Lobey_Dosser

If Pressley were to get an interview, he'd say absolutely everything the Board want to hear. Hopefully the club have learned from their mistakes last time round. Bookies odds will chop and change with a few quid but I am surprised that Lambert is favourite for Tannadice. Back to Motherwell, I'd love Di Canio but he wouldn't last 5 minutes. I reckon up we'll end up with someone who has a similar profile to Paul Dickov.

He might also be thinking if he hadn't signed Jake Taylor, he'd still be in a job. His persistence with him was the final straw for many.

Looks like Lee Erwin will be loaned out to a lower English League side this month.

Precisely.

Yeah, that surprised me a little given that the Board aren't meeting until Monday. Hopefully we know who we want.

Craigan may be playing it coy but I don't think he's in the running for the job. Going by his post match interview, he seems content with his cushy number at BT. I hope we just go and get Mixu. Big personality, plenty experience of Scottish football and a good man-manager.

Big lift before arriving at FP to hear that Pearson and Fletcher were back, while Taylor was out the squad entirely. Today was all about the 3 points and we managed to get them. Performance was similar to what we've seen under Baraclough but that was to be expected as Craigan has only had one training session with the squad, Big positives were the performances of Kennedy and Ainsworth. Kennedy looks a good big centre half albeit with some distribution reminiscent of his caretaker manager. Ainsworth meanwhile was motm and answered Craigan's call for his game changers to get on the ball more. I thought he was a class above and it was a shame one of his mazy runs didn't end with a goal. I also thought Grimshaw was a good robust addition at right back. Couple of niggling negatives, one being the obsession of punting high balls to Marvin. Hopefully that tactic will be addressed soon. The other concern being the overly cautious substitution involving Moult and Leitch, particularly because there was half an hour to go and we were on the front foot.

He's either been hung out to dry or the the club had few options in selecting an experienced diplomatic speaker. I imagine an interview with Skippy would have been far more revealing.

Pretty sure he has been on holiday in recent weeks. We may find out in his next blog. I can't believe that McCafferty was comfortable in revealing that he was informed about Baraclough after he'd been sacked. His role is nothing more than a token gesture.

I clocked the same alarm bells in Craigan's interview. Hopefully he was just being courteous to Baraclough.

I never know how to gauge McManus. Always says the right things to the media but he seemed to throw his toys out the pram at the beginning of last season. This was due to the signing policy that followed him committing to a 2 year contract. This season meanwhile, I very much doubt Clarkson would be here if it wasn't for him.

Regarding Mixu, was it Shiels that made him so successful at Killie?

Robinson is an interesting one. He was widely regarded as a good appointment with excellent coaching credentials. However, our current style of play doesn't reflect a well coached team.

Wouldn't be surprised if Skippy was involved in a scrap, wouldn't be the first time, albeit it's not necessarily a bad thing to be argumentative. Not so sure about Ainsworth as I think he's done well under Baraclough from March onwards. Marvin has probably been one to let Baraclough down the most. More generally, a significant number of players have seemingly signed contracts in the summer while not rating Baraclough. Never a healthy situation.

Good friends with Hammell and Lasley iirc.

Only caught the end of Les' interview but from what I could gather, no blame was attached to the experienced pros. Quite something to go on and say some of the younger players should 'hang their heads' in shame as Baraclough heads down the road with his family.

Reading between the no so subtle lines on the radio, sounds like there were a few punches thrown in the dressing room last night.

Interested to see what formation Craigan goes with. I like the shape of the u20s but the preference would be to see 2 upfront, Moult and Skippy.

Good find. There must be valid reasoning to default on £40k this summer, particularly when we haven't been shy in transfer market.

Whatever the choice, the process selection must be much more focused and streamlined than last time. Hopefully the club have been gauging interest since the alarm bells went off at East Fife. Not the right time for Craigan imo but imagine the Robinson factor may influence the decision.

It was almost inevitable that we'd part company this week. Good luck to him in the future. Not currently cut out for management at this level but will always be grateful for Ibrox. Far better managers than him couldn't have handled the playoffs with the composure and determination that Baraclough exhibited. Interested to hear the thoughts of Hutchison and Burrows who gave the manager great backing, Jackson Irvine aside.

Time will tell but if the irresponsible backing of the manager over the summer is mirrored in the approach to physiotherapy, youth, scouting etc then I'm not overly optimistic of the final results. Increased community presence is welcome but it's far down the list of my priorities when the club as a business, has flirted with survival in recent years.

There is little evidence yet that the money loaned by the owner has been invested wisely in the areas you mention. The one area where we can draw judgement is the transfer market where we have been far from prudent and signed few players that are symbolic of an upgraded scouting system.

I don't see any significant evidence of this whatsoever?

Motherwell winning with Baraclough still in charge would be detrimental to the club. I very much doubt he'll be there by Saturday though as he threw in the towel with his lineup last night.