Welldaft Mk1

I thought we had both till the end of January??

Well that was a lot better. Just back in from the game. Really pleased of the shift and effort that the players put in tonight. A draw was the least we deserved. Just did not get the breaks and Hearts defended well. All the players were up for the game and it was easy to see the body language when they came onto the park and pushing for the equaliser. Hearts are not a great team but they are solid at the back and Goncalves had Lukas in his back pocket all night. Kello their goalie had a couple of good saves and they had some last ditch defending in the second half. The away support was good - decent numbers and sang for the whole 90 minutes+ Yes - we have lost another game - but I am now looking forward to the Hamilton and ICT cup game with a lot more optimism than after Saturday.

Shaka - how it works is this. If someone said Gannon went for an interview or interviews it is pish. If Burma said he didn't it is FACT. So I can only assume that Burma has spoken to Gannon in person or knows exactly where he has been over the past 2-3 months. It does not change the fact that Gannon was ripping this club apart with his obnoxious and arrogant behaviour and refusal to commit to any long term future. I am quite sure Boyle gave him enough slack until it became self evident there was only one course of action available. Time to move on.

Agreed 100% I have stated all along that I was happy when Gannon was appointed Manager and liked the look of him b4 he was appointed. It is however quite clear that he just could not get on with anyone at all and his refusal to commit to signing a contract and his future to Motherwell is now looking like a blessed relief. Yes - JB has made a mistake in appointing him. No-one is disputing that fact, but I am quite sure Boyle had no idea that he would be so difficult to deal with. It also looks as if Gannon is ultimately relieved to be relieved of his duties. I am quite sure he has the capability to be a very good Manager - but it appears is if he has to control the flaws in his personality of which there are many.

Aaaah Burma - the font of f#ck all knowledge. Boyle made a mistake appointing Gannon. That is now sadly a fact. At the time it was a gamble that for the first three months appeared to be paying off. But you know what - I am quite sure Gannon never said in his interview that he would fall out with everyone inside and outside the club and get cold feet when the going got tough. Shit happens - move on and try to accept it. With every passing post I am quite convinced Burma is Jim Gannon

Well Emmajay - what do you think?? Do you think he was sacked because he excelled at man management and had all the players and staff on his side................ I know for a fact he fell out with the media, the referees and a number of players at Motherwell. It now seems as if the board had also had enough. So I do believe that the answer to your question is YES.

Not likely - unless he can learn to get on with people. It takes something to fall out with virtually everyone he came into contact with during his time at Motherwell. Gannon would be an excellent Manager if he had diplomacy as a personality trait. Basically he had his views and they were always right regardless of who you were. Gannon will never fulfil his potential unless he screws the nut.

Here here - of all the posts I have read this afternoon - this is the one I would have typed myself if I had the energy. Not the first time I might add. No great loss - looking forward to seeing who we get in his place.

Burma - I have read most of your posts on the subject of Gannon getting his jotters and not agreed with any. That i guess is what forums are about - opinions. But this post has taken it too far. Burley was clearly the wrong appointment for Scotland and would be for Motherwell. The last thing we need is another in the Malpas mould - a Manager devoid of emotion and unable to motivate Santa on Xmas eve.

Well that all depends on the amount and who the player is. Boyle is a businessman and if he feels investing £250k+ in John Ruddy in the knowledge that there is more than a decent chance we will get the same amount or more back in return - as oppose to spending on players whose contracts may merely run out or have little or no re-sale value. Truth is only JB and JG and a selct few others know the actual facts!

OK - So I did not know he was working without a contract as I am sure this has come as a surprise to most Well fans. But as stated on other threads - why are we caring at all about this???? If we were sitting second top, having lost one game and had a Manager who was getting on with players, media, MFC staff etc - who then walked away - then we could say how come he did not have a contract. This has in fact now worked in our favour as we can sack Gannon without paying compensation. I am somewhat disappointed that it did not work out, but these things happen. With Gannon's reputation this appointment was always going to be a gamble - sadly it did not pay off. That said I would blame Gannon and his attitude rather than Boyle and the contract situation.

If Gannon even had the remotest concept of man management and was showing willing to get on with anyone - then I am sure he would still be in a job. But it appears as if he fell out with - and in no particular order - Senior Players, Referees, Media, New players, Board and MFC staff. That would be acceptable if you were Fabio Cappello or Jose Mourinho but patently Boyle had had enough. Fine - we move on and hope that we can get a manager that will not start a fight on his own in a telephone kiosk .

