Our New Manager

[Big Stall]

These are great reads and refreshing to see that there are actually other coaches out there that subscribe to what JBA was doing.

Wellmade mentioned muscut. Cant have him. The Rangers have wanted him the last two appointments. If he won 3 games in a row with us the tabloids would have him fitted up for a navy suit and broon brogues

[Happy Dosser]

1 hour ago, Big Stall said:

These are great reads and refreshing to see that there are actually other coaches out there that subscribe to what JBA was doing.

Wellmade mentioned muscut. Cant have him. The Rangers have wanted him the last two appointments. If he won 3 games in a row with us the tabloids would have him fitted up for a navy suit and broon brogues

True, dat.

So, I'm hopeful we continue the bold Scandi-approach, not just because it's great to look at but because it puts thousands on the gate, something I'm sure the club directors are very aware of.

BTW, is Max Rogers still with us? In all this excitement, I've lost track.

[numpty]

2 minutes ago, Happy Dosser said:

BTW, is Max Rogers still with us? In all this excitement, I've lost track.

He is.

[purestate]

No disrespect meant to Max.  
If he is of / has developed a similar mindset and approach to JBA plus has the relationship with the players, I’d be more than happy for him to lead next stage of progression

I’d be just as content if he recognises his strengths lie in assisting another. 

[David]

On 5/29/2026 at 7:19 AM, Great Balls of Shire said:

Disagree hes not a good manager, Falkirk play some tidy football...think JMcG suffers from not really looking or sounding the part, but his record is decent.

I agree with you. If he were German or Danish and could squeeze into a slim-fit Uniqlo long-sleeve minimalist-style t-shirt, opinion on him would likely be very different. 

There are a few things that I admire about McGlynn's style, including his brave decision to reject the usual approach to Scottish Championship-level football (direct, physical, second-ball contests) in favour of a more attractive, proactive approach. 

I have probably watched more of Falkirk in the second half of this season than any club outside of our own, and it's mental how calm they seem to play. They often looked like a side who just know the goal would eventually come through repetition and patience rather than chaos and panic. Some would say that has proven to be the way to actually undo us this season. 

McGlynn seems to be more interested in Intelligent footballers. Falkirk this past season had technically sound midfielders, full-backs comfortable in possession, and mobile, versatile attackers.

He is one of the rare few generally less interested in the "run your socks off, earn the right to play football" approach that many Scottish managers (and some not Scottish managers, it must be said) tend to employ.

That said, his approach is different from the system we have in place at the moment, even if I do rate McGlynn highly. 

In my view, he favours a system where the players look comfortable, the system serves the players, and they play with confidence, rhythm and repetition.

Us under Jens seemed more along the lines of constant movement, pressing triggers, rotations and tactical demands. Everything feels designed to overwhelm opponents physically and mentally, where the players serve the system instead.

What the real question is, is what we're doing actually sustainable?

McGlynn has shown his system is sustainable over League One (also going undefeated I think?), Championship, promotion pressures, initial relegation pressure in being one of the favourites to go back down, and also squad turnover. 

What he's done with Falkirk is remarkable. 

I know the trendy option is to look for coaches who look the part and have umlauts in their name, but I do think we could honestly do much worse than John McGlynn. 

But the fact he's Scottish and looks like the guy your auld da talks to down the bookies definitely works against him, I think.

 

[grizzlyg]

7 hours ago, dennyc said:

irrespective of who we eventually turn to, what all this research shows is that there are plenty of decent, progressive options out there. No need to turn to the usual, washed out, living in the past ( resist it Grizzlyg)  favourites the Scottish media come up with. 

Hopefully something announced soon. 

Honest....I wasnt thinking of a Jethro Tull pun 🤪🤪

[purestate]

37 minutes ago, David said:

McGlynn seems to be more interested in Intelligent footballers. Falkirk this past season had technically sound midfielders, full-backs comfortable in possession, and mobile, versatile attackers.

 

That said, his approach is different from the system we have in place at the moment, even if I do rate McGlynn highly. 

In my view, he favours a system where the players look comfortable, the system serves the players, and they play with confidence, rhythm and repetition.

Us under Jens seemed more along the lines of constant movement, pressing triggers, rotations and tactical demands. Everything feels designed to overwhelm opponents physically and mentally, where the players serve the system instead.

