Board Hoped McGhee Would Resign - Scott Davie in the Scotsman

[BobbyBiscuit]

Mark McGhee is expected to be sacked if Aberdeen fail to beat Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Pittodrie tomorrow night.

 

The Dons' humiliating record 9-0 defeat at Celtic Park on Saturday sparked emergency discussions among the club's board members. They had hoped the man they brought in to replace Jimmy Calderwood in the summer of 2009 would quit in the wake of the worst result in Aberdeen's history. But McGhee made it clear he would fight on and it was decided that the match against Terry Butcher's side, who are unbeaten in a year away from home in league football, came too soon to fire him.

 

The Aberdeen manager took training as normal yesterday and thrashed out the reasons for the embarrassing setback.

 

Despite that, and McGhee's bullish attitude after the hammering, chairman Stewart Milne and his directors are ready to call time on his 17-month reign, even though it will cost more than £400,000 to pay off McGhee, assistant Scott Leitch and goalkeeping coach Colin Meldrum.

 

McGhee has won just 17 of his 58 matches in charge so far and Aberdeen go into tomorrow's clash on a run of one win, and just four points, from their past nine SPL fixtures.

 

A Pittodrie insider said: "Mark remains in charge at the moment and the players are getting ready for Tuesday's game but everyone is shellshocked after what happened at Celtic Park.

 

"I can't see how he could survive if the team don't beat Caley Thistle and everyone in football realises the consequences of any given situation.

 

"I don't think the manager is under any illusions about what's happening but it takes a lot to sort things out. Tuesday night's game takes on monumental proportions and we will probably get the lowest crowd for a home league game in a long time."

 

[mizer]

I understand why he is not quitting, his career as a manger is over at any decent level for the time being and he needs cash to survive.

[glasgow sheep]

So we beat ICT, what then?

He'll get punted eventually. Surely the sooner the better.  At the very least the board should be actively pursuing possible replacements now so we don't have an extended period of care-taker management.

Will we sack him before a game to Ibrox?

How about if we get a result down there, should we then keep him?

The breaking point was passed, and then some, on Saturday.  All this is doing is prolonging the pain.

[Tyrant]

Aye. I've got no doubt he'd fuck off in a split second if he thought for one minute that there'd be a half decent job that he could get.

[stoney]

So what - we get a new manager then what? If you arnt going to back him whats the point? Non of the money we have made on transfers has been re-invested in the team! What happened to the cash we got for Miller? we have never seen a penny of that money.

[glasgow sheep]

So what - we get a new manager then what? If you arnt going to back him whats the point? Non of the money we have made on transfers has been re-invested in the team! What happened to the cash we got for Miller? we have never seen a penny of that money.

And your answer is?

A manager that realises a team needs full backs and that buying as many centre backs and centre forwards does not a good team make might be a wee improvement

[BobbyBiscuit]

So what - we get a new manager then what? If you arnt going to back him whats the point? Non of the money we have made on transfers has been re-invested in the team! What happened to the cash we got for Miller? we have never seen a penny of that money.

 

No team should lose to a team in the same league as them by 9 goals. His position is untenable. As GS says, it's only a matter of time before he is punted.

 

The squad of players he's got should be in a better position than they are. Outwith the obvious spasticated decision of entering this season with no full backs, his work in the transfer market has looked reasonably good - Hartley, Folly, Vuja, McArdle, Vernon all impressing at times this season - and yet he can't get them to play. So let's see if someone else can.

[stoney]

And foster / Mulgrew were full backs? when did this happen?

 

Dont think the board can even contemplate giving him the dunt - they should give him the money and give him a chance to do something.

 

 

[BobbyBiscuit]

And foster / Mulgrew were full backs? when did this happen?

 

Dont think the board can even contemplate giving him the dunt - they should give him the money and give him a chance to do something.

 

And of course it's utterly beyond the realms of possibility that he could have signed full backs, instead of stock piling strikers?

[stoney]

Tried to sign Grant Basey who was an out and out full back - Club didnt give him the money to do so.

 

Replaced foster with a defender and got a pretty decent (albeit injury prone) striker for free.

 

Not exactly sure what could have been done differantly - Mcghee said on more than one occasion he wanted basey in.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Tried to sign Grant Basey who was an out and out full back - Club didnt give him the money to do so.

 

Replaced foster with a defender and got a pretty decent (albeit injury prone) striker for free.

 

Not exactly sure what could have been done differantly - Mcghee said on more than one occasion he wanted basey in.

 

MM is the one who decides how the budget is used. It was his decision not to use it on full backs. He made a cunt of it.

[Azteca1903]

Tried to sign Grant Basey who was an out and out full back - Club didnt give him the money to do so.

 

Replaced foster with a defender and got a pretty decent (albeit injury prone) striker for free.

 

Not exactly sure what could have been done differantly - Mcghee said on more than one occasion he wanted basey in.

