Mark McGhee

[ropy]

You should take your punishment and stay to the end, sometimes it gets worse

[Coatsy]

I get the feeling that the players believe that there too good to go down, I can't understand why but its time for a reality check. Our big name players need to up there game and get on with doing a professional job by big names I do mean the senior players in particular, I can always excuse the younger players who are still learning their trade.

 

The only 2 snr players that appear to care are Lasley and Hammell, I think the rest are happy to take the money and talk the talk not walk the walk.

 

I'm not a fan of returning players or managers and I think this has hampered us.

 

Why do we appear unable to pass the ball to a teammate , take a decent corner or free kick what are the players doing in training

 

I'm afraid from what I've seen so far Gomes will cost us more points that he gets us slow and gets caught in possession too much. A poor January transfer window, as I feared McGhee has no meaningful contacts.

[ropy]

What about throw ins?

[capt_oats]

I get the feeling that the players believe that there too good to go down, I can't understand why but its time for a reality check.

I think there's definitely something to be said for this, I wouldn't go as far as to say they think they're too good to go down but there's definitely been a fairly consistent feeling of complacency in the background.

 

Take this interview with Moult (http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34701504) not to single him out but it's just a good example of what I'm getting at and it's unfortunate it's him, By no means is it a dig, he's been one of our better players this season and clearly puts in a shift.

 

However, bear in mind this interview is from 2nd November so well before we put that decent run together (we subsequently lot to ICT 3-1 at FP and 3-0 to Ross County in Dingwall after it ran);

 

""Off the ball we look fantastic at the minute. Even against Celtic and Aberdeen, the shape was fantastic and again against Kilmarnock it was good. It's just when we do get the ball, can we cause a few more problems and finish teams off?

 

"I think if we add that to our game we'll be a real force to be reckoned with.""

 

At that point we'd not long bulleted Baraclough, had lost to Celtic, took a draw at Pittodrie and grabbed a late win at Killie yet we were "looking fantastic off the ball" and could be a "real force to be reckoned with".

 

I know players are asked questions and they're obliged to answer and I don't expect any player to come out with anything other than some vanilla platitudes but in all seriousness it's some bloody leap to go from snatching a late winner vs Killie for our 4th win in 13 to being "a force to be reckoned with".

[Tweed]

I think you showed great restraint not adding in this little cherry from the bottom of the interview:

 

"We don't want (to be involved in another relegation battle) and I believe we won't be - I know for a fact we won't. As long as we keep working hard, we'll get rewards."

[capt_oats]

 

I think you showed great restraint not adding in this little cherry from the bottom of the interview:

"We don't want (to be involved in another relegation battle) and I believe we won't be - I know for a fact we won't. As long as we keep working hard, we'll get rewards."

 

Ooooft! To be honest, I'd totally missed that when I'd looked back at the article. The bit I'd quoted had just stuck with me from when I read it the first time.

[Shaka]

whats everyones thoughts on McGhees handling of Ainsworth? Hung out to dry one week, Hooked at half time after a horror show the next. Has he destroyed one of our most potent attacking weapons?

[Del_Superwell]

Whatever has happened I think Ainsworth looks totally devoid of any confidence, in fact looks like a broken man to me.

[Tweed]

McGhee hasn't helped but Ainsworth has been all sugar or all shite ever since he's been here. Wouldn't be at all surprised if next time he plays he tears someone to shreds. It's just the way he is and if he wasn't he wouldn't be here.

[Spiderpig]

whats everyones thoughts on McGhees handling of Ainsworth? Hung out to dry one week, Hooked at half time after a horror show the next. Has he destroyed one of our most potent attacking weapons?

I dont think its a coincidence that Ainsworth has had umpteen different clubs so far in his career his work ethic is attrocious at times. The odd game here and there he looks up for it but most of the time he doesnt,he very rarely if ever tracks back to help the defence and he seems to have developed a great skill for being anonymous in games. So if he can be bothered yes he is a potent attacking threat but if not which seems to be the norm these days then he is no use to the team at all.

