Kmcalpin

I'd go along with that and thats what I'd have done if I'd been in Gordon Young's shoes. A saftey first stop gap strategy. That said, the tactics were wrong as they have been all season. Too many wingers and not enough strikers. All too often Blackman was given no support.

The problem, once again, was that he was isolated and playing as a single striker against a big defence. Tactics and team selection to blame here, as it has been for much of the season.

Agree with all of that but not Jimmy Calderwood.

Probably true - buy 2 extra half time draw tickets instead.

Cheers Iain, a good idea. It'll benefit the club again.

Can't say I'm enamoured with any of the names being touted so far and I live in hope that JB will go for a surprise choice. Chris McCart has no managerial experience and would be represnt a big risk - he'd also cost us compensation.

You're perhaps turning the point round 180 degrees but its a valid one nonetheless. Since the dawn of Thatcherism, British society has become fixated with success. You have to be a winner/only the best will do. That simply isn't isn't sustainable and the Barcelonas of the world need smaller sides to predate. Take away the prey species and the predators die out. It ain't rocket science. There are many footie "fans" like that but equally many are quite content to support their local team

After the hooha about the article on here and on FPC, I decided to track down the offending piece. Have to agree the author quite plainly has some kind of axe to grind with us and is simply abusing his priveleged position to have ago at us. Poor journalism, and the kind of article that gives his occupation a bad name. At the end of the day, although he's a journalist, his opinion is no more important than ours.

As far as I know the club is acting on this issue to try to tie up the players you mention. Thats as much as it can do. It cannot force players to sign deals. It certainly won't be made any easier if they receive offers from bigger clubs. I would not take all that you've read as being the gospel truth. Your comments about Jim Gannon being pushed out are not accurate for example.

Don't know about that. His playing budget at East End Park was one of the largest for a provincial club and the Pars gained some success only after other clubs like us cut back. At Pittodrie, his budget was way above anything we had at Fir Park.

I can't quite fathom out the attraction of Steve Clarke. On the plus side he's worked in the English Premier League but so what? What has he achieved on his own? He's used to working with extremely expensive players - a luxury never afforded to even Neil Lennon or Walter Smith. I'd rather go for a manager who knew his way aound the lower leagues in England, but someone a wee bit more stable than Jim Gannon.

Thats my take on it too, Steve. He always presents himself very well in the media and is a good ambassador for the club. To that extent he impressed me in the interview. But, he didn't actually say anything of significance or anything that made me sit up - not that I'd have expected him to.

Yes, I read this too. From the way it was written I assume that it wasn't the club who gave the information to the SoS. That being the case, I'd like to read the club's take on this article. Given Craig Brown's success as Head of Youth Development (a post which he held jointly and simultaneously with the post of National Coach) should the club have given him control over youth matters? I'm always suspicious of such articles - I prefer to read a balanced account and then I can form my own view, rather than being spoon fed a loaded opinion.

Excellent post.

Two and a half year deal.

After whats happened I have no time at all for Craig Brown and I can quite understand our fans wanting to have a go at him but I'd rather we channelled our considerable energies into helping the club now in its hour of need.

Its now beginning to emerge from one or two sources that Craig Brown's agent approached Aberdeen about the vacancy. He's been quick enough to sign a deal at Pittodrie but wouldn't sign one at Fir Park. He has earned no respect from me over this sad and devious episode.

MFC in its dignified Official statement made a plea for us, the fans, the rally round the club. If we can aafford to and are able to, we should show our support by attending Tuesday's game (if its on) and selling the raffle tickets that have been sent out to season ticket holders - this initiative seems to have been forgotten, not surprisingly, in the wake of other events. Proceeds to be returned to FP before Christmas. Management, Directors and players all move on we will remain - we are Motherwell Football Club.

I'm with you on that, Ladywell. Being a good head of Youth Development is entirely different from being a good manager. Just ask Falkirk and Eddie May! Can't say I'm taken with any of the names mentioned so far for various reasons - only possible exception is John McGlynn and I don't know an awful lot about him. Surprised too at Billy Stark being mentioned after his somewhat less than successful stint at McDiarmid Park. In recent times, JB has had some success with bringing in surprise names and I hope he'll do so again. Its best to take our time and get the right man. Yes, it should be an interesting evening tomorrow, Colin.

My thoughts exactly. He walked out on Hibs and left his successor a poor but much over-rated squad. Basically left before things went belly up.

Great statement from the club. It would appear that Aberdeen have been underhand in all of this - not even informing MFC of their interest - a very basic courtesy. Are we due some compensation - even if its pennies I'd push for it. Lest all rally round now.

I haven't read the statetment on the Official Site yet (unable to load it) but I'm not concerned at Brown and Knox leaving. A gentlemans agreement was always a peculiar way of doing things and who knows what the details actually were. Without knowing the full facts of that I won't criticise either club or manager for the parting of the ways. What I am very disappointed in however is Craig Brown's public comments. He always appeared to be an avuncular figure - a lovable old gentleman but I was never fooled by that exterior - he's a shrewd operator. He has let the fans and the club down badly with his recent interviews and I'm sure the club isn't too happy about it either. To say what he did (praising the club & fans) prompting the club to put a message on the Official Site and then do a complete U turn is a very poor show. He'll leave us with a bitter taste in the mouth. All that said, he is 70 years old and was only ever going to be a short term stop gap to steady the ship. That being the case, presumably the club has been preparing for this day. If it hasn't then serious questions do need to be asked. I'm fairly sure though that the club will handle matters well.

Seconded.

Maybe you're being too quick to judge the club here. The "abuse" incident aside, no-one on this Board (as far as I'm aware) knows exactly what the root cause of the problem actually was. If, and it is an if, your comparison above is accurate then I smply can't believe that someone from the club hasn't done the same calculation and arrived at the same conclusion. I don't think we should back the club on any issue blindly but by the same token we shouldn't put the boot in without knowing the facts. Out of curiosity, if anyone knows precisely what the full story actually was please PM me and I'll keep it confidential.

Yes, but does that amount to serious abuse? Surely the club is allowed to say thats its too expensive? Customers do it all the time and take their business elsewhere. I don't think there's anything wrong in saying a product is too expensive. Surely there's more to this story than that?