Manager Of The Year

[The_Craig]

Thoughts?

 

Now we all know that 'Greenteeth' will win it because he had the league handed to him on a plate and went on a huge unbeaten run with a budget in excess of 20x what any other team has. But I think that Stuart McCall has done enough, at this stage of the season, to be in the running for Manager of the Year. To have 3rd place within our grasp and to be fighting for 2nd in the league is amazing given the apprehension at the start of the season

 

Now I know we have a strong backbone to the squad and the real test of his managerial skills will be when he has to rebuild the squad (McLeish springs to mind...) but certainly, he is on course to secure one of our highest points finsh, if not the highest in the SPL. We also are in with a shout of another trip to Hampden (maybe 2...). Aye we hit our usual poor form as we always do at the festive period but how we have bounced back is impressive. I think he's been the best Manager this season.

 

FTOF. I'd give it to McCall.

 

[Orinoco]

Upto now, it would be hard to disagree. Lets just wait and see what happens over the comming weeks tho. Lots of hard work are still required by our chaps.

[underboyleheating]

If we can finish second and win the Scottish Cup it would be very hard to ignore Stuart for manager of the Year. Given the huge gap in financial clout between us and Celtic the media would have to concede that he deserves it. There is still a long way to go and at the moment it’s all ifs, buts and maybes.

[roly]

He's still in hte running at this point. Needs to either finish 2nd or win the cup to still be in with a shout at the end of the season.

 

If Lennon does a double (which looks pretty likely) then I'm sure he'll get it no matter what.

[Andy_P]

I find these awards can be a bit hit and miss sometimes and I'm always slightly suspicious that there's more at play than simply an interpretation of who is most deserving. Although that's more so with regards the monthly awards to be fair.

 

I don't know if I would ever go as far as saying I had sympathy with those who have to make the decision but its clearly subjective as to what you consider is the more admirable achievement. Is it a "superpower" collecting the gold medal or a "diddy team" who might not necessarily win anything but who have still enjoyed a cracking season?

 

With Celtic winning the league for the first time in four years I'd be really surprised if Neil Lennon didn't get it, particularly now that he's personally added fuel to the fire that they aren't getting sufficient credit for their season. And admittedly there is a fair case for him turning that double figures deficit they faced into a 20 odd game unbeaten run.

 

But chuck in the fact Mixu won it last season and I just don't see a diddy club manager getting the nod this season much as, as things stand, the case for McCall is every bit as strong as it is for Neil Lennon.

[GrahamH]

At the moment it's Baron Greenteeth's to lose. Hopefully we can finishe second and/or win the SC to give them something to think about.

[sbcmfc]

I think Lennon will get it.

 

Think McCall is more deserving, can make a great case for him.

 

If you look at his success rate with signings vs lennons, id say it swings it to McCall.

[GazzyB]

I don't think the success rate with signings really comes into it to be honest. As much as I dislike the guy, Lennon's done a great job this year. He's won something like 15 games in a row now? He also clawed back a twelve (?) point gap when they were 2nd and Rangers were 1st. They would have won the league even without the administration debacle with Rangers. As have been said above he's also going to have won the league for the first time in 4 years from Rangers.

 

You can make a great case for McCall, and I know the above will go against the grain, but IMO I think Lennon deserves it at this moment in time.

[sbcmfc]

I don't think the success rate with signings really comes into it to be honest.

 

Surely that has to be a consideration?

It's one of the most important parts of the job!

 

Law, ojamma, higdon, daly and Clancy.

Vs

Bangura, wanyama, lustig, blackman, Matthews, Wilson...

 

All mccalls signings started yesterday (although lasley would play before daly). Lennon seems to sign 10 players and find 1 or 2 good ones.

[The_Craig]

It's not just success with signings, it's everything. Since McCall has came to the club, we have had a very good year what with the Cup Final, although our league form was absolutely shocking after the split.This season, we have been a revelation and apart from our blip over Christmas, haven't really been outside the top four all season. If we get to Hampden again and/or 2nd in the league, it will show how good a job the boss has done.

 

Look at the the Lemmon. On an impressive run of league form this season and will take the league at a canter thanks to the bother at Rangers. And with his resources, so he fucking should! To say the winner of a 2 horse race where one of the runners fell is the best manager in the SPL this season does Stuart a huge disservice and is a bit of a joke.

 

But I'm sure McCall would say just brush it off and say something like "Ach, but it's the lads on the park that do the business..."

 

 

[steelboy]

is it the managers that vote for it?

 

if lennon doesn't get it the toys will be well and truly out the pram. he was greeting yesterday about not getting credit after another dull as dishwater performance. how many times have celtic turned on the style this season? they win by attrition.

[real dosser]

His alter ego is resurfacing again after the draw at Pittodrie.

 

He has kept his mouth shut for all of the run of wins but now its the fault of the SPL for making his poor wee boys play on a Saturday after they were all on international duty during the week.

 

FFS were no other players away during the week.

 

God knows what he'll be like if somebody beats them before the end of the season.

[David]

McCall should get it, no questions asked. Lennon will get it though.

