarthy |
Good thread, and thanks for re-posting that article Fred.
Only saw Bignot play a few times. I thought he was good in midfield. Played very well with Peacock if I recall correctly. Always liked him as a person too. Good to see him doing well. |  |
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| Marcus Bignot on 10:14 - Nov 4 with 3110 views | hoof_hearted |
He's our sort of underdog is Bignuts. |  | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 10:32 - Nov 4 with 3087 views | Toast_R |
| Marcus Bignot on 23:57 - Nov 3 by Northernr |
Remember the goal really well but had to look up the details. Scored in injury time to crown a 3-0 win. Pacquette and Leroy Griffiths with the other two (dream team).
Looked it up on Soccerbase since and it's a Saturday game though, not a night match, just one of those January days that never bothered getting light in the first place. 10,003 the gate.
How about this for a team...
QPR: Digby; Forbes, Shittu, Palmer, Murphy (Perry); Bignot, Bonnot, Peacock, DouDou; Pacquette (Fitzgerald), Griffiths
Fcking Aziz Ben Askar was an unsused sub. Chronically under-used that bloke. Quality player. A dozen Moroccan caps after he'd finished sitting on our bench, one of the few criticisms you could have of Holloway at that time. And I remeber Ron Gould and others reached out to the club offering French conversation, social life, companionship and whatever to him and his wife after moving here and got nothing back. Anyway, rare negative on what was supposed to be positive thread. |
I was a that game too and it was one of the best goals I'd seen although somewhat of a freak.
Another great goal from that season, Richard Langley's goal in the usual home win over Blackpool. Curled on the half volley from outside the area at the Loft end. Not long after his return from that ACL. Was an absolute screamer.
Funny old season that one,looking back it's almost as if the whole thing happened in the space of 6 weeks. Who can forget the televised 4-0 drubbing at Swansea in the FA Cup? The start of that awful run in the competition? [Post edited 4 Nov 2016 10:33]
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| Marcus Bignot on 10:32 - Nov 4 with 3086 views | Antti_Heinola |
Good thread.
slightly funny though. Bignuts used to get pelters from the usual suspects on here for not being skilful enough. A sort of defensive equivalent of the stick Mackie gets. |  |
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| Marcus Bignot on 10:39 - Nov 4 with 3077 views | Dorse |
He was part of my favourite (millennial) back four: Bignot, Carlisle, Big Dan, Gino. At a time when we were absolute pants, they hit on something good. With those four names on the team sheet, I always felt like we stood a chance.
Loving Biggy's work. Seem to remember Terrell Forbes referring to him as 'Uncle Biggy' in an interview at one point. |  |
| 'What do we want? We don't know! When do we want it? Now!' |
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| Marcus Bignot on 10:42 - Nov 4 with 3074 views | WestbourneR |
| Marcus Bignot on 21:12 - Nov 3 by Northernr |
We agree! I'll book the photographer for the occasion. |
Haha. Give it a day Northern... | |
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| Marcus Bignot on 10:56 - Nov 4 with 3056 views | WestbourneR |
Or maybe not! Aziz Askar was quality, composed, centre back. Amazing what we dredged up on free.
Same with Padula - I remember it took a while to persuade Ollie to put him in the team but once we did we never looked back. | |
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| Marcus Bignot on 11:47 - Nov 4 with 3015 views | TacticalR |
@FredManRave "I got speaking to his dad, who was the chairman and manager, and he said 'would you come and do some coaching? We've only got one player left and she's thinking about going.' That player was [England international] Karen Carney. She stayed, we went around and got the best under-12s we could find."
If there was only one player it was good luck that it was Karen Carney. |  |
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| Marcus Bignot on 11:57 - Nov 4 with 2989 views | hoof_hearted |
| Marcus Bignot on 11:47 - Nov 4 by TacticalR |
@FredManRave "I got speaking to his dad, who was the chairman and manager, and he said 'would you come and do some coaching? We've only got one player left and she's thinking about going.' That player was [England international] Karen Carney. She stayed, we went around and got the best under-12s we could find."
If there was only one player it was good luck that it was Karen Carney. |
By the time he gets to be manager here the only player left will be Sandro. | | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 14:41 - Nov 4 with 2848 views | wrinklyhoop |
Great player for us Biggy (or Allied Carpets as Ollie called him for his dodgy barnet!). Loads of good memories of him from those days, including him giving Kiwomya a right piece of his mind walking off at HT up at Burnley (and CK didn't appear for the second half). Also having the embryonic Walcott in his pocket during a visit by Saints just before TW move to Arsenal. I'd take him over Hank in a heartbeat, never mind his lack of league experience! | | | |
| Marcus Bignot on 21:39 - Nov 4 with 2698 views | Brightonhoop |
Bignot got better and better as a player I thought. We could do with his sought today.
My best memory of him was against Crewe, one of theirs taking a throw in from R Block and some fella jumps up and says 'Look at me Mum, I'm playing for Crewe!' Bloke drops his shoulders, with a terrible throw in, Bignot takes possession and clears the danger. |  | | |
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