Kmcalpin

Its a sign of the times I guess. Long gone are the days when people in positions of authority or in the public eye were never questioned and shown nothing less than 100% respect. Complaining about anything was taboo. Quite common in bygone days to applaud the opposition politely when they scored against you or at full time - we won't see that era again.

Sorry, can't find any trace of this. Whats the source?

Don't know about stats but its not taking any longer than usual. We usually take our time to make appointments. Perhaps some bigger clubs like Dundee United simply target candidates and chase them up, whereas we don't.

I still think he had a mixed record. He had a poorish record whilst at Scunthorpe and was fired when the club dropped to 3rd bottom. Sligo Rovers - initially he did very well winning some silverware but latterly the club dropped down the league. You ask about Steve Robinson? Ostensibly the quiet man of Fir Park, but I'm not so sure after the Cappielow dressing room bust up rumours. Supposedly he's a great tactician but thats about all I know of him. Don't know if he's applied or not.

No one did. However, you wrote "If we want an experienced guy with a proven track record of making silk purses out of sow's ears then we either: a) can't afford him...." That implies that the candidate in question had managed at a higher/more financially lucrative level. OK you didn't mention England specifically and that qualification could equally apply to say Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands and France for example. However in reality, we haven't appointed many managers from the likes of these countries (can't think of any off hand but I might be wrong). In practice it has tended to be from England (Gannon & McCall). I agree with your comment about managers who have come from Irish clubs - they have not tended to do well here and may not have been au fait with the level of our game.

Ah, we're now using rigs of growing lamps. Does anyone know if we've used them before?

There are experienced managers out there who would be interested in coming to us, who have a decent track record. The question is at what level? Managers of smaller clubs or clubs of a similar level may well be interested in our vacancy. The problem is that our level, any guy with experience of management in England who would apply, will have a mixed track record at best. English football being what it is even small clubs ostensibly have cash, out of kilter with their actual size. Whether or not a candidate has English management experience matters not a jot to me. The fact that someone may have managed in the English Championship is neither here nor there - it should depend on what someone has achieved in that league. Treat each candidate on their merit. I agree that the successful candidate will not enjoy the universal approval of our support - I would not expect them to. Human nature being what it is, if you ask 10 fans or employees of a company or charity or whatever what kind of managerial candidate they would prefer and you'll get a variety of answers. If our new manager is being selected by committee then its quite possible the individual members will have varying opinions.

Well said Iain. I'd take back Mark McGhee before Craig Brown. Contrary to all the internet tittle tattle McGhee played fair by us. Craig Brown is not the amiable avuncular character I originally thought he was.

Hopefully just a rumour.

Steady - he's one of our scouting team and has been for some time.

Agree about Strachan. McNamara - no thanks. Don't overlook the fact that although United lost 4 top players they should still have had more than enough in the squad to avoid the bottom 2 places. They have the 3rd highest playing budget in the Premiership and that isn't being reflected in performances.

No thank you...next name please.

Very odd - his managerial record is nothing to write home about. Again just a name on a betting list, I guess.

Why?

That sounds consistent with previous selection processes - a final short leet of about 5 candidates.

Yes, I do. I'm not saying we should rush matters unduly but as you said last time around we were painfully slow in making an appointment, although there were mitigating factors. Perhaps its because we are doing things by committee where as at Tannadice one man will decide. They also had targets in mind whereas we were not confident enough and decided to wait on applications arriving. Despite the lengthy and seemingly painstaking process last time we still got it wrong big time.

Some managers thrive on a shoestring budget and succeed, up to a point. They can organise teams and fire them up to fight. Alex Smith was just such a manager - a good guy to have in a relegation dogfight. However give them some cash and they struggle. In contrast, some managers like say Walter Smith or Alex McLeish need to have a monetary advantage over competitors before they can succeed. How would the Mourinhos and Wengers of the world fare on our budgets and in our situation - there's a question for you. In short there are different types of manager out there.

What we don't know of course is which candidates have actually applied for the vacancy. That would be very interesting.

So, he has left and the Head of Recruitment has also left with neither being replaced yet?

Thats my understanding too from his previous comments. Never at any point have I thought he'd be remotely interested in the vacancy.

Mark McGhee stated on STV news that he'd had no contact from the club.

Yes we've been mismanaged but its hard to say if Baraclough's successor will have a hard job on their hands. Many feel that the players are underperforming. If thats the case we have to ask why they're doing so. Maybe thats something the new man can rectify maybe its not. Is it the bonus system? Is it players being played out of position? Are there personality conflicts? Is it because we have talented individuals but they just don't have the character to compete? Is it because we have too many loan players? Is it because the make up of the team just isn't right - some players just don't fit in with a team's system. Who knows. What we need in the new management team is a mixture of skills - good man management and someone who is tactically astute.

Simo Valakari a front runner according to the Herald.

Not able to make the game yesterday. How was Grimshaw's off the ball (tackling, covering, blocking, closing down) contribution? I thought that these qualities were why he was signed on loan. Pearo? A very odd comment from you Iain, but I don't doubt it was right. One of Pearo's great strengths has always been his box to box ability - tackling at the back, running upfield with the ball and supporting his strikers, so it seems surprising that he wasn't doing this. Sounds like either he wasn't fit or as you say he was holding back on instructions. Incidentally he's well capable of playing wide left - maybe his best position?

Without wishing to take sides - do we know Jimmy Calderwood's view of the situation? I'm always sceptical of taking sides now without hearing from both parties first - been caught out too many times in the past by just accepting one party's views of events. Players or their agents are often quick to air their opinions in public but its less common to hear the views of clubs and managers. More than a few former players at Fir Park have hoodwinked the fans.