weeyin

How much did we owe to Boyle at that stage?

If I was Craigan, I'd be sticking to my U20s and telly duties. All the enjoyment of coaching, no real pressures of management and a nice number being a pundit. Best he can hope for in managing our club is a year or two of success then getting punted like every other manager.

If Robinson is so good he guided his country to the Euros, why couldn't he guide his domestic team up the table?

I was on the fence prior to the appointment, but now he's on board I'm looking forward to see what he can do for us.

Successful managers are typically employed this time of year. Or, they are so successful they wouldn't be in our price range. So whether it was McGhee or someone else, it's probable their record would be patchy.

More No than Yes for me, but I'm sure he can change my mind if he gets us playing the same way as he did in his first season. I'm fickle like that.

As long as it doesn't go the same way as the last game I attended to pay my respects to Joe (West Brom testimonial), I'll be happy. Be surprised if we got anything from this game, but TBF, we have picked up a few points at home against this mob in the past few seasons, so maybe we can sneak something.

I think people are taking my comments about staff holidays a little too seriously. I do think it's good business sense for the Chairman to be present at our most important game of the season, but not exactly losing sleep over it.

Given the importance of the fixture to our season and the resultant fall-out, it seems someone at the club dropped the ball on that one - so yes. Reading the "I wasn't at the game and didn't find out until Les told me after the sacking" quotes the day after made us look quite amateurish at a time when were pushing the Society membership. I'm glad someone gave you an explanation, because nobody bothered to communicate one to me.

Did you ask him why he wasn't at the Morton game?

Maybe, but Moult and Fletcher were more direct replacements for him and Sutton and they seem good enough.

As I recall, he was talking himself up for the Celtic job within his first week of joining us.

Serious question. What's so bad about him compared, say, to a McCall, McGhee or Brown who all had average managerial careers before taking on our squad.

I remember when he played for the schoolboy team that cuffed England.

I still think Baraclough's problem was not understanding the general shiteyness of a team who had managed to finish 2nd in the previous season and seemed to give up the following one. Something I find hard to fathom myself.

Not really. It's just a numbers game. When crowds are large, the polis are more interested in containment and control. When crowds are smaller, containment and control are less of an issue, so they have time to focus on whatever infractions they decide are flavor of the month. It's been that way for a long time now. If we had 50 or 60 thousand inside Fir Park every week you could light your bangers to your hearts content.

This week was the first week any interviews were being conducted. Even if they have the short list down to 5 and manage to schedule one interview per day, there was no way an appointment would be made until next week at the earliest. Even if they found the guy they wanted today, it takes a few days to sort out contracts etc. No need to panic.

This thread reeks of International Break Week.

Utd and Liverpool, it would seem, had replacements in their sights before sacking their current managers. We did not. If there were 75 applicants, it could easily take a week to sift through them all and come up with a short list. I know standard wisdom where I work is that it typically takes 2 - 3 months to fill an open spot. Obviously a little different here, but 2 or 3 weeks doesn't seem like an age, tbh.

I'm sure you're right - MLS teams are quite happy to sign up players and then let them play elsewhere off-season. Hope it works out for him.

He'll need to be quick. The MLS regular season ends on the 25th of October and Philly are already officially eliminated from the play-offs.

He had a winning team as a baseline. Baraclough had a team in serious decline. He was also allowed to buy players like Coyne, Cooper and Russell. First season in the SPL we were saved by reconstruction. Later season we finished 9th out of 10 when relegation was reduced to bottom one instead of bottom 2.

Based on last season, that is his "glass half full" demeanour.

Apart from cover for Pearson, we should have enough quality to be fighting for top 6 this season. Not saying we'll make top 6, but should be at least in the fight.I don't think it's the signings Baraclough made, so much, as his inability to find his best starting 11 and/or tactics. Of course there have been guys that didn't work out, but that is par for the course for any manager. I think Craigan has shown he's not ready for the step-up yet (even if he wanted it), but someone with a bit more tactical nous should be able to stabilize things in the short term. Having said all that, I think some fans understimate what a bad state we were in last season - or rather, how much effort it takes to address that state of affairs. It took wee Tommy 4 or 5 seasons to build us from a newly promoted First Division team into a team that challenged for the top of the SPL. It could take the same again for any new gaffer.