 

1. He saw fit to spend the allotted wages on strikers and centre-halves rather than Grant Basey.

 

2. He saw fit to remove our only full back from the squad to accomodate another striker.

 

3. Things he could have done differently: signed players in a variety of positions to try and create a balanced squad, rather than trying to shoe-horn central players and children into wide areas.

[stoney]

What money was spent on strikers - we are paying for Magennis and Vernon - thats two players to replace miller and mclean!

 

Our only full back? who was that? Striker ricky foster - who was replaced by a defender - a left sided defender - dont see any problems there.

 

He signed - A Goal keeper, A central defender, A defensive midfield- A Midfielder, A Left sided defender, An out and out striker, A poacher and got velicka for free.

 

You cant get a wider variation of players than that.

[manc_don]

Stoney, you cannot back McGhee in this. He alone is at fault for creating a completely unbalanced squad. We shouldn't have gone anywhere near Velicka. Foster was arguably one of our best players last season, so why get rid of him. It was ludicrous. This season could have been completely different if he hadn't lost the plot.

 

[mizer]

Stoney, you cannot back McGhee in this. He alone is at fault for creating a completely unbalanced squad. We shouldn't have gone anywhere near Velicka. Foster was arguably one of our best players last season, so why get rid of him. It was ludicrous. This season could have been completely different if he hadn't lost the plot.

 

I have a feeling he had as much influence in the Foster/Velicka deal as the Hartley deal. Willie Miller snaffled up Hartley after Romanov dunted him and that left a wage deficit.

[Azteca1903]

What money was spent on strikers - we are paying for Magennis and Vernon - thats two players to replace miller and mclean!

 

Our only full back? who was that? Striker ricky foster - who was replaced by a defender - a left sided defender - dont see any problems there.

 

He signed - A Goal keeper, A central defender, A defensive midfield- A Midfielder, A Left sided defender, An out and out striker, A poacher and got velicka for free.

 

You cant get a wider variation of players than that.

 

Think I might be seeing the issue here, possibly which has caused this hilarious confusion leading to you percieving McGhee as a competent manager. Let me help you.

 

Ricky Foster has played the majority of his Aberdeen games as a full back, not a striker. I can't remember last time he played up front. Some might even say that full-back is 'his position'.

 

Vujadinovic isn't a full back. Having seen him play and seen where he has been been played, he is a centre-half. Even if he is/was then I hardly think one full back is sufficient for any side. Do you?

 

In the mean time, he's accumulated a squad of seven strikers.

[Guest ally s]

I have a feeling he had as much influence in the Foster/Velicka deal as the Hartley deal. Willie Miller snaffled up Hartley after Romanov dunted him and that left a wage deficit.

 

Are you saying McGhee had very little say in the Hartley deal???

[mizer]

Are you saying McGhee had very little say in the Hartley deal???

 

That fell in our lap, and I would think Miller would have pushed it thorugh being the director of football?

[Guest ally s]

That fell in our lap, and I would think Miller would have pushed it thorugh being the director of football?

 

Fuck knows, I've no idea what Miller's role at afc actually entails.

[BobbyBiscuit]

That fell in our lap, and I would think Miller would have pushed it thorugh being the director of football?

 

he pushes all deals through because he is DOF and deals with the contracts. MM wanted Hartley, as he said it was a choice between him and Hendrie, and that Hartley was his first choice.

[mizer]

Fuck knows, I've no idea what Miller's role at afc actually entails.

 

Hartley officially signed on the 28th of July but it went around on the 27th at the Port Vale game that he had signed (via Red Tv guys speaking to people after the game). Both McGhee and Miller were there along with Hartley. So probably both were involved.

[maverick sheep]

My idiocy has me splitting things over two threads now.

 

While I agree Mcghee should have quit after being thrashed, the Scotsman article (in the paper, dunno about online) also mentions the cost of removing mm, sl and cm would be well over 400k.

 

Milne would not take that financial hit I don't believe. I shudder to think what effect it would have on the team for him to recoup his loss from the club's budget.

 

What is the alternative? persist with a lame duck manager? Unfortunately yes. For the same reason we, as fans, have to put up with Milne in charge of the club. Milne won't do the right thing - pay back the money he ran up as debt and fuck off. Mcghee won't do the right thing - quit and waive the pay off so the club can move forwards.

 

That's how it is. And it breaks my fucking heart.

[BobbyBiscuit]

What money was spent on strikers - we are paying for Magennis and Vernon - thats two players to replace miller and mclean!

 

Our only full back? who was that? Striker ricky foster - who was replaced by a defender - a left sided defender - dont see any problems there.

 

He signed - A Goal keeper, A central defender, A defensive midfield- A Midfielder, A Left sided defender, An out and out striker, A poacher and got velicka for free.

 

You cant get a wider variation of players than that.

 

Chris Crighton also doesn't agree with you Stoney:

 

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1998894?UserKey=

[stoney]

I never complained about the compensation being paid for Calderwood - Time was right for him to go, I was always nervous about Mcghee comming in, I just dont think he has been given a very fair crack of the whip compared to previous managers of our once fine club

[glasgowdon]

If we axed McGhee surely Meldrum and Leitch would walk?