If You Were John Boyle...

[David]

If you were John Boyle, and it was mid December 2010, how would you have handled the Motherwell manager situation?

 

Craig Brown & Archie Knox have just left, and you need to find a replacement.

 

Would you have appointed Stuart McCall? Or went for an interim coach until the end of the season?

 

Or would you have tried to appoint some other (realistic) target?

 

Personally, I can't quite get excited about the appointment of McCall. I feel it would have been better to wait until the summer when a far wider choice of candidate would have been available. I'd have went with a steadying influence in the dressing room until the summer.

 

My number one choice for such a job would have been Tommy McLean.

 

He knows the club, knows Scottish football, and has bags of experience.

 

I think we are making a mistake employing someone who has relatively little experience as a manager at the level of a club like Motherwell.

 

We need an experienced head who can follow in the footsteps of Craig & Archie, getting the best out of the players we have, and managing to spot talent we can bring in on loan or for virtually nothing.

 

I hate to say it, and I've not felt this way since the days of Maurice Malpas, but I just don't see McCall being the man for the job.

[Finlay]

With all due respect David this is a thread that, if needed......hopefully not, should not be seen for another 12-18 months. The guy needs time and certainly shouldn't be judged till we see how he performs in the summer transfer window.

[David]

With all due respect David this is a thread that, if needed......hopefully not, should not be seen for another 12-18 months.

Yeah, well, if anyone thinks it's too early for a few fans to discuss how they would have handled the management situation on an internet forum they can easily just move along to another thread, can't they?

 

Or, if they wish to participate they can vote for McCall and post their support for him.

[CrosshillWell]

The appointment of McCall didn't fill me with optimism, but, he seems to have an enthusiasm that he had as a player. If he can install ten percent of the grit and determination he had as a player then that would be a useful addition.

 

After all, he won forty caps for Scotland when we actually qualified for major competitions.

 

I'm sorry if I sound like I have a shrine to Stuart McCall here (I don't) but there has been so much negativity about the, let's face it, new manager here.

 

It has been individual mistakes that have cost us. No manager can account for that, even a certain Jose!

[Al B]

You'd give it to whoever gave the best interview. The outcome would suggest that on this occasion it was Stuart McCall, and given Boyles relatively successful history with appointing managerial candidates, im perfectly prepared to trust that.

[ScottW1886]

You have to remember that Boyle (according to media reports at the time) did interview supposed bigger names who didn't fancy the task with the funds available.

 

It's all very well saying we wanted a bigger name, but the reality would seem to be that bigger names didn't want us.

 

Stuart McCall obviously indicated a desire to work on our terms, so let's get behind him.

[Jimmo]

Voted McCall because I trust Boyle's decision.

 

Talk about premature threadulation.....

[Finlay]

Yeah, well, if anyone thinks it's too early for a few fans to discuss how they would have handled the management situation on an internet forum they can easily just move along to another thread, can't they?

 

Or, if they wish to participate they can vote for McCall and post their support for him.

 

Going to do this every time we get beat then? Not exactly the furst time the question has been posed on here since 29th December.

[David]

Going to do this every time we get beat then? Not exactly the furst time the question has been posed on here since 29th December.

I'll still be of the same opinion if we win a few games.

 

I just don't fancy the guy as our manager. I think we need someone who knows the Scottish game, and who has a bit more experience.

[johnstone]

For me its all about consolidating our league position. That means try our best to get a top six spot. We might not get it, but lets make sure we don't get dragged into a relegation dog fight.

 

The next step is do our best in the cups. Semi Finals and finals bring money to the club. We are already doing well on that stage.

 

Then when the season is over we then look at building and improving the squad.

 

I think the top six will probably be. Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Dundee Utd, Aberdeen and then its a fight between us, ICT and St Johnstone to get that final spot.

 

McCall needs much more time before he can be judged. So far he has done OK. Nothing special, but given time he might be able to build this team into something.

 

We also forget how young our squad is sometimes.

[ScottW1886]

To be fair, he did play for Scotland and play up here for a good number of years.....