We are where we are! Who cares - It is quite evident that relations had deteriorated to such an extent between Gannon and the board and players and indeed some fans that this was coming. It is a positive that he had NOT signed a contract - otherwise we would probably have had to pay compensation. End of story.

By all accounts this has been coming for weeks - so I am quite sure Boyle has a plan B in place I wanted Gannon as Manager before he was appointed, but regardless of the good or bad things he has done over the past 6 months - if you neither have the heart nor the stomach to manage Motherwell FC and are actively being interviewed for other jobs - then good riddance. I am quite sure Boyle expected Gannon to get around to signing a contract in due course and certainly it looked as if we were going in the right direction. But I am also quite sure that there is no-one else to blame but Gannon for all this coming about. As some have surmised maybe he was being a pain as he was seeking an exit. Shame it has come to this - although given his reputation it was perhaps always going to be a gamble. Never boring being a Well fan - let us hope we get a decent Manager in as replacement - one who is not monotone and shows emotion (that rules out a return for Malpas) and one that has GOOD man management skills!!

It is hard to tell whether this is kind of reverse psychology and criticism of players is aimed at getting a response or whether it is because he has lost the appetite for the challenge. If he is going to get to the top of the management tree then I believe he will have to stick it out - which by the way may be his intention all along - as a blip here will, whilst not fatal will certainly set him back a couple of years. As for the criticism of the players - I personally would rather he took another route - that said it is difficult to argue with his points about keeping clean sheets given the last few results. I am quite sure he has stressed to the defence how to go about simple defending, yet it is clearly not getting through. On Saturday we actually played reasonably well for the last 25 mins of the first half and should have been more than 1 goal to the good. Credit must go to D McInnes who made two subs at half time and gave his players a rollicking which worked. Interesting to read the posts regarding him going for interviews, which he seems to have denied at the MST meeting. What is going on?? Either someone is trying to create trouble for Gannon or he did go for these interviews in which case I would question his commitment and seek a replacement ASAP. If he is going for interviews at this stage, then he clearly does not see even a short term future at MFC and perhaps the players know this. Personally i like what he has tried to do with blooding the youngsters, although you could also argue with the lack of resources that he had little choice. Certainly in the beginning it was working reasonably well. I am a bit bemused (like all it would seem) by the constant tinkering to the line up and would like to see a more settled side. I hope he can work through this tough phase of results - we are still in 6th place and if we can get back to some early season form and a little luck we will hopefully pick up a few positive results - we sure as hell need them.

You are barking up the wrong tree Netherton well fan. I agree with you, but we are a most unforgiving lot. We take the piss out of the Gers fans for deserting Ibrox - but at 3-1 down we still had 20 minutes left and there was a mass exodus. Way to support the team......... Perhaps the fans have the team they deserve?????????? 4100 for a Boxing Day match - pathetic!

I suspect and fear that you are probably spot on with both points raised above............ I would be happy to go along with the Gannon philosophy if I genuinely thought he would be here for a reasonably longish spell - in otherwords 3 years minimum. But the fans (including myself) will lose patience if we play nice passing football, yet lose to St J, Hearts and Hamilton who are doing what it takes to win a game of football in the SPL. I would like to think that Jim will have the balls and determination to stay at Motherwell and complete the job he has started - only then will he become a good manager IMHO. In otherwords we are unlikely to have any Manager for longer than 2 years these days. Either they will do a good job and then move on or they will do a crap job and get the bullet Bought the book Motherwell FC Miscellany in Waterstones in Edinburgh the other day - Good read. One stat that surprised me - I have been supporting Motherwell since 1973/4. MFC had 4 managers from 1911 to 1973 yet have had 16 since then..............

My highlight would have been the semi final against Hearts. The fact they had the cheek to play it at a neutral venue as Easter Rd was a disgrace. I think I was smiling for a week thereafter For me though the Euro trips to Bucharest, Llanelli and more so seeing nearly 2500 fans in France supporting the team was fantastic. The only thing I sometimes wish for is that the team I support could get a few extra 000 fans through the gate and it can be depressing (especially recently) getting up to the PO stand to see so many empty seats throughout the home end. So to see so many fans travelling to France brought home how special the club is and the atmosphere during and after the game was immense The obvious low was the untimely death of Uncle Phil, but the club and fans rallied round superbly and he will always be a legend - more so for his Scottish Cup goal and performances in C&A rather than his sad passing. Whatever happens in the next decade this is still the best club (& most infuriating) in the world to support. Maybe one day an Oligarach or Sheik will realise that they could win a league title and spend a fraction of what they are spending at Man City or Chelsea and the like.

