East_Stand_Al Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 Don't get me wrong, I've been laughing my head off at the whole McGhee/Aberdeen situation but I don't get all the serious bitterness towards him. OK, maybe he's a bit of a pumped up fud with a delusional opinion of his own merits and place in the footballing hierarchy but he did a great job with us. To turn that Malpas side round, probably the worst Motherwell side I've ever seen, into probably the best Motherwell side I've seen since the mid 90's was nothing short of miraculous. We lost some very important players and his second season wasn't as good but it was hardly a disaster, we just missed out on the Top Six, actually finished the season with more points than Hibs in the Top Six and qualified for Europe. The guy did a great job for us and even snubbed a huge pay rise from Hearts to stay with us. A lot of this hatred of McGhee seems to me like ingratitude. A lot of the bitterness is to do with the fact he openly whored himself fo the Celtic job and clearly by the fact he didn't bother his arse trying to keep players wh were soon to be out of contract thought he was offski probably to porkheid and he could take some of them with him for free. Pretty much sold the family silver and left us in the lurch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brisbaneMFC Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 Don't particularly wish to see McGhee back. I'm a believer in moving on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orinoco Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 could be wrong, but i thought leitch left to go to aberdeen, because he did not feel he was ready to be our manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fi2810 Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 could be wrong, but i thought leitch left to go to aberdeen, because he did not feel he was ready to be our manager. This is the most sensible post I have seen on this thread, and IMO this is probably the reason he moved when he did to get more experience as an assistant manager before taking on a manager's job, especially in the SPL. Also at that point I don't think Scott Leitch had a Euro Licence so he wouldn't have been able to take the team in Europe. I don't understand all the bitterness as I don't think he actually turned his back. I mean he has been watchin us play in the stand a few times. As I said above I think he just wants to build up management experience first, which makes a lot of sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk2205 Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 This is the most sensible post I have seen on this thread, and IMO this is probably the reason he moved when he did to get more experience as an assistant manager before taking on a manager's job, especially in the SPL. Also at that point I don't think Scott Leitch had a Euro Licence so he wouldn't have been able to take the team in Europe. I don't understand all the bitterness as I don't think he actually turned his back. I mean he has been watchin us play in the stand a few times. As I said above I think he just wants to build up management experience first, which makes a lot of sense. He was quoted at the time stating it would be a 'dream' to take over at Aberdeen once McGhee goes. As far as i was concerned he had a job for life at Motherwell and im sure Boyle installed him as our assistant manager no matter who was brought in. He turned his back on that, burning bridges as he went. No way back for Leech.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 As far as i was concerned he had a job for life at Motherwell and im sure Boyle installed him as our assistant manager no matter who was brought in. He turned his back on that, burning bridges as he went.That might have been part of the problem. Most good managers want to bring in their own assistant, not get lumbered with whoever happens to be at the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 could be wrong, but i thought leitch left to go to aberdeen, because he did not feel he was ready to be our manager. Is it possible the club thought that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welldaft Mk1 Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 TBH I would be the first to say that McGhee did an excellent job for us for 75% of his time with us. The problem with McGhee is that he always saw us as a stepping stone, which I can also understand to an extent. But there came a point where his ego and vanity got in the way. It is the kind of guy he is. He has previous for it. Almost comparable to the tart always looking for the bigger better deal. We may not be the biggest club in the world, but we gave him a platform and a chance to get back into management. It is only human nature for many Well fans to hope he falls flat on his face and boy did that happen big time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malky79 Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 I think Leitch has been somewhat unfairly tarnished by association with Mark McGhee. I couldn't give a toss when he left and like most was relieved when he supposedly passed up the job and sticking behind to be foisted as an assistant on the next manager was far from ideal also. He might well be a complete banger, clueless, lacking in man management skills but really not someone who causes me any concern one way or the other. If he returns in some sort of coaching role I could care less so long as he does a decent job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star sail Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen us play better. For an hour we were unbelievable against what was a pretty good Dundee United team on the rise, Clarkson and McCormack's goals were