ColinAtherton
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Posts posted by ColinAtherton
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It think it was just about the worst possible time to be looking to appoint a new manager. The end of season manager merry go round has long finished and there haven’t been a lot of managers loosing their jobs in the last month or so to replenish the candidate pool.
In respect of the board having a plan in place, they surely had to have one. No one can look at the teams form from January and not be making serious contingency plans in the event of a bad start to the season. They were put in a very difficult position. On one hand how can you sack a manager that delivered top 6 and European qualification. If someone offered any of us that right now we bite their hands off for it. The other side of the coin is that this isn’t a paper exercise, how we got there is important. If we’d won 2 games in the first half of the season and then went on a rampage in the second half finishing 5th, the managers position would have been rock solid.
The decline in the quality of the squad has been stark. Losing Watt was terminal for us, he was our best player and his work rate and quality left us significantly weaker. We needed to maintain that squad and replace Watt (which is a near impossible task given we’d be taking a punt on someone, rather than buying the finished article). Instead we lost other members of the squad and the replacements have, as of yet, failed to live up to the challenge.
Hopefully we make some moves on the transfer market quickly. One name that I’ve been thinking about for a wee while is Mikey Johnston on loan. He was available on loan though not sure if he’s out of our budget, or if he’s already got something lined up.
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Hammy will get my backing 100%, he’s a Well legend and clearly has a plan which is great. My only worry is that he might be the cheap option, knowing how badly we need to strengthen the squad, it would help if we are skint.
I wonder if he might look to former players as options, I’m thinking Moult, Bowman, Shaun Hutchison, maybe Turnbull on loan depending on how likely he is to get game time for Celtic this season.
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Mark Fotheringham (assistant to Felix Magath at Hertha Berlin) is rumoured to be one of the other candidates.
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I get some people being underwhelmed by the names being mentioned but can't actually think of candidates that wouldn't underwhelm some of us. There is no perfect candidate, not one likely to apply for our job anyway. Unless there's someone I'm missing..?
Healy and Valakari have both won trophies but are untested in our league. Hammell knows the league hut is inexperienced. Every candidate would have their own weaknesses...
For those underwhelmed by the names put forward, who realistically did youngope we would get?
I was really buzzing at the idea of Big Dunc. I think Lambert or Owen Coyle would have been good appointments. Simo would be a great story but none of us know whether the levels are similar. Other than that I can’t think of another candidate that would excite me.
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One of the most valuable things any new manager brings to us is knowledge of players. We don’t have the money to go out and pick up players that have already broken through, we need a manager that knows a Trevor Carson is sitting on a bench at Hartlepool or that Louis Moult is wasting away at Wrexham. Even GA brought that. He was appointed after our humiliation at New Douglas Park with that imposter Chapman. GA immediately brought in Liam Kelly, Tyler Magloire and a few others and turned it around for us.
I worry who Simo will know, we don’t need more Miko Kavens.
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There's a very big difference between having a positive mentality, which is a good thing, and having mental health issues which should never be used a a criteria to determine someone's suitability for a job or anything else,and then further compounding the issue by stereotyping him as " aggressive, wild, out of control etc" .
It’s not a stereotype, I’d say that is a fair account of his behaviour over the last 10 years. I also disagree about it not being a consideration in terms of his suitability for the job. If a candidate has a track record of significantly poor performance when under pressure that is a legitimate reason to not appoint him. The second and more important factor is there is, as someone else mentioned earlier, a duty of care. I don’t think Neil should continue in management, I don’t think he can handle the pressure and seeing the videos of him in a bit of a mess after losing the job at Celtic was very concerning. He is clearly insistent upon remaining in management roles but it’s not the right thing for him or the clubs he’d work for. If a similar thing happened if he got our job the Club would be partly responsible for him suffering for putting him in that position.
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If you're this Colin Atherton, then your 'Well credentials are in no doubt - although the same can't necessarily be said about your managerial judgement
Sadly I doubt this is anywhere near my worst take on Twitter
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Imagine emailing a football club to voice your displeasure at a rumour your read on the internet.