I wouldn't be too surprised to see Craigan still on the bench come Boxing Day. I would not be unhappy were he to return, but I think we can assume that Gannon rates Reynolds, Saunders and Hutchison as first in line for CB positions. The good thing about Hutchison is that he also offers a potent goal threat for a CB. I make it 5 league starts and 3 goals.......better than most strikers Assuming Gannon wants to start with all 3 - then he has to drop one of Yass or Hammell. Right now I would choose Saunders at RB (and not Yass) ahead of Reynolds at left back (and not Hammell). I would also bring either Slane or O'Brien back to give us some creativity from midfield. --------------------Ruddy------------------------- Saunders------Hutchinson-----Reynolds--------Hammell --------------------Hateley----------------------- ------Coke--------Jennings-----Murphy------O'Brien/Slane ---------------------Duke--------------------------- With that line up Mr G - we will edge the game 2-1

I think the panic reaction is a wee bit OTT. If anything Gannon has raised expectations with the first couple of months and our results and performances during this time. That said there is no getting away from the fact that the next 4-6 weeks will probably define our season. Games v all the bottom 6 sides and ICT away in the cup. We can accept defeats to Celtic, Rangers and Hibs away as they have much greater resources - ok the 6 goals against us on Saturday was concerning, but in truth after the way they beat Utd at Tannadice I feared a 3/4 goal defeat I think Gannon has done a decent job so far and ALL OF US would have taken 5th place at Xmas time. I think we have a decent team and Slane and Hutchison will add to this having returned from long term injuries. I hope we are in a position to win at least 3-4 of the next 6 games. That said I think we also understand that no wins in the games v St J, Jambos and Hamilton and we are in a worrying decline. My worry is the fact that our team is young and will be up against seasoned pros who will battle and foul their was through these games and more importantly give them little or no time on the ball. Time to roll the sleeves up. Are we too soft?? It is all very well being top of the fair play league - but I would rather we were near the bottom and sitting in 5th or 6th come the end of the season. Here's hoping we pick up a few vital wins to kick start the season and try to consolidate our place in the top 6.

Ah well - another defeat to the h**s. How come we can go to Parkhead and get the odd draw or win - but never it seems at Castle Greyskull. At least Aberdeen are being beaten - so we will remain 5th - having played all the teams in the top half. Our season starts again on Boxing day. We need to start winning - and I would hope we can start to do that over the next 5-6 weeks when we play the teams in the bottom half. Mon the Well

Not able to make last night because of a prior commitment. Glad too see that it seemed to go quite well. Was there a decent turn out of Well fans?? And most importantly is anyone willing to share some more detail of Jimbo's responses to questions that were put to him.................... Did the question of the loanees come up and the likelihood of them staying?? What about the situation with Jim O'Brien?? Would be grateful to hear a little more........please...

Am watching the Rangers game tonight and a v impressive and solid performance from Rangers tonight - me fears it could be a long afternoon on Saturday at Ibrox. Rangers looked well up for it tonight. I hope I am proved wrong but it looks a daunting prospect at the moment

I cannot make it due to a pre-arranged dinner, but I hope there is a decent turn out. Certainly I would make every attempt to get along to hear what Gannon has to say on a number of topics: When will we hear if Ruddy, Yass and Lukas will be staying till the end of the season. O'Brien - Playing well enough - but now no-where to be seen - not even on the bench. Are the rumours re a fall out accurate. Look forward to reading what the responses are. Enjoy the night.

I am with you Brazilfc. Amazing to see that we have those who think O'Brien is a waste of a jersey and others (like myself) who think he has performed quite well this season. Maybe we don't rate McGhee either anymore - but you have to question why he appears so keen to sign O'Brien if as some state on here he will not be missed or is not at all talented. I would also be surprised if Gannon suddenly does not rate him - unless as speculated it comes down to his attitude??? As for £20k at Xmas - tell them to get to #*#* £100k minimum or we keep him till the summer.