stunning. That season we had some cracking performances. St Mirren on the first day put down a marker, with McGarry finishing a great move, scoring 4 against Hibs in the cup, and 3 going on 7 or 8 against Aberdeen. For me though, that ship has sailed on McGhee. I'd never go back to him and I think we're a very attractive proposition for managers, as we saw when we hired Gannon. We had some relatively well known managers applying to work for us. We're a solid and stable club, willing to put a bit of cash in when its worth it, and the opportunity, if you're good, to manage in Europe. Agree 100%. The Aberdeen game you speak about was one of my all time favourite Motherwell games. Could not believe I was watching Motherwell or any SPL side for that matter (Was it not 3-0 after about 20 mins?). I had a Celtic fan sitting beside me that day who said that he had not seen Celtic play like that never mind Motherwell. I think that the really good football that season had a lot to do with the influence of Stephen Hughes. I seem to remember however that sandwiched somewhere between the Aberdeen game and the fateful Dundee Utd game was a howler of a game against Falkirk when we lost 2-0 at home. I had a friend over from America that day and had been raving about how good we were and as happens when you say that we were rotten. Phil O Donnell also had a poor game that day having had an excellent season. Sadly it was the last time I saw him play. It is the fact that Mark McGhee shared with the Well fans such a traumatic experience as Phil's death that will never allow me to wish ill upon him or gloat at his bad experience with Aberdeen. I would not have McGhee back simply because I don't think that he could have the same impact again, but I am thankful for the time he spent at the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fi2810 Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 He was quoted at the time stating it would be a 'dream' to take over at Aberdeen once McGhee goes.As far as i was concerned he had a job for life at Motherwell and im sure Boyle installed him as our assistant manager no matter who was brought in. He turned his back on that, burning bridges as he went. No way back for Leech.. I wouldn't always believe what is quoted in the media. They just want to sell papers and so will beef up stories and quotes aren't always accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLip69 Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 Leitch wasnt offered the managers job when McGhee left, and when he left he did so with no hard feelings on either side. He is a Motherwell man and always has been, I wouldn't have any problem with him coming back but it depends at what cost, I wouldn't want to lose anyone who's already here and doing a great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotts Well Fan Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Heard from a colleague who knows a member of the youth coaching staff at Aberdeen that the players hated Leitch (I know the old "heard from a friend of a friends cousin etc!!"). He seems to have been left to do a lot of the work himself whilst MM was down in Brighton and he did not get on well with the players or Willie Miller. The deal to allow Dingus to stay after the Celtic game was that everyone had to work harder and the team needed to train more and Dingus needed to be around more. This did not happen and Leitch cancelled training last week and he seemingly got pished in the club canteen (with MM who arrived at lunch) and this led to the strangely timed sacking. Players apparently ecstatic. Could all be just Sheepymeh rumours mind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East Stand Screamer Posted December 8, 2010 Report Share Posted December 8, 2010 I can't believe the Leitchy bashing in this thread! Jesus Christ! Scott Leitch has been a good servant to MFC, both as a player and as a Coach. He has also been a fabulous mentor and supporter of the pro-youth set up and has spent - and still does spend - a lot of time around the younger teams helping where he can and observing them all. He jumped at the chance to come back after Ross County, but, as pointed out, his managerial record isn't great. When McGhee left, it was a fair assumption that a new manager would bring in a whole new team, and Scott would have been out of work. At the end of the day he took a guaranteed job over a wudda cudda shudda. Who wouldn't do the same? If he did come back, as a servant of Motherwell, I'd support and welcome him. No jerseys were sold in the making of this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggischomper Posted December 8, 2010 Report Share Posted December 8, 2010 Heard from a colleague who knows a member of the youth coaching staff at Aberdeen that the players hated Leitch (I know the old "heard from a friend of a friends cousin etc!!"). He seems to have been left to do a lot of the work himself whilst MM was down in Brighton and he did not get on well with the players or Willie Miller. The deal to allow Dingus to stay after the Celtic game was that everyone had to work harder and the team needed to train more and Dingus needed to be around more. This did not happen and Leitch cancelled training last week and he seemingly got pished in the club canteen (with MM who arrived at lunch) and this led to the strangely timed sacking. Players apparently ecstatic. Could all be just Sheepymeh rumours mind you. To me, that says more about the Aberdeen players attitudes than anything else. Facing relegation and not willing to put the hours/hard work in. Seems like it has been that way up there for lang and weary. Club needs gutted from top to bottom I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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