[delboy]

if Lennon doesn't get it he'll take his ball away and he won't let us play with it

[Tweed]

Manager of the Year is a funny beast. There is no tangible way of deciding whether the Old Firm winning the league is a greater achievement than a club finishing above the four non-Glasgow city clubs. Because at the end of the day you could point to Rangers being 1) in administration and even without that being 2) dreadful. For our achievement (should league standings stay the same) we have come in front of 1 Edinburgjh team who are a financial shambles and have loads of off field issues, the poorest Hibs team in a decade, an Aberdeen team that can't score and a Dundee Utd team who lost its four best players. On the flip side you could argue Celtic are so many points better off than last year and we have been immensely consistent for our budget. So aye, you could make a damn good case for either and you could make a case against the other as well. At the end of the day Manager of the Year is a US style accolade that nobody gives a shit about it apart from some oneupmanship with the Old Firm. So after all that I'm indifferent to the whole thing.

[weeyin]

Can we not just avoid the debate altogether and give it to Derek Adams?

[Ya Bezzer!]

I think some people are letting rivalry cloud their judgement! The current Celtic side is probably the best team to play in Scotland for quite a number of seasons. And it would be a brave man that would bet against Celtic to win the treble although I'm sure we all have hopes ourselves of a Scottish Cup win!

 

If McCall finishes second and wins the Scottish Cup that would be a magnificent achievement and he'd come into contention but I doubt very much if he would simply for finishing third with no silverware.

[CoF]

I think some people are letting rivalry cloud their judgement! The current Celtic side is probably the best team to play in Scotland for quite a number of seasons. And it would be a brave man that would bet against Celtic to win the treble although I'm sure we all have hopes ourselves of a Scottish Cup win!

 

If McCall finishes second and wins the Scottish Cup that would be a magnificent achievement and he'd come into contention but I doubt very much if he would simply for finishing third with no silverware.

 

 

I'm not too sure if it is rivalry, I think people are just looking for some context. Granted Lennon has put together a strong squad relative to the rest of the SPL but that's something a mediocre manager could probably do these days. It's impossible to tell how good a manager he really is when he has Celtics budget. Is it really an achievement?

 

McCall on the other hand has taken the team with probably the 3rd lowest income to 3rd in the league. That is without doubt a massive achievement.

 

 

I honestly wouldn't moan if Lennon got it. It's just really difficult to establish how much Celtic have actually achieved this season.

[numpty]

I'm not too sure if it is rivalry, I think people are just looking for some context. Granted Lennon has put together a strong squad relative to the rest of the SPL but that's something a mediocre manager could probably do these days. It's impossible to tell how good a manager he really is when he has Celtics budget. Is it really an achievement?

You'd think not, but let's not forget he was doing it so poorly earlier on this season that he was possibly only one game away from the sack prior to Celtic's first visit to Fir Park in November, with the SPL title race apparently all but over at that point. Unfortunately, we probably kept him in a job that day...

[fatcalf]

I think some people are letting rivalry cloud their judgement!

Fuck rivalry, I despise the yella toothed c**t, that a good enough reason?

[Big Stall]

I think if, and its a massive if, we were to win the cup and finish 2nd then he would get the award. That is probably the only thing that could trump a title win, and lets not forget that Lennons mob caught up the 15 point margin before the other mob got their points deduction.

 

As much as I don't like particularly like Lennon or Celtic, they have certainly deserved praise for the way they have went about their business over the last couple of months.

 

Really can't see a 3rd place finish beating a manager who wins the title.

 

 

Saying all that, I would fucking love to win the cup and who cares what the SFA/SPL whoever thinks is the best manager. If McCall got us a cup win and 2nd or even 3rd, he would be up their with Fir Park greats.

 

Postiejim and TheLip would have heart failure right enough.

[Joeboy]

McCall should definitely being in contention. It's manager of the year, not manager from November to May. People are waxing lyrical about Lennon being a great manger and overturning a fifteen point gap. The fact that a fifteen point gap existed shows he's not been the best manager all year round.

 

When it was fifteen points in October, three points separated us and Celtic. Now, three points separate us and Rangers. While the other two have had their patches of faltering, we have remained in more or less the same position, but for a week or two in January, all season round.

 

This season, Lennon will win Manager of the Year, in the same season "sacked in the morning" was sung about him. That alone suggest he's not the best manager.

[steelboy]

I think some people are letting rivalry cloud their judgement! The current Celtic side is probably the best team to play in Scotland for quite a number of seasons.

 

 

no chance, what are the performances that prove this? the rangers team that got to the uefa cup final and won the league the following season and the strachan sides that got to the last 16 of the champions league and gave a good account of themselves were much better sides.

 

they have been poor in europe and both old firm games so far and they have hardly been putting the diddies to the sword despite the huge financial advantage they have and pretty much every club downsizing. there is not a player in their team of the quality of mcgeady or petrov never mind larsson or moravick.

[texanwellfan]

i also think that Celtic ( lennon ) didn;t so much claw back a 15 point deficit as mush as Rangers threw it away. I put that more down to Rangers than Celtic. When you are behind a team the only way you can catch them is by them screwing up. Admiteddly you have to win your games but you can't make up the defecit the team in the lead has to give up the defecit. ......