What the real question is, is what we're doing actually sustainable?

McGlynn has shown his system is sustainable

 

Great post and I agree with most of it. 
I’ve been selective quoting sections to highlight. 
 

in alternate universe if we swapped squads would McGlynn have had same success with his tactics and JBA with Falkirk players I wonder. 

Both approach’s seem to trust the players.  

I probably wouldn’t be disappointed if Jøhn Glynnæssøn 😉 came in but it may feel a bit like replacing Klopp with Slot 
 

 

[David]

14 minutes ago, purestate said:

Great post and I agree with most of it. 
I’ve been selective quoting sections to highlight. 

in alternate universe if we swapped squads would McGlynn have had same success with his tactics and JBA with Falkirk players I wonder. 

Both approach’s seem to trust the players.  

I probably wouldn’t be disappointed if Jøhn Glynnæssøn 😉 came in but it may feel a bit like replacing Klopp with Slot 

I guess a question I have is, *whisper it*, would Jens have managed to continue the success with the same approach in his second season? Your Slot comment is interesting, because we saw the difference between his two seasons in charge. 

Sadly, we'll never know. We can only be thankful for the incredible season we had.

[fizoxy]

Other than winning a cup, there isn't much that JBA could have done next season that would have shown progression, and there is a fair likelihood that we will regress due to losing more of our better players (Slattery will already be a huge loss), along with a combo of other teams being more wise to us and not all of the bigger teams being basket cases. Then you throw in the inevitable drop in league form due to Europe, and you can see why it was good for JBA to move on on a high.

That doesn't mean we have suddenly become relegation fodder,  but repeating this season is going to be very difficult - unless we genuinely did crack the whole recruitment thing with our data partner. 

Personally, I think we will see a drop in results, but still be in the conversation for top 6, and we will have some good off the field stuff going on, as well as maybe some of our own young players coming through. 

[weeyin]

2 minutes ago, fizoxy said:

Other than winning a cup, there isn't much that JBA could have done next season that would have shown progression

I'd disagree with that.

Taking advantage of our possession to score more goals is the thing we were missing for large parts of the season. He could have improved on that.

Beating Falkirk and Hearts.

Plus taking taking us to a group stage in Europe (unlikely I know).

 

 

 

[yosemite sam]

I think we may be hearing soon about our new manager. Wishaw Golf Club have had a request to allow a helicopter to land on the course on Thursday to drop off someone for a meeting that day in the area, and then come back and pick the person back up later that day. Nobody knows who this person is, but I'm thinking it could be our new manager perhaps?

Maybe an announcement on Friday?

Who knows, I could be miles out, but it's great to speculate.

[Mad Dog]

8 minutes ago, yosemite sam said:

I think we may be hearing soon about our new manager. Wishaw Golf Club have had a request to allow a helicopter to land on the course on Thursday to drop off someone for a meeting that day in the area, and then come back and pick the person back up later that day. Nobody knows who this person is, but I'm thinking it could be our new manager perhaps?

Maybe an announcement on Friday?

Who knows, I could be miles out, but it's great to speculate.

Probably Kyrk McMillan's Dad with his Klopp wig, glasses and false teeth.

[David]

12 hours ago, fizoxy said:

Other than winning a cup, there isn't much that JBA could have done next season that would have shown progression, and there is a fair likelihood that we will regress due to losing more of our better players (Slattery will already be a huge loss), along with a combo of other teams being more wise to us and not all of the bigger teams being basket cases. Then you throw in the inevitable drop in league form due to Europe, and you can see why it was good for JBA to move on on a high.

Progression for me doesn't mean attaining more success, it's more about continuing with what we've been doing. I'm thinking more along the lines of establishing ourselves as a mainstay in the top six, for example. We've finished in the top six something like three times in the past ten years, so establishing a run of finishing in the top six would be progress in my opinion.

Continuing to play an attractive, exciting brand of football that attracts fans to the ground is also important. 

That's mainly what I mean when I say it would have been interesting to see how JBA would have fared in his second season.

[weeyin]

1 hour ago, Mad Dog said:

Probably Kyrk McMillan's Dad with his Klopp wig, glasses and false teeth.

What his dad does his private life is nobody else's business.

