AS Tommy Taylor raged against his critics, little did he know he was setting himself up for a fall.

"My managerial record is a good one. I've won more than I've lost and I've drawn more than I've lost. There aren't many managers who can say that," he insisted.

That sounded like a challenge to us at Northern Echo Sport, so we set out to see whether Taylor was right.

Sadly for the Darlington manager, as our panel shows, the statistics did not back up his lofty claims.

In fact, his is the least best (one hesitates to use the word "worst") of the bosses of the five North-East Premiership and Third Division clubs.

And a closer scrutiny of the figures makes for particularly painful reading for Darlington fans.

From 52 games in charge at Feethams, he has had 14 victories and 23 defeats - making a win percentage of just 26.92.

Yes, we are aware of the clich that includes the words "lies" and "statistics". But one cannot deny that these figures carry some weight.

Of course, there are many extenuating factors - which team the manager was in charge of, how long he was there, club stature and size, and so on.

But look at the men who have dominated English football in the last ten years - Arsenal's French legend Arsene Wenger and Manchester United supremo Sir Alex Ferguson.

Wenger has won 56.64 per cent of his games at Highbury; Ferguson is just behind, with 55.21 per cent from nearly 16 successful years in the Old Trafford hot-seat.

Of course, Taylor deserves more than 12 months to turn around Darlington's fortunes. The weight of expectancy that currently envelops Feethams is greater than the club's under-achieving players deserve to be saddled with.

But will Taylor be given that oh-so-precious footballing commodity: time?

Today's game with Bristol Rovers on home turf at Feethams could be a defining moment in his reign.

Elsewhere, perhaps the Sunderland supporters who are still calling for Peter Reid to go might want to take note of his position - sitting proudly at the top of the North-East tree.

Yes, that's right.

Reid's overall record from around ten years at Manchester City and Sunderland is better than Sir Bobby Robson's in all his years at Fulham, Ipswich Town and Newcastle United.

(The table does not include his time in Holland, Spain and Portugal.)

N-E Career Records

Peter Reid: Played 486 Won 215 Drawn 129 Lost 142

Win percentage: 44.24

Bobby Robson: Played 812 Won 346 Drawn 202 Lost 264

Win percentage: 42.61

Steve McClaren: Played 55 Won 22 Drawn 12 Lost 21

Win percentage: 40.00

Chris Turner: Played 198 Won 78 Drawn 58 Lost 62

Win percentage: 39.39

Tommy Taylor: Played 399 Won 140 Drawn 114 Lost 145

Win percentage: 35.09

* Includes League and Cup