 

Whatever your viewpoint on Rangers and his allegiances there, he has covered a lot of their games for TV as well so isn't a stranger to Scottish football.

 

Also, the criteria for the job was unlikely to give us any manager who knew Scottish football inside out.

[steelboy]

mccall's grown on me since he was appointed.

 

everything coming out of the club suggests he is very positive and hands on which is what we need at the moment. i think he could do a butcher style job to see us through a difficult period when we don't really have the money to sign anyone.

[David]

Don't get me wrong, I'd really love it if someone ends up bumping this thread in a year or so's time and I look foolish.

[CrosshillWell]

mccall's grown on me since he was appointed.

 

everything coming out of the club suggests he is very positive and hands on which is what we need at the moment. i think he could do a butcher style job to see us through a difficult period when we don't really have the money to sign anyone.

 

 

I couldn't agree more!

[siebsbarmyarmy]

You'd give it to whoever gave the best interview. The outcome would suggest that on this occasion it was Stuart McCall, and given Boyles relatively successful history with appointing managerial candidates, im perfectly prepared to trust that.

 

+1

 

Plus he sends me e-mails, hes a nice guy!

[fizoxy]

If I was John Boyle, and owned a club with unlimited finances and had all of the managers and potential managers in the world at my disposal, all willing to manage my club, then I would have appointed someone else.

 

Otherwise, I'd go through the list of applicants, give interviews to four or five of the best suited applicants, and appoint the one who impresses best at the interview, assuming he still wants the job. This is how the hiring process works. We probably wont know if McCall really was the first choice, but it doesn't matter since we can't force people to take the job and the financial conditions won't be changing anytime soon.

 

Please remember that Jim Gannon came to the club in the summer, and therefore had more scope to make some signings. Few players come to the end of their contract in December, so we have to weigh up whether we want to bring in some short term shite, or get through to the end of the season and then make some proper signings. What was the last good January signing we made? I also believe Gannon's "eye for a player" is way over rated anyway.

 

Also bear in mind that the combined genius of Gannon and Brown got us to 5th in the table, a position which is still very much achievable this year. We didn't win the league, and we also had a whole load of shite performances. The Christmas periods of 2009 and 2010 were very similar. Where do you really think we would have finished if Brown and Knox stayed? What is a realistic aim for us in the league?

 

As for McCall's record. We bucked the recent trend with wins against two teams that have had the better of us for a good while in Dundee and Hibs. Although we've beaten St J and Utd each twice this season I don't think we've got to the level of Aberdeen-esque snobbery where we can start saying "we should be beating teams like these", they are at the same level as us. Winning away at Tannadice and McDairmid isn't an easy job. The draws against Caley and Hamilton weren't ideal, but a point away can't be sniffed at, and we all know caley's away record.

 

Overall I think it's way too soon to be doubting the management team, especially when they have only had a few weeks in the job and one signing to show for it.

[David]

Overall I think it's way too soon to be doubting the management team, especially when they have only had a few weeks in the job and one signing to show for it.

Although I'm personally doubting the appointment, this thread isn't.

 

It's asking if you would have done the same as Boyle, or went for an interim coach until the end of the season.

[weeyin]

No interims for me. After the last two contractless managers, the situation was crying out for a bit of stability and a boss with a 2 or 3 year deal in his back pocket.

 

I can't see many candidates that meet our criteria that are going to be available at the end of the season. McCall was handed a difficult job, and if he keeps us mid-table until the end of the season and builds something over the summer, that will keep me happy.

[Guest]

I don't think an interim coach does us any favours at all. I'd rather have someone in on a contract who is going to do the job for a decent period of time. Derek McInnes at St Johnstone is a good example for me.

 

He's been given time, been given a little bit of cash here and there, made mistakes, learned from them and has been steadily building the club with better players here and there when the opportunity arises. Its no surprise or witchcraft that St Johnstone are steadily improving as a team as they have continuity and, I assume, a plan. I was wary of Craig Brown only ever being a stop-gap when a team like Motherwell, as far as I'm concerned, should always have an eye on a few years down the line. Gannon looked like he had it, but didn't appear that committed to the club and by all accounts, rubbed one or two up the wrong way in the process. It doesn't make him wrong, just wrong for us at that time. McGhee seemed to have a plan as well, but again, left.