I didn’t email the “football club” I emailed the Well Society, of which I am a member, to ask that they put forward my concerns to the club. That’s what the society is there for to support the club and give a voice to its fans.
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You have mentioned nothing of a very successful first spell.
I think as a person he has his demons. He has talked about battles with depression and he did indeed have a hard time after his second spell at Celtic.
The board of Motherwell would have to decide which version of Neil Lennon we would be getting. On form and in a good mental frame of mind he would be a coup for our club. I suppose there is always the possibility of a man that could self implode but this is life.
I don’t doubt that there would be an element of risk attached. All the names mentioned have risk attached for different reasons. If we were to accept that Neil Lennon was the biggest risk, he may also produce the biggest reward.
I must be as bigoted as the next man however because the mere suggestion of a Barry Ferguson/ Bob Malcolm dream team made me want to be sick!
For what it is worth I am tending towards Simo Valakari. A young manager with a love for the club that has proved himself in Finland. That he has no association with Rangers or Celtic also does have it’s merits.
With Neil Lennon it would never be boring good or bad. Not long before we will know.
I accept that but that spell ended in 2014, since then he’s been sacked by Bolton, sacked in strange circumstances by Hibs and sacked by Celtic following a disastrous year.
I’m really frustrated that my comments are being taken to be prejudiced against mental health issues. All I’m saying is that mentality is an important characteristic for a football manager and the fact that Lennon has had issues at Hibs and Celtic should be a concern.
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What a feckin ridiculous comment to make on someone's mental health issues, so now he's wild, aggressive, unstable and out of control ffs.
Supporting Mental health issues is something Motherwell as a club are very strong on and something our fans should be proud of irrespective of who it is.
How is that a ridiculous comment. I didn’t make light of his issues, I didn’t joke. I’m serious he had some kind of breakdown. I don’t think it is wrong to say that we should be concerned about appointing a man who has struggled with pressure into the highest pressure role at our club.
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What are your objections? I understand that he can be an abrasive character but if he had the skill set to turn the team around and bring a bit of excitement football back to Firpark, would that not be a good thing?
My worry in these situations is that an ex Celtic man would be less palatable to small sections of our support than say a Terry Butcher ( a man that was also fairly abrasive in his time) or a Stuart McCall.
I always defend the club to Celtic fans in particular who make the claim that we are a mini Rangers. Our support is generally mixed and it is a source of pride to me that we don’t carry the religious baggage of either of the OF teams. Appointing a polarising character like Lennon would underline all the more that we are a club that is not shackled by religious and political prejudice.
It is not a reason to appoint him but I don’t think his football history should be a reason not to.
My objection is nothing to do with his links to Celtic. I think he’s a terrible manager. He took over a Celtic side build by Brendan Rodgers that was so strong and he systematically broke it to pieces over a couple of seasons. The gap between the side he inherited and the Rangers side of that time was massive, they could have won 15+ in a row. He dismantled them. His signings (other than Turnbull) were atrocious (Barkas, Ajeti, Duffy, Klimala, Bolingoli etc.). He also completely poisoned the dressing room and eroded the significant credibility he’d build up with their fans. Finally, the guy had a full on breakdown when he left Celtic, he’s unstable and he presents himself in such a wild, aggressive, out of control manner.
I honestly think he’s the worst possible candidate for the job.
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Your not a motherwell fan
I’ve been a Motherwell supporter for 35 years. I’ve followed the club home and away for a long time.
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There are rumours that Neil Lennon is in the running to be the next gaffer. Personally I think he is the worst possible candidate imaginable. I’ve seen some similar sentiment of Twitter. I have sent an email to the Well Society at (well.society@motherwellfc.co.uk) to ask they pass my objection to his possible appointment. I don’t imagine this will accomplish very much but I really can’t bare the thought of Lennon at our clubs.
I am not looking to encourage anyone else to follow suit but if you feel as compelled as I do then it might help avoid such a horrible appointment.
Col
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Next Motherwell Manager - Steven Hammell
in Club Chat
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I was assuming it was something to do with brining the youth set up closer to the main squad. Not sure though.
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