niall Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Well what he actually said was, "the way we played LAST SEASON was AS GOOD AS any Motherwell team of the past 40 years" Not better than, not even the best, despite what the title of this thread says. sounds like they've got careers in the media lined up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoss Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Why have we suddenly jumped back to last season though? The football played this season hasn't been as good and IMO the blame lies at the managers door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malky79 Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Absolutely agree, last season has a very good case. This season, anyone? 4-0 at tannadice is one stand out result I can think off, and quite gutted I missed that but even that from what I heard good though we were it was still nothing like as good as the examples posted from last season. Ill timed I'd say McGhee was, maybe feeling a wee bitty defensive at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoss Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Ill timed I'd say McGhee was, maybe feeling a wee bitty defensive at the moment? Yeah I think that probably is the case. Can hardly deny that MMG is responsible for the increase in expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malky79 Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 I also think it is in no way reasonable for us to expect him to have progressed or even mainained such a high standard under the constraints he had. Losing McCormack to start, though his and Leitch's much improved deals must have eaten into the budget also. My criticisms are around just how far back we've fallen, the bizarre tactics in big games, the complete abandonment of last seasons style for two months when he kept Sutton and Porter as a partnership that just wasn't working and using injuries as an excuse. No doubt they didn't help us but even so I felt he was making things worse at that time where even one or two more points gleaned makes the difference between this season being a qualified success rather than a qualifed failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motherwell Seagull Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 The football played this season hasn't been as good and IMO the blame lies at the managers door. Am not one to overly wax lyrical on McGhee, but.... Last season we played most of the season with 3 talented centre forwards, who each brought something different to the mix. When you have that, you can afford to be more adventurous in the style of football played. Given that we are a team who naturally like to get the ball down and pass (even occasionally having the odd flowing movement), how on god's earth is that possible on the current tattie field at the arc? Neither the loss of 2 talented strikers, nor the pitch (let alone the lengthy injury list we have endured for large parts of the season) can be laid at the door of the manager, yet all have contributed to the standard of football on display. I believe the best football we have played under McGhee was with Uncle Phil pulling the strings. Hughes has the potential to replicate this (and on occasion does), but we shouldn't under estimate just how much our fallen leader gave to the team (and club). Perhaps I am missing your point? What could/should McGhee have done to improve the football on display this season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoss Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 For starters I would be playing our strongest team in their strongest positions. Guys are going to struggle to play at their best if they are not playing in the correct positions. But I can't think of many times where our playmakers have been ruled out for long periods of time. These are the guys who should be taking the game by the scruff of the neck and dictating the way we play. In the later stages of the season , we've had few injury problems with the exception of Craigan. I still don't think the football on display has improved a great deal and think performances such as the one at Killie and the one on Saturday are pretty good examples of this. Read a bit by McGhee talking about Ross McCormack , he was saying that last season Rossco offered to play on the left hand side as he could see Clarkson was struggling. I don't think there are many players in the squad with the same talent as McCormack so I wouldn't be expecting them to be doing that. Got to remember at the start of the season , we started without McCormack. We lost Porter at the end of January and whereas the goals have certainly dried up the results have been better. Maybe this is where I'm off the mark - is McGhee setting us up in a way that will win us games? (I would say on the basis of our finish this season - no!) McGhee is also the man who was placed in charge of replacing the players who left and whilst we could never dream of replacing them with guys of identical ability , I don't think the men brought in have proven to be nearly good enough (Klimpl excluded). Bit long winded , hopefully I've explained my reasoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Spark Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Surprised if he didn't mention yet again the supposed horrendous injury list he claims we had during the bad run up to xmas I'm a fan of what McGhee has done as manager but am fed up with him continually trotting out this line as an excuse The reality is we had one long term injury in Craigan,with Quinn&Clarkson missing a few games;some of the performances with a full strength team have been just as bad as any during the bad run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Stall Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 The reality is we had one long term injury in Craigan,with Quinn&Clarkson missing a few games Big Stretch must be glad he wasn't really out for 9 months then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well Up For It! Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 This whole situation just makes my blood boil.... After what he done last season, there is far to many on here calling for McGhee's head after a likely safe mid table finish with a small squad. Yes it wasn't as good as last year, but the anti McGhee comments are really starting to sicken me! He is the best manager we have had since McLean, and that is evident from the fact that we have largerly the same squad that Malpas nearly got relegated! The whole ripping of McGhee's character is well wide of the mark also, as I 've always found him to be honest and forthright. As for what Frazzle says, I agree to an extent that if McGhee walks into the Joker in 20yaers time he won't get the same reaction as Tommy McLean....yet. But I think he will have one more year with us and make a permenent mark with the club. A manager doesn't have to care about the club he manages as such, as long as he cares about the job he does and I think McGhee is completely committed to the job at hand. He will have my full support heading into the new season, and I just hope we can keep him for as long as possible. Because you know now that his replacement will be of a poorer standard! And what he said is 100% spot on! While it is by no means the best team I've ever seen at the 'Ark player by player, we without doubt played the best football I'd ever seen as a Well fan last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motherwell Seagull Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Andy Agree with you entirely regarding McGhee's record on bringing players in - it was not too much different down at Brighton IIRC. The other side of the coin is that he has clearly improved certain players eg Clarkson (and he did too at Brighton - no other manager has been able to get anything out of Virgo, and a fair list of others) I have to be convinced on the other points. I think McGhee can rightly point to factors outwith his control (excuses as other would have them called), but also think that he is answerable on some points. Perhaps there is more to the Quinn and Hammel switches than we know? I certainly do not think McGhee sends a team out to loose a game of football. He has had to change from 4-4-3 (which we all lapped up) to 4-4-2 due to changes in personnel. He has also had to change how we defend set pieces to reduce the number of silly goals we concede. In both of these moves he was absolutley 100% correct to make the changes. Whether or not his changes have made us less cavalier is another matter. Do we need to apportion blame for the football played this season - has it really been that terrible? It may not have been the step forward that we had all hoped for, but were we right to expect a repeat of last season? Perhaps answers best saved for a chat over a pint rather than long winded posts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motherwell Seagull Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 He is the best manager we have had since McLean To be fair - that's not actually saying much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoss Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Perhaps answers best saved for a chat over a pint rather than long winded posts? Aye , it would be a good plan for me to do some work at some stage today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellfan1984 Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 To be fair - that's not actually saying much! And McLean was booed, swore at, not to mention the fans demanded his head week in week out! I do wonder what our fans expect, although I remember the venom that came out from the Terraces towards McLean then I realise... we pretend not to care about trophies, but by god if we lose... run for the hills everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malky79 Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 This whole situation just makes my blood boil.... After what he done last season, there is far to many on here calling for McGhee's head after a likely safe mid table finish with a small squad. Yes it wasn't as good as last year, but the anti McGhee comments are really starting to sicken me! He is the best manager we have had since McLean, and that is evident from the fact that we have largerly the same squad that Malpas nearly got relegated! The whole ripping of McGhee's character is well wide of the mark also, as I 've always found him to be honest and forthright. As for what Frazzle says, I agree to an extent that if McGhee walks into the Joker in 20yaers time he won't get the same reaction as Tommy McLean....yet. But I think he will have one more year with us and make a permenent mark with the club. A manager doesn't have to care about the club he manages as such, as long as he cares about the job he does and I think McGhee is completely committed to the job at hand. He will have my full support heading into the new season, and I just hope we can keep him for as long as possible. Because you know now that his replacement will be of a poorer standard! And what he said is 100% spot on! While it is by no means the best team I've ever seen at the 'Ark player by player, we without doubt played the best football I'd ever seen as a Well fan last season. I've seen plenty of not unwarranted criticism last few days, but I must have missed the calls for his head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellTiliDie Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 I have got to say he has done a great job