[Shaka]

I totally agree that Ainsworth is amazing or shite and rarely in between. But can you honestly tell me the way to treat a player whos attitude is questionable is to scapegoat them to the media after a mistake,build him up for being "unleashed" before leaving him on the bench then finally playing him and hooking him at galf time?

 

to me,thats shocking man management

[capt_oats]

On the whole, I don't think McGhee's helped himself pretty much since Tynecastle but as far as the Ainsworth thing goes, personally I think our results with him starting, going back to the start of the season, go some way to showing why he's only been played off the bench.

 

Saturday was, as far as I could see McGhee being true to his word and trying to see how he could fit Ainsworth into the team.

 

Essentially the starting XI was by and large designed to give both Ainsworth and Johnson a platform. I don't think anyone who watched the first 45mins would claim it was even close to working. How much of that was down to the players not giving it a chance to work I don't know (see McManus consistently shelling the ball back to front when we had 2 out and out wingers on the park) but for him to be hooked for Moult wasn't a massive surprise, even if we did go from 0-0 to 0-2 after the switch.

 

The whole post-Thistle thing I think has been amplified by Ainsworth's press conference. Did McGhee need to lay the blame at Ainsworth's door? Probably not. Everyone saw the goal, we all watched him lose his man however there were a number of players involved in that passage of play who could & should have done better and for me should have been part of the conversation.

 

That said, he did switch off and we did concede from it so in that respect, taken in isolation, I don't really have too much issue with what McGhee said. Whether it needed to be said publicly is a different matter. For what it's worth I think McManus' appraisal in his pre-game interview last week would have been a better way to address the matter.

 

Again though, I do genuinely wonder if there would have been as much focus on McGhee's observation that we conceded a goal as a result of a lapse in concentration from a player if said player hadn't subsequently gone to bits in the post-match press conference.

 

On his day Ainsworth's easily one of our best players however the problem he has is that we've won more games this season without him starting than we have with.

[Wellfan1984]

These same players are now failing under their 3rd consecutive manager...but aye, 'get tae fuck McGhee'

Pretty much this.

[Busta Nut]

I must be the only person who had no problem with McGhee calling out Ainsworth, Which he never actually did. Was he supposed to ignore that someone lost their man?

[Kmcalpin]

These same players are now failing under their 3rd consecutive manager...but aye, 'get tae fuck McGhee'

Thats very true. Maybe lack of managerial continuity has led to them being extensions or another chance to prove themselves. The close season after we finished 2nd was the time to refresh the squad and we didn't do it. For years now the midfield and in particular the central midfield has needed major surgery but that never happened. Despite losing barrowloads of goals the defence was never cleared out. These failings are not peculiar to Mark McGhee who has only been here a few months.

[Onthefringes]

You've got to admit, upstaging Baraclough in splitting support so early in his tenure would've taken some doing. Surpassed with flying colours.

[grizzlyg]

Atmosphere amongst fans getting worse and this isn't going to help the players. At same time players need to have a look at themselves. Goals we lost were criminal. McGhee was never going to be an appointment to win fans but if he keeps us up then that is all that matters for time being. I think questions need to be asked of our GM who had 80 applicants for job yet appoints someone who gave him a job 8 years previously. Lets just hope we beat Utd and everyone will be smiling again...COYW

[Andy_P]

I keep reading this stuff about McGhee giving Burrows a job. When did this happen exactly?

 

When did Motherwell managers or any football managers for that matter become involved in the hiring of Press Officers or whatever the title of the day was?

 

McGhee did no more than allow the guy some relatively close access to the team, after he had gone to Austria at his own expense, to watch their pre-season training programme and pre-season friendlies.

 

If by virtue of the quality of the footage he sent back not to mention the other projects he did like the WTFC Forum and Motherwell database (including something like a back catalogue of around 300 player profiles with stats etc.) if he happened to bring his talents to the attention of Chief-Executive of the time fair fucking play to the guy.

