Torryloon

. Two of the more senior players stopped and spoke to us quite frankly for several minutes (I dont want to name them as they were being guarded to a point worried about being named), and intimated that we need to bring in quite a few players and that there was a serious problem within the team.

I admire your ability to get the players to open up and talk about the issues. I'm intrigued by the serious problem within the team, and have been speculating what that might be. Are they referring to specific players, and who could that be. I wonder if there could be conflicts between individuals such as Hartley and others, or specific positions, i.e. the fullback problem. Either way, hope its something that can be cured quickly, it has to be.

Is there anything else left?

In Brown's long managerial history what experience does he have in saving teams from relegation?

Now bottom of the league and yet another record defeat apparently (biggest at Tynecastle). I can hardly believe that this shambles can get any worse, but as we've seen it does.

Hate to be pessimistic, but can Brown and Knox really turn this round. It was claimed that the players didn't try for McGhee, so why didn't they appear to be trying today. The performance today reflects badly on their capabilities, so it's going to take much more than just the wise words of experience to boost morale and turn this team into winners.

When is it all going to end? Will Brown change his mind again over the weekend?

I firmly believe Brown is the right appointment. If nothing else, he'll have the players playing for him and the shirt.

If that does happen, then it will make a difference, but there's still a lot of questions about the ability of a number of them. But I've seen some solid journeymen pros in my time, so if they can transform them to that level of dependability then so much the better. But it will take a while to eradicate the habit of defensive mistakes, I fear.

At least the saga is over, it could have lasted a lot longer. At this stage, I am hopeful, but I will delay the euphoria for a few weeks. The only problem for me is just how much of the malaise is down to the players level of ability, or has it all just been down to a poisoned attitude in the dressing room, leading to abysmal performances on the pitch. Maybe Brown has the charisma and leadership qualities that McGhee lacked. I wish him good luck, and sincerely hope he is the one to turn it round. It will be extremely interesting to see how certain players perform both on the pitch and off it as well.

Agree, although not sure that "avoiding relegation" is anything to celebrate.

The way things are, I will personally celebrate. It would be a total disaster if Aberdeen were relegated.

A wise move under the circumstances. Any more adverse publicity would have given the media a field day. Best to do it when there is something to celebrate.

Unfortunately a lot of my AFC reference books are packed up for moving but I'm sure we can go back to the likes of Jim Forrest(?) and others on the 60's and 70's

Yes, Jim Forrest was in the cup winning team of 1970. His cousin Alex Willoughby, also played for the Dons at that time. Both excellent players. At the time we were pleased to have them.

The media are there to sell a product, either in print or on TV. Many stories are just pure speculation. If Stark was supposed to be the hot favourite, why did they interview Brown, allegedly. It will be yet another embarrassing mess, just like the last time, when they waited until McGhee didn't get the Celtic job. Whoever eventually takes it, will be desperate, like Hughes, a second rater like Stark, or somebody who's a bit of a nutter, like Phil Brown.

First? Ah fuck it. Just "Do a Turnbull" and kick them all out

I think I read somewhere that Turnbull got rid of 17. Wouldn't leave us with a lot if that happened.

More likely just Brown's good sense. At his age, he must sense that even he does not have the powers that a job like this needs, and as someone else said, why uproot himself to Aberdeen.

Personally, I'm pleased that Brown/Knox have turned whatever offer they had down. However, if this pair were the preferred choice of the board or whoever holds the power at that level, it is a sad reflection on their judgement and level of forward thinking. I can only guess that they fear that relegation is a distinct possibility and their reasoning was that a "safe pair of hands" is the only option, to reduce the risk. Miller admitted in a recent article that they didn't have any outstanding candidates to choose from, which is one way of saying they are all rubbish I suppose. What a diabolical mess, but that's nothing new, is it.

Hot off the press:

http://sport.stv.tv/football/scottish-premier/motherwell/214717-motherwell-boss-brown-turns-down-aberdeen-approach/

Taken from the Guardian today:

Billy Stark and John Hughes were the earlier favourites to replace McGhee but Brown could be seen as a safer choice by the Pittodrie board. Brown, the last man to guide Scotland to a major international tournament, has been frustrated by budgetary constraints at Motherwell. A key issue would be whether Brown would be willing to take on the significant task of reviving Aberdeen's ailing fortunes at the veteran stage of his career.

I'd advise him against it, it's time he was starting to put his feet up, not get into a mess like ours.

Lets hope it was true and that's the end of it. Having a 70 year old as a manager isn't exactly an inspirational appointment.