S Robinson Motherwell Manager

[Ya Bezzer!]

It's called PR. It happens when football clubs/companies make announcements.

 

And all this chat about the process being amateurish...Why is that? Because the club took time to evaluate their options, assessed a number of candidates, including the current interim manager, and chose the option that best met their criteria? Amateur hour indeed...

 

Have we just done away with the whole "let's give the new guy a chance" approach?

 

What a bunch of greetin-faced arseholes we are sometimes.

 

I'm happy for him to try and keep us up by whatever means necessary. Sure, the job in the summer is a different story, but then at Oldham he had to bring in an entire squad, things aren't quite that extreme for us. Let's see how it goes before getting the pitchforks out eh?

 

I've complained about the miserableness surrounding this place but there is no getting around people's initial reaction to this appointment. We just put a guy in place with a terrible record in club football.

 

I think most people have said they are willing to support Robinson regardless if they think he was the right choice or not. He's in a difficult position though and with the spectre of relegation hanging it's not going to be a big surprise if he doesn't get much of a honeymoon period.

 

I'm sure he realised that when he took the job.

[Ballso]

What was the point of interviews and bringing Valakari over to rubber ear him again. We need to support Robinson now and just hope he keeps us up. Lack of imagination and for sight and a chance lost to take the club in new direction springs to mind have to say. Is he going to continue our signing policy of duffers from the English non league I wonder.

So we should only have invited simo over if we wee definitely going to give him the job?

 

On the signings point, is imagine given the public stance on future club model that this policy would continue no matter the manager.

[Villageman]

Wish him well although, I am concerned that we will see defensive boring football. But if it gets results I'm all for it.

From now until the split and probably beyond it's about results, not beautiful football. Next season has to be different.

[Yassin]

What was the point of interviews and bringing Valakari over to rubber ear him again.

Are you familiar with the concept of interviews?

[Yabba's Turd]

 

I've complained about the miserableness surrounding this place but there is no getting around people's initial reaction to this appointment.

These are miserable times. Some people just want change for change sake, others see it as unimaginative and safe. Either way folk are entitled to be underwhelmed.

[Catweazles ring piece]

The issue here is an inexperienced manager and an inexperienced assistant.

He definitely has a good reputation as a coach.

 

Are they transferable though - example Malpas!

 

Best of luck and I hope he has massive success. However, my team are in perilous position.

Concerned we are about to go the way of other "to good to go down" SPL teams!

Time will tell!

[El Grew]

Club Chairman Jim McMahon

“We are extremely pleased Stephen has taken the role of manager and we look forward to working with him in the future. The Executive Board, together with representatives from both the Supervisory Board and the ‘Well Society, identified a shortlist of five candidates from over fifty applicants and as well as doing a extensive amount of background work, took its time to conclude an rigorous interview process.

“It was clear that Stephen was the outstanding candidate. He has a real vision of what the club needed in the short, medium and long-term and a plan of how he would implement it. His values, skills and attributes matched exactly with the criteria we developed to be the manager of this football club and we wish him every success. I would ask our fantastic supporters to get behind Stephen and the players as we aim to finish the campaign strongly.”

.

And so we gave him a 12 month contract!! . Hardly a ringing endorsement of the guy. . If all that was on offer was a 12 month contract then there was no chance of any of the other interviewed candidates accepting it. Ergo Robinson sole candidate??

[The African]

As I said earlier in this thread, this should really have been an appointment for two jobs. Firstly, securing our top league status for another year and secondly, the task of a serious rebuilding job for the first team squad in the summer. If that was the approach then it would appear that the Board are happy to entrust Robinson with both. Now it could be argued that if we do stay up then the manager will have earned the right to have a crack at the second part of the job. I am not sure that I would go along with that as I think they are two very different tasks. Major changes, again, are looming for the squad and I am not convinced that the safe, known quantity, appointment that Robinson appears to be, is the way forward. Any talk of a "relegation clause" being some kind of safety net for the club seems a bit daft, as we will have been relegated, with all the hardship that that will entail just making the rebuilding job of whoever takes over, more difficult.

[DEWELL]

So whos his assistant? Will we conduct more interviews then make it McFadden.

[Pettywulliegrew-2]

So whos his assistant? Will we conduct more interviews then make it McFadden.

Naw .........Simo Valikari........you have been watching!!!!!

 

We have made the choice..........lets get on with it.........compensation/budget demands etc etc might have influenced the choice..........will we ever know ?????