 

There is much you can beat him with but these ludicrous assumptions that A: McGhee got him a job and B: Eight years Burrows returned the favour is just absolute bullshit and should be put to bed as soon as possible.

[Gaag]

Well this is a clusterfuck of a thread in recent times.

McGhee was (and still is) a terrible appointment in my opinion - cannae stick the guy. But the sentiment shouldn't be entirely directed at him... as someone above said... same team, failed under the last 3 managers.

 

3/4s of the squad AND the manager should be booted in the summer in my opinion. Problem is, at this rate we might have to end up doing that anyway to tighten the purse for a future in the Championships.

 

Let's hope it doesn't come to that. The club seems so poorly managed at times that it really is baffling how we've managed to avoid this scenario until now.

[ONeils40yarder]

You've got to admit, upstaging Baraclough in splitting support so early in his tenure would've taken some doing. Surpassed with flying colours.

I had a few reasons for not wanting him back, but this was the main one. As soon as he was appointed, there were folk saying they wouldnt be back until he was gone...people who dont have the courage of their convictions as I've since seen them at games, but their opinion on the manager wont have changed. Everything right now is Mark McGhees fault in their eyes and the players who are failing again are getting off Scot-free.

 

Do you think Simo Valakari, having won the Manager of the Month award, would be taking the abuse that McGhee currently is after the last months displays? Not a fucking chance, and the zoomers that are screaming blue murder are doing far more harm than good. The man will never be accepted and thats why he was the wrong choice.

 

I dont think there is a cat in hells chance of him being sacked between now and the Summer, so the fans that are currently berating him should really work out their priorities. Whats more important, spewing 90minutes worth of vitriol towards our dugout while we slide towards relegation or sucking it up and accepting the manager is going to be here for the next few months and getting behind the team as much as possible??

[CrosshillWell]

I actually like McGee. I'm in the minority, it seems, but I think we needed a strong and experienced manager after the whole Barraclough episode.

 

The problems that have surfaced are a result of his bizarre team selections, criticism of fans and players.

 

We have gone backwards since beating Celtic, the Hearts game was so awful on so many levels and I haven't seen a performance so inept since the days of Malpas, then we were swept as side by Kilmarnock.

 

It is looking a lot more bleak than it did during December.

[Desp]

 

I dont think there is a cat in hells chance of him being sacked between now and the Summer, so the fans that are currently berating him should really work out their priorities. Whats more important, spewing 90minutes worth of vitriol towards our dugout while we slide towards relegation or sucking it up and accepting the manager is going to be here for the next few months and getting behind the team as much as possible??

 

I think you're crediting these people with too much intelligence.

You know the answer as to how they'll continue to act...

[Spiderpig]

I actually like McGee. I'm in the minority, it seems, but I think we needed a strong and experienced manager after the whole Barraclough episode.

 

The problems that have surfaced are a result of his bizarre team selections, criticism of fans and players.

 

We have gone backwards since beating Celtic, the Hearts game was so awful on so many levels and I haven't seen a performance so inept since the days of Malpas, then we were swept as side by Kilmarnock.

 

It is looking a lot more bleak than it did during December.

Minority of 2 I think he was the right man for the job as well and I am still confident that he will get the team winning again. The problem is that there are certain fans harbouring issues with McGhee over what he allegedly did or did not do 8 years ago they need to let it go ffs its not healthy behaviour.

[milo]

I didn't necessarily like or agree with what McGhee said or done 8 years ago, but my biggest reservation and concern about him returning is with what he's done in management since leaving us.

 

And that is he has done absolutely nothing of note in management since leaving us to suggest he is a good or even half decent manager.

[numpty]

And that is he has done absolutely nothing of note in management since leaving us to suggest he is a good or even half decent manager.

You could say that about pretty much every manager we've had since I started following Motherwell 40 years ago, mind you. Billy Davies and Terry Butcher have had about three decent seasons between them elsewhere, and that's about it.