McGhee GONE

[Nellie The Don]

Didnt see this coming

 

Seriously?

 

You're at it.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

You're at it.

 

You think?

 

You're at it!

[BigAl]

Pretty reasonable article lifted from BBC scotland website written by Liam McLeod....................

 

 

"On a scale of one to two, I'd put the Celtic job above Aberdeen."

 

Those were the words of Mark McGhee on his unveiling as Aberdeen manager in June 2009, having also been linked with his other former club. It was downhill from that moment.

 

When they were uttered, there was an unease about the appointment, from the fans to the man himself.

 

For most Dons supporters, there was a willingness for McGhee to do well. He is a Pittodrie legend - he always will be - from his playing days there.

 

But the club has lurched from one disaster to another under his stewardship.

 

Among the unwanted records broken under McGhee are a record European defeat (5-1 at home and 8-1 on aggregate to Sigma Olomouc), a record Scottish Premier League defeat (9-0 at Celtic just last month) and a miserable 17 wins in 62 matches with four points from the last 39.

 

 

Cup defeats to lower-league opposition - Dundee and Raith Rovers - added to the pain, while the manager's dealings in the transfer market were also questionable.

 

The swap deal that led to Ricky Foster moving from Pittodrie to Rangers, with perpetually injured striker Andrius Velicka going the other way, was and still is a head-scratcher.

 

That left the Dons without a single senior full-back, with central defenders and midfielders being asked to perform that role.

 

Other McGhee signings have failed miserably.

 

There was also the treatment of winger Sone Aluko last year, when he went on international duty and was called back supposedly injured.

 

Jim Leighton's sacking as goalkeeping coach was up there in the strange decision stakes.

 

Coupling all that with the fact that most of Jimmy Calderwood's Dons' squad did not take to McGhee, it was never going to be a marriage made in heaven.

 

But anyone who thinks that the club's problems have been solved by the axing of McGhee, along with assistants Scott Leitch and Colin Meldrum, will be mistaken.

 

In the closing months of Calderwood's tenure, the club won only three of their final 16 SPL matches and went out of the Scottish Cup after a replay against First Division side Dunfermline. There was already a rot there.

 

The board failed to keep together his and Jimmy Nicholl's best Dons team - the class of 2006-07 - that qualified for Europe.

 

It is a rot that is threatening to push the loyal Red Army away for good and, if that is to be prevented, there needs to be more focus on the now and not the future new stadium - which, although needed, will need a Premier League club to fill it.

 

 

McGhee and assistant Scott Leitch have been under pressure

The club also needs to get out and about the north east - encourage school kids to games, marketing itself around the city better.

 

Whoever the new manager is, he will have an almighty task reinvigorating the players who are already there.

 

An out of work manager such as John Hughes or Gus MacPherson would be an attractive option for both the board - and the former managers of Hibernian and St Mirren.

 

Former Chelsea and West Ham assistant Steve Clark came close to the Hibs job recently, while former Don Billy Stark - currently youth team coach at the Scottish Football Association - is another in the frame.

 

Calderwood is unlikely to return to Pittodrie given the nature of his departure last May, but it is the players who must look in the mirror and ask if they gave McGhee 100%.

 

Perhaps they will be happier with the next appointment than they were the last.

 

McGhee's final few weeks since the annihilation at Celtic Park have been painful viewing and listening.

 

Quotes about the supernatural being to blame were testament to that.

 

For McGhee, his CV - and, indeed, Wikipedia page - have been permanently soiled by this sorry 18-month saga.

 

 

 

 

[Kowalski]

Just started a thread about that, will delete it.  Good article.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

Good article as you say Kow, written by a Dons fan as well.

[baggy89]

The club also needs to get out and about the north east - encourage school kids to games, marketing itself around the city better.

 

You know this sentence set something going in my mind, which didn't occur to me at the time. When McGhee took over he introduced  the PUNISHMENT for cards or poor performances (I forget which) of doing "community service".

 

Why was it a punishment to go visit sick kids at hospital or do some coaching at Airyhall Primary?

 

Symptomatic of the negativity displayed at the beginning of this tenure, and something the new man has to avoid.

[maverick sheep]

Why was it a punishment to go visit sick kids at hospital or do some coaching at Airyhall Primary?

 

because sick kids and primary school children are notoriously cunts?

[Mentorred]

Mark Mcghee is free.

 

worth a look?

 

I think so, will guarantee a full house every home game at Pittodrie

[caledonia]

Why did the removal of McGhee only come about after the SPL fixtures had been postponed?

 

Cause they probably knew Celtic would beat us and then use that to sack him.

I don't want Calderwood back this is just silly talk

Its akin to getting a bad pint on Monday and then one even worse one on Tuesday = Mondays pint don't seem so bad

[One Bobby Clark]

Onward and upward !

[Slim]

I didn't expect that when I woke up this morning!

 

Not sure who I want to replace him, there's not one stand out candidate and don't really fancy any of the names suggested so far.

 

I said Eric Black last time, there's the Gothenburg connection again, but that doesn't have to be a noose round his neck. He's young, he's intelligent, he's articulate and likes his teams to play attractive football and sign players who can play football. IIRC Coventry fans petitioned for him to be re-instated after he was sacked, and I think since then, this season is the only season where they've done any better since Black was in charge.

[Tyrant]

I'm with the majority here.. I ken who I don't want but not so much who I do.

 

Gus MacPherson and John Hughes can GTF. Far from convinced with John McGlynn.

 

Glad McGhee's gone but why wait this long?

[BobbyBiscuit]

I didn't expect that when I woke up this morning!

 

Not sure who I want to replace him, there's not one stand out candidate and don't really fancy any of the names suggested so far.

 

I said Eric Black last time, there's the Gothenburg connection again, but that doesn't have to be a noose round his neck. He's young, he's intelligent, he's articulate and likes his teams to play attractive football and sign players who can play football. IIRC Coventry fans petitioned for him to be re-instated after he was sacked, and I think since then, this season is the only season where they've done any better since Black was in charge.

 

Black had his own issues with the players at Coventry. They couldn't do a heading drill properly, and they got rather pissed off when Eric showed them how it was done. His suggestion to them was "Why aren't you as good as me?" A couple of days after that he was gone.  I like Eric Black, seems a really good guy but I think we need to avoid that type of management as the poor wee souls at Pittodrie couldn't handle that...