With Mr Boyle due to call it a day at the end of this season I thought a thread to remember some of the positive stuff (although I'm sure there'll be those who wish to concentrate on the negative) he has done for the club over the past 14 years or so.
First of all, no one will ever forget the turbulent spell from 1997 until the early 2000's, when we saw a managerial roll call that included Billy Davies, Eric Black & Terry Butcher. We were close to going to the wall, and managed to avoid relegation on a technicality.
Whilst no one will ever forget or try to downplay that period, it's worth remembering that Boyle steered the ship out of those waters, making some unpopular & difficult decisions, but doing what had to be done to get us back on track, including reducing our yearly losses to one of the lowest in the SPL at the time.
Excluding a short stint with Malpas as manager it can be said that most of Boyle's managerial appointments have been sound. We've seen the likes of Butcher, Mark McGhee, Craig Brown (boo, hiss etc) and finally Stuart McCall.
We've also seen the likes of Faddy, Don Goodman, Andy Goram, John Spencer, Dirk Lehmann, Scott McDonald, Jim Hamilton, Phil, Ross McCormack, the Juke & big Klimpl to mention but a few pass through the door of Fir Park.
Couple all of that with various European excursions through the years, I think it's safe to say that Boyle has given us more ups than downs.
Let's hope he finishes his stint at Fir Park on a high come May 21st.