 

We're always going to be looking at the younger players in the team as a means to an end in terms of making money. I'd much rather have a manager who is going to be given the time to improve the team steadily, build from a base of players and pick up better players when the opportunity arises.

 

In addition to this (pipe dream time), I'd like to see a more coherent club ethos and style passed down from the first team through the reserves (or whats left of them) and into all levels of the kids game. I realise the comparison with Barcelona is a little stretched, but a club style throughout all levels of the set-up, regardless of who is in charge at any given time certainly seems to provide a great number of benefits.

 

For those reasons, I'm glad we've got McCall. 6 months to get his feet under the table, anything we get this season is a bonus as far as I'm concerned, we won't go down, we're not going to be amazing to suss out what we've got and what we need, then start trying to put that together. Stability is an under-rated trait in football I feel.

[Finlay]

+1

 

Plus he sends me e-mails, hes a nice guy!

 

No' last night he didnae

[Al B]

mccall's grown on me since he was appointed.

 

everything coming out of the club suggests he is very positive and hands on which is what we need at the moment. i think he could do a butcher style job to see us through a difficult period when we don't really have the money to sign anyone.

Spot on, pretty much exactly my thoughts.

[CrosshillWell]

For those reasons, I'm glad we've got McCall. 6 months to get his feet under the table, anything we get this season is a bonus as far as I'm concerned, we won't go down, we're not going to be amazing to suss out what we've got and what we need, then start trying to put that together. Stability is an under-rated trait in football I feel.

 

Couldn't have put it any better. We desperately need stability. McCall could be the man. I just wish he was 28, and in our midfield at Perth last night.

 

Boyle has produced with every managerial appointment so far. Gannon and then Brown were sagas, but McCall was willing to take what may seem a not very attractive prospect.

 

Let's wait to see what McCall can bring in and how he mounds a team with the resources available.

[TheLip69]

I would never have appointed Stuart McCall, NEVER.

For Derek Weir to say he was our first choice astonishes me, his track record is only slightly better than abysmal, he has never managed in the SPL, and he had been out of work for almost a year when we appointed him. I dont care how bad our situation is financially, surely we should be aiming higher than that.

I'll be absolutely delighted if I'm proved wrong and we go on a run and start climbing the table, but nothing about Stuart McCall inspires any sort of confidence in his ability.

I would even have taken Nijholt before this clown.

[TheLip69]

Let's wait to see what McCall can bring in and how he mounds a team with the resources available.

 

.....or we could look at his track record and see how he moulded a team with infinitely more resources.

[Jay]

Obviously it's a difficult question to answer given none of us have seen McCall's application and been at the interview.

 

However, based on what we know - yes, I would have given the job to McCall, and it remains to be seen whether that was an incorrect decision.

 

I wouldn't have went with an interim manager. Let's be honest, with neither Gannon or Brown having contracts, we've basically been doing that for about 18 months. A stable, full-time, contracted gaffer was urgently needed IMO, and I'm delighted we've got that.

 

As for trying to appoint someone else, who exactly is on this fantastic list of "other people" available to be appointed? The guys who actually generated a flicker of interest like Sbragia didn't want it because of transfer budgets (if the press are to believed) and the other names in the hat were guys like Chris Sutton and John Hartson. Or, for the sake of argument, are we living in the fantasy land that some folk on here seem to be permanent residents of? In which case, I'll plump for Davie Moyes.

 

Seriously though, I have no doubts that Stuart McCall was the best candidate from what was available as Boyle has shown he has the ability to pick the best candidates and has the club's best interests at heart. so it would be merely a question of McCall or an interim manager. As I've said, I reckon the benefits of having a contracted manager in place massively outweigh any wee worries or fears folk have about having Stuart McCall in charge and, therefore, I don't have any doubts that I'd have done the same thing if I was Boyle.