[texanwellfan]

1 hour ago, David said:

Progression for me doesn't mean attaining more success, it's more about continuing with what we've been doing. I'm thinking more along the lines of establishing ourselves as a mainstay in the top six, for example. We've finished in the top six something like three times in the past ten years, so establishing a run of finishing in the top six would be progress in my opinion.

Continuing to play an attractive, exciting brand of football that attracts fans to the ground is also important. 

That's mainly what I mean when I say it would have been interesting to see how JBA would have fared in his second season.

I think if we continue to play the style of football we did during this past season, people will still be coming along to Fir Park to support the team. 

[texanwellfan]

2 hours ago, yosemite sam said:

I think we may be hearing soon about our new manager. Wishaw Golf Club have had a request to allow a helicopter to land on the course on Thursday to drop off someone for a meeting that day in the area, and then come back and pick the person back up later that day. Nobody knows who this person is, but I'm thinking it could be our new manager perhaps?

Maybe an announcement on Friday?

Who knows, I could be miles out, but it's great to speculate.

That a different level to “was seen at upper crust bakery” 😂

[grizzlyg]

4 hours ago, yosemite sam said:

I think we may be hearing soon about our new manager. Wishaw Golf Club have had a request to allow a helicopter to land on the course on Thursday to drop off someone for a meeting that day in the area, and then come back and pick the person back up later that day. Nobody knows who this person is, but I'm thinking it could be our new manager perhaps?

Maybe an announcement on Friday?

Who knows, I could be miles out, but it's great to speculate.

You are miles out i am afraid.  Press conference set to be held there to announce Wishy as ryder cup venue in 2031 ! 🤪🤪

[MelvinBragg]

8 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

I think if we continue to play the style of football we did during this past season, people will still be coming along to Fir Park to support the team. 

I think that's been people's concerns with Jens leaving. We don't want last season to be referred to in years to come as "remember that season we tried to play attractive, passing football that everyone raved about?". The positive is that the noises coming out of the club suggest that they don't want that either....

[Mad Dog]

I wonder if Scotland is ready for Ian Cathro yet? Seems bizarre that he, and John Collins before him, couldn't really get their more continental ideas across.

[weeyin]

13 minutes ago, Mad Dog said:

I wonder if Scotland is ready for Ian Cathro yet? Seems bizarre that he, and John Collins before him, couldn't really get their more continental ideas across.

Collins, I think, was slightly too far ahead of his time to make a positive impact on the Scottish footballer mentality at the time.

Cathro, by all accounts, wasn't a great man manager - although that might just have been people who didn't like his ideas being snarky.

JBA was obviously a great communicator and man manager, and that is essential when you want to implement new ideas.

[grizzlyg]

I spy.......with my little eye.........could our new manager be Tonda Eckert! 🤪🤪🤪

[joewarkfanclub]

1 hour ago, weeyin said:

Collins, I think, was slightly too far ahead of his time to make a positive impact on the Scottish footballer mentality at the time.

Cathro, by all accounts, wasn't a great man manager - although that might just have been people who didn't like his ideas being snarky.

JBA was obviously a great communicator and man manager, and that is essential when you want to implement new ideas.

I think Collins clearly had some good ideas due to his experiences with Monaco. I think he lost the dressing room though when he took his shirt off and challenged the squad to work harder so they could look like him! (Paraphrasing).

I think putting new ideas across can be done. But you need good management skills to take people with you and communicate your message clearly in a way they will take to.

I guess neither Collins or Cathro had that.

[weeyin]

18 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

I think Collins clearly had some good ideas due to his experiences with Monaco. I think he lost the dressing room though when he took his shirt off and challenged the squad to work harder so they could look like him! (Paraphrasing).

i take that story with a pinch of salt too. It might have happened differently to the reports, or it might never happened at all, but there's no doubt a few of the unhappy players went running to the media to dish what they perceived to be the dirt, so they could try and get rid of him.

[Spiderpig]

24 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

I think Collins clearly had some good ideas due to his experiences with Monaco. I think he lost the dressing room though when he took his shirt off and challenged the squad to work harder so they could look like him! (Paraphrasing).

I think putting new ideas across can be done. But you need good management skills to take people with you and communicate your message clearly in a way they will take to.

I guess neither Collins or Cathro had that.

New ideas, that would no doubt be telling the players of that era, they needed to train twice a day, 4 or 5 days a week, eat well , drink less etc.

Ideas that were totally alien to players of that era, but are now expected as the minimum standard.