David

Let's hope they aren't quite as kneejerk and ridiculous as some on this forum who also have no experience then, shall we?

My excuse? There is no excuse. There's a reason though, and that reason is that we're shite. There are three pretty dire sides in this league at the moment, and we're one of them. Okay, so we lose this game, get to Monday and sack Baraclough (along with his assistant who will have been here for all of what? 48 hours or something?). What then? Who do we put in charge in the interim? What do we do with the players that Baraclough has identified as guys that he wanted and just brought in? Do we give the new assistant the job during the time it takes to restart the search for a new guy? Or do we simply go to MVDG and say "aye Mitch, ye were second choice, but fuck it, ye want the job now big man?" If he says yes he comes into a squad of players that hardly know each other, and a load of new players that were identified by the previous manager and who may not even factor into how he wants to play. A bit like the guys that Baraclough inherited from McCall. Going down that road would pretty much increase our chances of relegation in my opinion. The alternative? Give the new guy some time. I don't mean 9 or 10 games after he inherited a load of shite that was already looking doomed, I mean a proper amount of time to do his job. He's been given the backing to bring in some new players, some of which actually look exciting and of a decent calibre. Here's a novel idea. Support the team and the manager and let's see what he's capable of. I swear to God, we must have some of the shittest fans in the fucking league. We were moaning like fuck when we were sitting 3rd in the table, moaning like fuck when we were qualifying for Europe regularly, moaning like fuck when we had no money, moaning like fuck about the Well Society and fan ownership, and now we're moaning like fuck despite the new owner putting his hand in his pocket and drafting in some exciting young players to try and help us out of a bind, all because they aren't getting the job done in the first game they've played together.

That's exactly what I mean. The idea of some sort of committee running our club, especially if those on that committee are anything like some people on this forum really does give me the fear. We'd be sacking managers and tearing up contracts right, left & centre.

If said Motherwell fans are the type of business people who would get shot of a manager mere weeks after him coming into a job that is always going to be difficult then the chances are they wouldn't be very successful, yes. Especially when he's only just got some of his own personnel through the door. By your thinking the new manager should have brought a whole load of new faces into a squad in January, trained them for two weeks and have them all gelled and firing on all cylinders 45 minutes into their first match. Don't get me wrong, it would have been ideal if that were the case, but you can hardly look at it not being the case as a sign that he doesn't know the basics. I'm not actually sure what some fans are wanting to happen here. We're shite. We're in a relegation battle. There's no quick fix to this situation. I doubt Pep Guardiola could get us playing well at the moment.

As long as said fans aren't anything like the ones who post on this forum. We'd be sacking managers every few weeks if recent chat is anything to go by.

So, the new owner gives the new manager a load of new players in the January window, but because we're not off and running by half-time in the first game it's jacket on a shaky peg time? Seriously? I really am glad that fans don't actually run football clubs, and instead leave it to proper businessmen and people who know how to actually do the job.

I'll tell you what, just seeing that still there from the video with the new manager and the new players all lined up fills me with confidence that we're at least making a fist of working our way out of this shite. Onwards & upwards!

Aye, and apparently they had high hopes for him until he suffered a fractured tibia and fibula in 2012.

Wee Dan is a decent back up keeper, nothing more really.

He did, which makes me think that he's realised that any plans he has for the club moving forward requires us to be an SPFL team next season and has moved to make funds available for short-term loans to see us through to the end of the season. At that point we'll see a whole host of guys out of contract, and there'll be more room for maneuvre by the manager.

Baraclough out!

New guy sent off as well!??!

1-0 down already. Maybe I don't want to hear it anyway

Anyone know if the BBC still do commentary for individual games? I haven't listened to them for a while, but can't find the option to listen to our game rather than the league cup semi-final.

I know this is doing the rounds on social media, but I thought I'd post it here nonetheless;

Because he's a wind up merchant most likely.

I wonder why big Jim Traynor didn't apply for the media job. That's the gig he had with the blue bigots, wasn't it?

I was more meaning the area outside the stadium. We've seen games cancelled because of the conditions being considered dangerous for fans on their way to games, haven't we?

Yeah, but the main sticking point with him was his injury problems, wasn't it? I think if he gets a run of games he'll do okay.

He looks to have decent credentials, it's just a shame that he probably won't be here beyond the summer.

He was seemingly a player in demand, and the fact that Notts County actually wanted to sign him but Forest didn't want to let him go hints at him being a quality player.

Pretty much. Once he has a solid idea of who's staying and going in the summer he'll have a better idea of the kind of budget he has to play with.

That's a positive then I guess, although a freezing night on top of ice & snow may prove to be an issue. Anyone been down at the stadium? How's the surrounding area looking?

Aye, he sounds like the kind of player who blows hot & cold. Not really surprising, as a player in his position who blows mainly hot would likely be outwith our reach. We'll just need to wait and see how he does.

What? I'm not sure what that even means? You made some points, I made some points, it's a discussion. Yeah, but circumstances play a part, don't they? It all depends on various factors as to how a new managerial appointment will affect a team. I don't think our squad now is anywhere close to having the quality that it had in it when Brown took over, and we were sitting higher up the table, so the threat of relegation wasn't quite as major an issue. What do you mean that a new broom should have swept clean? Are you meaning the staff who were there from McCall's era? If so, I'm not sure it's just as simple as telling them to hit the road, there are contracts that would need to be paid up I think, and I don't think we're in a position to do that at the moment. We'll maybe see a significant shift in the backroom staff come the summer. If you look back you'll actually see that I was an advocate of bringing someone in short-term until the summer, allowing us to bring someone in with a fresh slate. I'd mentioned the likes of Tommy McLean maybe doing the kind of job we initially brought in Craig Brown to do, or even leaving Black in charge. But we didn't do that, we appointment Baraclough so we really should be prepared to back him and give him a sufficient amount of time to do the job. Yeah, he's been here for less than two months, and in that time he's been working primarily with the squad of players that have gotten us into this mess. I'm not entirely sure what you expected him to do that McCall wasn't capable of? How many other companies would hire a new manager when they're experiencing an downturn in business and get rid of him when he didn't turn it around in less than two months? That's simply mental to be honest. Sorry mate, to come to the conclusion you have when the guy has been here for a grand total of 48 days is a bit off to be honest. I simply can't agree with it. I don't really think we are. We were a bit shit before he arrived, and we're still a bit shit. In order for that to change we need to offload some of the players who aren't performing and bring in replacements. He simply cannot do that to his full ability until the summer, can he? Really? From a period of 48 days and 7 games you've reached the conclusion that he doesn't have the aptitude to do the job? Despite him having a pretty poor squad to work with, and a decent amount of injuries to contend with as well? I guess everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I find that kind to be baffling if I'm honest. I'm not fighting any kind of fight, be it good or bad. All I'm doing is resisting the urge to allow my knees to jerk all over the shop. We're in a relegation battle, and we're trying to bring in some players during the window to help us consolidate our current position and stay ahead of the two teams below us. That's our main concern. Replacing the manager any time before the end of the season is simply mental in my opinion.