Blakey Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 I noticed yesterday that it was ten years to the day that we played Llanelli at Airdrie and lost 1-0 in one of the most embarrassing results in our history. We did overturn it in Wales a week later mind you. That got me thinking back to Jim Gannon's time with us and it certainly was a strange six months. Early on there was a feeling of real optimism and excitement about this new 'out the box' boss and despite the Llanelli result we went on to have a decent wee Euro run which included an 8-1 win over Flamurtari at Airdrie before the Steua Bucharest tie. In the league we went unbeaten until late September but things went pear shaped after that disastrous 3-0 pumping at Love Street in the League Cup and then Gannon embarked on a ridiculous feud with the media, the referees and just about everyone else and we didn't win another match until after he'd left. In that time his team selections and tactics were mental and he used to sub performing players at half time every single week when we were winning, and as a result of his changes we went on to lose or draw. His final game against Saint Johnstone on Boxing Day 2009 was one of the worst performances I've ever seen from us and Peter MacDonald bagged a second half hat trick in the second half after we had led 1-0 at HT then Gannon made more unnecessary changes. He was bumped a few days later amid reports that he refused to sign a contract which according to some, he was never offered in the first place and there seemed to be much rejoicing from inside Fir Park when he got his jotters. Some of the stuff that emerged about him since he left us certainly suggests that we dodged a massive bullet by getting rid when we did and I personally was pleased to see him go as he appeared to be taking us only one way and that was down the way. The standouts from that strange short era were Yassin Moutouakil, his media fued and spat with Hugh Dallas, his obsessive substitutions, his dislike of Craigan and Lasley and his infamous juggling soot remark shortly before he left. A short period in our history, but one that lives long in the memory. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizoxy Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 Pretty sure was touting himself to Dundee Utd too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu92 Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 Last season Gannon won the National League with Stockport in what is his third stint with them as manager... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakey Posted July 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 3 minutes ago, Stu92 said: Last season Gannon won the National League with Stockport in what is his third stint with them as manager... He's a club legend at Stockport by all accounts, they absolutely love him down there. That seems to be the only club he has succeeded at. Initially when he joined us he looked like he was going to bring a complete revamp of our playing style and indeed he made some shrewd signings in Ruddy, Jennings, Jutkiewicz, Humphrey and Coke...but as the months rolled on it became more and more apparent that he just couldn't manage them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 Not only were a number of his signings an improvement, but after waiting for McGhee's "German Contacts" to ever produce anything (big centre half anyone?) Gannon had the habit of saying "we're bringing in a midfielder" on Monday and the midfielder being produced on Wednesday. He seems have a wealth of knowledge of players across all the leagues and a great eye for spotting talent. It's just a shame it all falls apart when you put him in charge of managing any of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 Seemed to have a good eye for talent. A lot of his signings did very well for us. Also didnt mind throwing young players in which also showed early promise. The Flamarturi and Steaua games at Airdrie were fabulous entertainment. However, there is no doubt he was just a little bit bonkers so probably no surprise that the early promise didnt last. Life certainly wasnt dull when he was around thats for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderpig Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 23 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said: Seemed to have a good eye for talent. A lot of his signings did very well for us. Also didnt mind throwing young players in which also showed early promise. The Flamarturi and Steaua games at Airdrie were fabulous entertainment. However, there is no doubt he was just a little bit bonkers so probably no surprise that the early promise didnt last. Life certainly wasnt dull when he was around thats for sure! I am still not convinced that Albanian mob were actually footballers, they were brutal 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilwell86 Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 I was on holiday during the 2nd leg of the flamurtari game and checked the score flash on my phone, noticed flamurtari had scored and thought that was it....scrolled down, motherwell goal, motherwell goal, motherwell goal, couldn't believe we had stuck 8 past some mob in europe. The Llanelli loss was weird, i seem to remember having no players, Jennings had signed that day but not in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yodo Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 A really nice guy when you got to know him great eye for a player had no intention of staying at FP which was a shame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzyB Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 18 minutes ago, Neilwell86 said: I was on holiday during the 2nd leg of the flamurtari game and checked the score flash on my phone, noticed flamurtari had scored and thought that was it....scrolled down, motherwell goal, motherwell goal, motherwell goal, couldn't believe we had stuck 8 past some mob in europe. The Llanelli loss was weird, i seem to remember having no players, Jennings had signed that day but not in time. I seem to remember the first thing I ever saw Jennings do was let a ball roll under his foot vs the Welsh lot and I immediately judged him as shite, when in reality he was very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakey Posted July 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 12 hours ago, Spiderpig said: I am still not convinced that Albanian mob were actually footballers, they were brutal I actually thought they were deliberately trying to lose goals as part of a betting scam at one point that night, it just didn't seem possible that a team of professional footballers could be so, so bad. It was enjoying from our perspective all the same and arguably Jamie Murphy's finest hour in a 'Well shirt, or one of them at least. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 Gannon was a lunatic by all accounts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pettywulliegrew-2 Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 13 minutes ago, Blakey said: I actually thought they were deliberately trying to lose goals as part of a betting scam at one point that night, it just didn't seem possible that a team of professional footballers could be so, so bad. It was enjoying from our perspective all the same and arguably Jamie Murphy's finest hour in a 'Well shirt, or one of them at least. As far as I can remember the Albainians had a couple of decent chances in the opening minutes before we scored.......which would have made it interesting as they were 1up from the first leg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilwell86 Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 What about Ross Forbes volley against bucharest but, woooft !! Not long followed by curling one into the top bin from the corner of the box against a newly promoted st Johnstone on the first day of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakey Posted July 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 There was the same excitement at Forbes and Slane breaking through then as there was for Turnbull and Hastie last season. Both of them looked the part in that Europa run. Sadly, like Gannon, they were soon found out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pettywulliegrew-2 Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 Yeah was some strike,Forbes had purple the start of that season,also remember him having a perfectly good goal ruled for offside against the currant buns which woul have put us up 2-0......., ended up 1-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakey Posted July 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 13 minutes ago, Pettywulliegrew-2 said: Yeah was some strike,Forbes had purple the start of that season,also remember him having a perfectly good goal ruled for offside against the currant buns which woul have put us up 2-0......., ended up 1-1 I was right in line with that and could see clearly in real time that it wasn't offside. Absolute cheating at its very worst. We should have won both home games against Them that season, we drew the first one 0-0 and played some really good football before Jim O'Brien missed a late penalty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star sail Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 That was a very interesting time to be a Well fan. I don’t think we should forget the mess McGhee left behind. The squad had been neglected with McGhee looking elsewhere for some time before he actually left. I still maintain that Gannon ensured our SPL status the following season thanks to his signings alone. We also have to remember that European football was secured the following season thanks to his fair play philosophy. I sometimes wonder, if Jim O Brien had scored that penalty against Rangers could it all have been different. I fear sadly not. There was the potential for a very good manager in there but either he did not want it to work or he simply did not have the tools at the time to make it work. His contribution was greater than many are prepared to acknowledge but I think the same can be said of all the non Scottish managers of the last decade (Baraclough and Robinson being the others). We would not be an SPL team at this time we’re it not for interventions from these men at critical times. Sadly you will get little acknowledgement of that amongst many of the fans at FP. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 I think any manager who got the backing in the transfer market that Gannon had would have kept us up no problem. Three Premiership loans, another four signings, a core of Craigan, Hammell, Lasley and Sutton plus Murphy, Reynolds, O'Brien and more young players below them. Brown and Knox got a lot more out the squad when they took over. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_P Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 8 minutes ago, star sail said: That was a very interesting time to be a Well fan. I don’t think we should forget the mess McGhee left behind. The squad had been neglected with McGhee looking elsewhere for some time before he actually left. I still maintain that Gannon ensured our SPL status the following season thanks to his signings alone. We also have to remember that European football was secured the following season thanks to his fair play philosophy. I sometimes wonder, if Jim O Brien had scored that penalty against Rangers could it all have been different. I fear sadly not. There was the potential for a very good manager in there but either he did not want it to work or he simply did not have the tools at the time to make it work. His contribution was greater than many are prepared to acknowledge but I think the same can be said of all the non Scottish managers of the last decade (Baraclough and Robinson being the others). We would not be an SPL team at this time we’re it not for interventions from these men at critical times. Sadly you will get little acknowledgement of that amongst many of the fans at FP. There's always going to be that question of what if as regards Gannon. For me there is no question his rebuild after McGhee was fantastic recruiting some players that made terrific contributions long after he had moved on and some who are still held in affection to this day (Chris Humphrey a very recent example). He was not at all worried at introducing and playing youngsters in the side. The results were pretty decent up too for the opening few months too. And on the face of it caring not a jot for establishment of Scottish football be that the shape of the Old Firm, the SFA and the media or even taking a fresh look at how things are perceived to be done correctly at our own club all have their attractions. But none of that is done without impact and it seems he very quickly began to grate. McGarry went. Lasley would definetely have gone if Gannon hadn't gone first. Other senior players like Sutton and Craigan were marginalised. There was talk of him working his ticket, applying for other jobs very soon after arriving. Youngsters being picked who clearly weren't ready and seemed to be picked just to point score. Who knows, but it all seemed to fall apart very quickly. Both of the scenarios you refer to star sail actually occurred in the same season he took charge. It was a measure of the squad he built that Craig Brown took it on and secured a European place with all those clean sheets and defensive records. I tend to think that it was a good move to recruit but equally it was the right move to dispense with him when we did. But interesting times? Most certainly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 He only really brought in three players that made a long term impact. Hateley, Jennings and Humphrey. If you look at the seven players I named he clearly had more to work with outfield than Robinson had at the start of this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbcmfc Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 16 minutes ago, Andy_P said: For me there is no question his rebuild after McGhee was fantastic recruiting some players that made terrific contributions long after he had moved on and some who are still held in affection to this day (Chris Humphrey a very recent example). Yeah, guys like Humphrey, Jennings, coke and hately (admittedly a marmite character, but decent player for us.) He did throw in plenty kids and appeared to be able to motivate the young players. His inabilitiy to work with the existing senior players in the squad was his downfall. Would make a great head scout on the face of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pettywulliegrew-2 Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 Gannon lost only 1 of his opening 13 league game (4 wins 8 draws )then lost 4 on the bounce and got his jotters paw Broon appointed,he lost his 1st in charge and we had a 12 match unbeaten run (8 wins 4 draws) then he lost 4 on the bounce Impressive starts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yassin Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 Tbh I absolutely loved Gannon. He was batshit mental and it was great patter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yassin Posted July 4, 2019 Report Share Posted July 4, 2019 Ross Forbes scoring a screamer against Steaua Bucharest is also one of the most surreal things I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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