 

Hopefully a staying up clause is in place..........he has been a manager in his own right for 30 odds games and he is been classed as failure.......hopefully his norn iron success rubs off

[FirParkCornerExile]

We dodged a bullet if Duffy and Hughes were interviewed. Fed up hearing folk talk about Hughes, hes an utter buffoon in my eyes. You just need to hear his speak he talks shite like its going out of fashion... then we get "he won the Cup with Inverness", Fuck sake Danny Lennon won a cup with St Mirren .... Jimmy Nicholl won the Cup with Raith Rovers... can just hear the outcry if we'd got either of those two knobends.

 

Bottom line is we have a piss poor support base, no money and we cannot attract candidates of calibre. So its either unknowns, has beens or someone from within. Why spend money we dont have on a has been or an unknown just to give the fans a bit of excitement. Robinson will do the job and results will be his judge not the huffy reactions of fans who have a strange idea of who and what we can get.

 

He inherits a team that couldn't keep a pig out a close in terms of defending if he gets us 10th hes done an incredible job cos frankly we are rank rotten.

[star sail]

I would suspect that St Johnstone fans were underwhelmed when Tommy Wright stepped up from Assistant to Manager. Wright has turned out to be possibly the most successful manager in the SPFL in relative terms over the last few seasons.

In terms of Motherwell manager appointments over the last 10 years, I was most underwhelmed by Stuart McCall. He turned out to be arguably the most successful Motherwell manager in recent history.

 

Robinson's club record is not fantastic but in the case of Motherwell and Oldham he has been at clubs in transition and only a result or two away from crisis. Not easy circumstances to work under for any manager.

 

All the very best to him and if he ends up being the next Tommy Wright then we can look forward to a few more seasons in the top flight.

[Kmcalpin]

I'll sit on the fence with this appointment. This season I'm not looking for exciting football just survival. Robinson has the big advantage of being able to hit the ground running as he knows the club and many of the players and staff. However, he is inexperienced. He's been coaching senior players since 2014 and had an unsuccessful six month stint in management at Oldham. As Catweazle's Ringpiece wrote he can't rely on an experienced No 2 in Faddy, who is still learning his own role.

 

Its all very well to slate Robinson's appointment but who were his competitors? Valakari, Hughes?, and two other unknown candidates. The bottom line is that he's a risky appointment. That might turn out very well or it might turn out very badly. We'll know in a couple of month's time. I'm certainly surprised that he's only been given an appointment until the end of next season.

 

Still, he has my support.

[Welldaft Mk1]

I would suspect that St Johnstone fans were underwhelmed when Tommy Wright stepped up from Assistant to Manager. Wright has turned out to be possibly the most successful manager in the SPFL in relative terms over the last few seasons.

In terms of Motherwell manager appointments over the last 10 years, I was most underwhelmed by Stuart McCall. He turned out to be arguably the most successful Motherwell manager in recent history.

 

Robinson's club record is not fantastic but in the case of Motherwell and Oldham he has been at clubs in transition and only a result or two away from crisis. Not easy circumstances to work under for any manager.

 

All the very best to him and if he ends up being the next Tommy Wright then we can look forward to a few more seasons in the top flight.

Come on now - talking sense. Won't catch on

 

You need to get with the programme.

 

Along the lines of - he is sh1te, totally underwhelmed, amateur club and no track record etc etc

 

He may well prove to be a failure, but I genuinely don't get the fact that quite a few on here have written him off before he even starts as Manager. Way to support him and the club in a time of dire need.

 

Makes my eyes bleed and my blood boil

[capt_oats]

[Lobey_Dosser]

Burrows told Motherwell Times that Hughes wasn't one of the 5 while Simo came close.

[Del_Superwell]

If Valakari hadnt played for us 20 years ago nobody would give a fuck about him, the reason on most people for him to get the job was he won leagues etc in Finland, so had Baraclough and look what happened, big difference managing a part time side in Finland to full time football here and no experience of a relegation dogfight.

 

That said Robinson wasnt my first choice nor were the likes of Hughes etc, but as i usually say every appointment is a gamble its now up to Robinson to show he has learned from his experience at Oldham and provide results to keep us in the league here and i actually believe he can do that.

 

Now is time for us to get behind Robinson at the team and act as the 12th man to save us from the relegation scrap.

[Shotts Well Fan]

Come on now - talking sense. Won't catch on

 

You need to get with the programme.

 

Along the lines of - he is sh1te, totally underwhelmed, amateur club and no track record etc etc

 

He may well prove to be a failure, but I genuinely don't get the fact that quite a few on here have written him off before he even starts as Manager. Way to support him and the club in a time of dire need.