considering where we were this time 2 years ago under Malpas. Last season was the best football that i have witnessed us playing and was a joy to watch, the 2nd half performance at Tynecastle when we came back to win 2-1 and the 5-3 win against United the main highlights. It has been tough this season losing McCormack in the summer and Porter in January and without a doubt this has had a great impact on how the season has panned out. With these 2 still at the club i would like to think we would have been cruising towards Europe again. One thing that pisses me off about McGhee is how he never takes the blame, Saturday being the prime example where he clearly got the positions fucked up and not using the subs far earlier in the match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Spark Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 My apologies,forgot about McLean being long term injury&of course m'well can't afford to lose anyone from such a wafer thin squad However in my opinion the players who played during the bad run were capable of far better,even with a full squad we have put in some dire performances this season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Grew Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 I'm not a hate Mark McGhee merchant nor do I want to see him get bulleted. But facts have to be faced he is a self-publicist. And far too many of you guys don't seem to recognise it. The guy has to talk us up because in doing so he's talking himself up. Make no mistake about it this guy is here under sufferance now. He had his chance for 'bigger things' at the end of last season when his stock was at its highest but knocked back the Hearts job. Only he will know why. There are no other 'bigger clubs' out there just now waiting to sign him up. If he is to 'progress' to 'bigger things' from MFC then he will need to work his socks off to try and duplicate his first season. Hey, and that's no bad thing because it means we will reap the benefit of that. I'd just like to see him buckle down now and do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underboyleheating Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 I'm not a hate Mark McGhee merchant nor do I want to see him get bulleted. But facts have to be faced he is a self-publicist. And far too many of you guys don't seem to recognise it. The guy has to talk us up because in doing so he's talking himself up. Make no mistake about it this guy is here under sufferance now. He had his chance for 'bigger things' at the end of last season when his stock was at its highest but knocked back the Hearts job. Only he will know why. There are no other 'bigger clubs' out there just now waiting to sign him up. If he is to 'progress' to 'bigger things' from MFC then he will need to work his socks off to try and duplicate his first season. Hey, and that's no bad thing because it means we will reap the benefit of that. I'd just like to see him buckle down now and do that. Spot on El Grew. And as you say this is not a bad thing as we as a team should reap the benefits. The same goes for players as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Of course he's a self-publicist. Most managers are. I have been the first to criticize him when he was going through months of weaselly answers in regard to Scotland jobs and Hearts jobs etc. and thought he was doing himself and the club a disservice. However, regardless of the reasons, he has steered away from those public comments and put a decent spin out there for his team (and himself). It doesn't mean he has no faults, and it doesn't mean he won't be off if a better offer comes along. However, I'd rather see him talking us up in the press than moaning about us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Grew Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 weeyin, you miss the point. Ever since MM arrived back in Scotland he has gone out of his way to court the media, both written, tv and radio. He was the media darling and they and he milked it for all it was worth but only on the back of us having our best season for years. I'd rather he just buckled down, did the job and let his team and players do the talking as opposed to him - maybe now that we have had a mediocre season they will forget about him and then he can do so. For the club's sake I hope so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggischomper Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Could say the same about Sir Terence too though, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 weeyin, you miss the point. Ever since MM arrived back in Scotland he has gone out of his way to court the media, both written, tv and radio. He was the media darling and they and he milked it for all it was worth but only on the back of us having our best season for years. I'd rather he just buckled down, did the job and let his team and players do the talking as opposed to him - maybe now that we have had a mediocre season they will forget about him and then he can do so. For the club's sake I hope so. I know what you are saying, but like it or not, the modern day manager is expected to be media friendly. I'm no McGhee fanboy, and was royally pissed off at him prostituting himself shortly after he joined us. These days, however, I don't mind having him articulate coherent thoughts in the press or on television any more than I minded when Butcher did it. It makes a change from the "Eh, aye Chick, eh, ye know, aye full credit to the boy, you know, ehh, aye, innat, aye, ehhh" ramblings from 99% of the player and managers. I doubt it distracts from the rest of his job as it's the assistant manager that runs the day-to-day at most clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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