Unless of course the games you have against them cover the defecit....................and also read into my statements, we are 8 or 11 points clear in third, no one can make that up only we can throw it away!!.............We have 2 games left against rangers, therefore we can make up a 3 point defecit.

[David]

For what it's worth, here's Craig Levein's take on the situation. How he manages to wrangle Peter Houston into the debate is a bit of a mystery though;

 

Manager of the Year? Where’s the debate? It has to be Neil Lennon doesn’t it?

 

Well no, actually. It doesn’t have to be, although when the votes of the 42 league managers in Scotland as well as national team boss Craig Levein are counted up at the start of May, it won’t be the shock of the century if Lennon tops the pile.

 

Last year Levein voted for Raith Rovers’ John McGlynn as the PFA Scotland Manager of the Year but this season he is undecided.

 

Celtic boss Lennon is in his thoughts but so too are Motherwell manager Stuart McCall, Dundee United’s Peter Houston and boss of runaway First Division leaders Ross County, Derek Adams.

 

Levein believes they all have a shout of winning for a variety of reasons.

 

He said: “Everybody has their own viewpoint. Last year I voted for John McGlynn because I knew what his budget was and how well he had done considering all Raith Rovers’ problems.

 

“I think Neil Lennon has an outstanding chance this year because of the difficulties he’s had and how he has worked his way through the problems.

 

“Going back to their game at Kilmarnock earlier in the season, they were 3-0 down at half-time and the guillotine was being sharpened.

 

“That’s how close it was and he said himself that his head was on the chopping block.

 

“For me, to go from that point to where he is now is a miraculous turnaround.

 

“It’s the improvement in the squad and in the results and the way they are playing.

 

“We are benefiting because his work has turned Charlie Mulgrew and James Forrest into international players while Scott Brown is playing some of his best football when he’s been fit.

 

“People argue about punching above your weight. If Celtic win the Treble, is that doing that when two clubs are expected to win everything?

 

“He has had to overhaul everything quite dramatically. His budget has come down in line with what the Celtic board of directors believe is necessary to keep the club running properly.

 

“You then add the pressure associated with the Old Firm. None of the other clubs have anywhere near the pressure those two have, so that’s another factor to be thrown in there. He has an outstanding chance.”

 

Levein countered his own argument by making a strong case for McCall as Motherwell battle to try to split the Old Firm.

 

He added: “It’s natural to talk about guys punching above their weight. With Motherwell’s budget, where should they sit in the Premier League? Sixth, seventh? I don’t know.

 

“I’d say that the Old Firm, Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and Dundee United would be the six biggest clubs in the country financially.

 

If Motherwell are the best of the rest that makes them seventh. So if they finish second or third in the league table that’s a pretty obvious gauge of how just well Stuart has done.

 

“He has managed to dig up some really exciting players and it is difficult to improve the standard of your squad on a tight budget.

 

“He has done that well and it has been a success story for them this season.

 

“The timing of these awards means we’re never quite at the end of the season when you have to vote.

 

“It would be easier if the season was finished but we just have to look at what’s happened at Motherwell up to this point and I can only assume and logically think they will finish the season as well as they have done up to this point.”

 

Levein applauded Adams’ record at Ross County, claiming: “I love that club and the way it is run.”

 

And he points to the job his Scotland assistant manager Peter Houston has done at Dundee United in the wake of losing a raft of his top players like David Goodwillie, Craig Conway, Morgaro Gomis, David Robertson and Prince Buaben.

 

Like Lennon, Houston was under pressure earlier in the campaign when results were poor and Levein paid tribute to Celtic and United for not sacking their managers.

 

He said: “I don’t know what Celtic were thinking about Neil at that point. I just know from reading what Neil said, that the Kilmarnock game was critical and that he could have been away at that point. I couldn’t say what was going to happen.

 

“But I think they are quite resilient at Celtic, the people behind the club, I think they are quite loyal to their managers. I would doubt if that was in their minds but I think Neil felt he was under pressure.

 

“We had the situation at Dundee United, which I spoke about at the time, and what was going on was ridiculous. I’m glad that common sense prevailed there and the manager was left to get on with the job and do what was necessary.

 

“I think there is a situation where people who run football clubs have to have realistic ambitions, that’s important.

 

“It’s simple as far as I’m concerned: the club with the biggest budget should win the league.

 

“If managers are all doing their jobs properly it will work its way down with the biggest budget at the top and the smallest at the bottom.

 

“So it comes down to the bosses who can make a difference in between.

 

“There are situations where you have important players missing through injury, and that’s a time for holding your nerve and just being patient and trusting the guy who’s done a job for you previously to continue to do that. The clubs that keep managers in position for a period of time are more successful.

 

“Think about it, if you have a budget and he spends the money and 14 or 15 months later you decide he’s not doing a good enough job then you have to pay off players, get rid of this player and that player and it costs you more money and you have to start all over again.

 

“For me the owner of a football club should decide what type of club they are, what sort of football they want to play, and employ a manager who fits in with the project.”