 

Makes my eyes bleed and my blood boil

All we can go on is his track record. Just been reading the Oldham fans forum and general consensus was he was poor, could organise defence but team could not score, worst manager ever etc. etc.. Now I know he inherited 5 players and had to build a squad but Sheridan has started to win games with same players. So you see where many of us are coming from. There is no doubt he is a good coach but is he a good manager? I sincerely hope he proves us all wrong and will be right behind him for the rest of the season.

[Big Wispy Flossy]

All we can go on is his track record. Just been reading the Oldham fans forum and general consensus was he was poor, could organise defence but team could not score, worst manager ever etc. etc.. Now I know he inherited 5 players and had to build a squad but Sheridan has started to win games with same players. So you see where many of us are coming from. There is no doubt he is a good coach but is he a good manager? I sincerely hope he proves us all wrong and will be right behind him for the rest of the season.

He may not be a good manager but at the very least he hopefully will train the players in a way they will go on the park with some understanding of shape and where they are meant to be playing unlike earlier in the season under McGhee and McFadden.

 

It may be perceived as negative and boring but we need to difficult to beat first and foremost then build from there

[fizoxy]

Interesting reactions. just looking back at our previous appointments (in my time), I'd be interested in knowing what ones were deemed positive at the time? Maybe McGhee first time around? Mclean was already there when I started going, what was he reception to him? Who was the last appointment we were generally excited about?

 

Mclean - had been a manager for about a year before joining us. How manager times would he have been sacked in the current climate?

McLeish - no experience, didn't do well when it came to building his team.

Kampmann - did well in Finland, not so well here.

Davies - no experience, wasn't terrible but a more experienced manager would surely have made more out of the money available at that time.

Black - no experience, not that good

Butcher - was terrible in previous jobs, was great for us

Malpas - good assistant, but......

McGhee - lots of experience and did a great job

Gannon - decent experience, was ultimately shite

Brown - quick appointment, did ok

McCall - not the best with Bradford, but experienced and was great for us. Seem to remember folk being underwhelmed when he joined.

Bara - won trophies, was shite.

McGhee - never go back

[Haggischomper]

Interesting we only gave him a contract until May 2018. I presume that won't be renewed if we don't get promotion...

[CoF]

Well that was a good read. This place has actually had quite a balanced reaction compared to them fannies over on yon Facebook.

 

Anyway, personally I'm content with the appointment and looking at it with an open mind.

 

He was obviously well regarded enough to get the Oldham job which is (arguably) bigger than Motherwell. A few folk decrying this; his only managerial stint; as being as disaster however I think his time there should be considered in context:

 

• He joined a club with 5 contracted players and no money,
• Signed 19 players on frees and was expected to have a coherent squad within 4 weeks
• Entered the January transfer window unable to make any more signings due to a transfer embargo.

I dare say there aren't many managers, particularly in their first managerial job, could have succeeded there. And there won't be many who have the experience / learning from that.

 

Yes, his successor came in and things improved however he had the benefit of the transfer embargo being lifted and was able to add 7 new signings to a squad which had already been playing together for 5 months. Whose to say Robinson couldn't have turned things around if he was able to strengthen and replace?

 

He seems very well regarded as a coach, has years of experience in working with young players in the NI Youth setup and his experience in Euro qualification and at the finals is a real gem for his CV. I dare say his time at Oldham could be spun into a positive as well. Add into the mix a quite clear galvanisation of the squad over two games and the backing of the players. All of a sudden Robinson's appointment makes some sense.

 

I've no idea who 3 of the other 4 candidates were. However, if folk would rather have a guy who has managed in the continental equivalent of the Irish League, has no experience working to a tight budget and has one years experience coaching a youth team in the third tier of Finnish football then batter in. Can't see what boxes are ticked there myself.

[mwellhighland]

People are allowed to say they feel underwhelmed without being labelled as someone who has written him off and won't give him their support. Take two seconds and think about it, it isn't a difficult concept to grasp.

[weeyin]

Well that was a good read. This place has actually had quite a balanced reaction compared to them fannies over on yon Facebook.

 

Anyway, personally I'm content with the appointment and looking at it with an open mind.

 

He was obviously well regarded enough to get the Oldham job which is (arguably) bigger than Motherwell. A few folk decrying this; his only managerial stint; as being as disaster however I think his time there should be considered in context:

 

• He joined a club with 5 contracted players and no money,
• Signed 19 players on frees and was expected to have a coherent squad within 4 weeks
• Entered the January transfer window unable to make any more signings due to a transfer embargo.

 

All good points - and all arranged under a transfer embargo.

[weeyin]

People are allowed to say they feel underwhelmed without being labelled as someone who has written him off and won't give him their support. Take two seconds and think about it, it isn't a difficult concept to grasp.

 

The question is, who would have whelmed them?