The board has finally done the right thing

By Chris Crighton

 

Published: 12/11/2010

 

AS BAD weeks in the office go, Mark McGhee has just redefined the concept. A club record loss followed by a heartbreakingly undeserved late home defeat, played out against a backdrop of malice from a section of the media against who he rails so defiantly, and not even the proverbial vote of confidence from the board to put his mind at rest.

 

That the club went to the length of releasing a statement on Wednesday to say no decision had been made on McGhee's future was unacceptable – he was the manager of their team and, if no decision had been made to remove him, there was no reason to say anything.

 

That the board has now finally done the right thing and come out in support of McGhee should draw a line and gives Aberdeen as a club the opportunity to regroup and move forward with everyone pulling in the same direction.

 

McGhee's work at Pittodrie has been undermined from the off but not for the reason normally ascribed by those from further south who have nothing to say in regard of Aberdeen except cliches.

 

 

Foolish

His task was not made impossible by the legacy of the club's trophy-laden history – McGhee himself frequently, refreshingly, made reference to this as inspiration rather than intimidation – but because he arrived at a club riven with in-fighting after the acrimonious end to his predecessor's employment.

 

It was foolish, futile and thoroughly unhelpful that at every turn he was compared to a man who bore no further relevance to the club.

 

It is to be hoped, now the board has nailed its colours to McGhee's mast, all such pointless squabbling will be set aside and the manager will be indulged to do his job as he sees fit, with the complete support of all.

 

Yes, he has made mistakes. Like us all, he will doubtless make others. But they will be made in the pursuit of making Aberdeen better, for McGhee's determination to right the ship, unlike that of many of the people on who he has been forced to rely in his 16 months in charge, is genuine.

 

It should not be forgotten, among all the lows, McGhee has also brought some vitally important players into the fray, from the revolutionary Paul Hartley to the series of exciting youngsters who would otherwise still be waiting for their senior debuts, and is exactly the sort of character the club needs at the helm in these times of turbulence.

 

 

Flak

McGhee's abrasive nature has, admittedly, served to erode the goodwill of those who held their doubts but is precisely what will now be needed by a club which has habitually failed dismally to stand up for itself.

 

It is a slightly unfortunate consequence that this will, in the short term, see McGhee used as a flak jacket to divert fire which ought properly to be drawn elsewhere within the building but his bullish and considered self-assurance will ensure the bricks sure to be hurled at Pittodrie by those with a vested interest in creating bad news cause no harm to the club.

 

The Red Army has a fine tradition of rallying together in adversity and now the siren sounds to convene once more.

 

This is, officially, McGhee's Aberdeen. If you are not with us, you are against us.

 

Chris Crighton is editor of Dons fanzine The Red Final

I'd say the Board made the call as they are in the box seat on this. I would also suggest that the Board have cut a deal with McGhee. In 'making changes to the way they operate' they might have said to McGhee that he can have another month or two, maybe up to Christmas, to see if he can turn it around. The terms under which he gets more time could be that his rolling 12 month contract gets torn up and he now accepts different terms. Possibly now a rolling 1 month contract or simply if we are not top 6 he walks for free.

 

Forget any romantic notions that the Board are taking a long view and believing in McGhee ability to change things for the better. Milne is a businessman and a ruthless one at that. Ultimately this decision is about money for the Board and they will be trying to secure a position where they can push him out the door for free if it doesn't turn around soon.

 

 

Interesting Article from this months WSC:

 

Seize the moment

 

Adam Bate thinks that chairmen and clubs could benefit from more decisive action.Is patience really a virtue?

 

On October18,Steve Gibson accepted Gordon Strachan’s resignation as manager of Middlesbrough. The Championship season was just 11 games old. It is the second October in succession that the Boro chairman has overseen a change of manager. This may lead some to question Gibson’s long-established reputation as the most patient chairman in English football. In truth, could he perhaps be guilty of that little mentioned phenomenon – changing the manager too late.

 

We all know the drill. There’s a familiar sequence of events that follow a sacking. First we are treated to a damning set of statistics from the League Managers Association – an organisation that somehow equates deposed football managers to those puppies discarded with the Christmas decorations. If this isn’t enough, the boss in question will then be guaranteed a warm welcome on the Goals on Sunday sofa – cue back-slapping and contrived belly laughs.

 

Of course, if the sacked manager has anything about him whatsoever we will eventually hear someone trot out “the Fergie story”. You know the one. Mark Robins scored the winner for Man Utd against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round time in 1990, thus saving the Scot his job. As a result, the path was clear and 11 Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies and a knighthood followed. And the gods of management decreed that henceforth this anecdote should be relayed at any available opportunity. Yes, even when Bolton Wanderers dispense with Gary Megson.

 

The problem with “the Fergie story” is it implies that all managers are destined for greatness if only they are afforded the gift of time. Old sages point to the fact that the most successful managers were the ones who were at their clubs for the longest. And yet they miss the obvious point that, even in more patient days gone by, these individuals were given that time because they were damn good at it. Bill Shankly brought promotion in his second full season with Liverpool. Brian Clough achieved the same feat at both Derby County and Nottingham Forest. More recently, Arsène Wenger’s second season saw Arsenal claim the double.

 

These early achievements quite rightly earn the manager some leeway if and when the hard times come. When Everton stood by David Moyes after they finished 17th in his second full season in charge, it was subsequently hailed as a masterstroke – a lesson in the merits of patience. However, this patience had been well earned with Moyes winning the LMA Manager of the Year award the previous season. Why should Strachan and his ilk be afforded the same treatment?

 

The logic of the argument also happily ignores all those clubs whose fortunes were turned around by a change of manager.  Lawrie Sanchez’s friends in the media rallied round and bemoaned his luck when he was sacked at Fulham. In truth, he had looked more likely to lead the club to relegation than, as Roy Hodgson did, the Europa League final.

 

Even more dramatically, it was the departure of Bruce Rioch that ushered in the Wenger era at Highbury. This managerial switch brought about two Doubles and shaped the entire ethos of that famous old club forever more. The truth, it would seem, is that just about every great managerial appointment is preceded by a great sacking. But it doesn’t even require the replacement manager to deliver unprecedented success for a sacking to be proven justified. It could be argued that any loss of faith from the owners fatally undermines the relationship with a manager.

 

Spanish football expert Sid Lowe has argued persuasively that Sevilla were wrong to stick with their coach Antonio Álvarez in the summer, only to dismiss him before the end of September. The error, Lowe argues, was not in the sacking – his replacement Gregorio Manzano is widely regarded as a superior option – but in feeling obliged to retain Álvarez after he had scraped into the Champions League qualification spots the previous season.

 

This all brings us back to Steve Gibson and those clubs that continue to struggle despite, or perhaps because of, the patience of their chairmen. The owner’s decision to stand by Gareth Southgate to the bitter end of Boro’s last Premier League campaign consigned the club to relegation. Gibson’s choice to retain Southgate through the following summer, only to lose his nerve in autumn, then effectively wrote off the following season – not least because Strachan took the side from fourth in the table to a hugely disappointing 11th. Clearly, the warning signs were there but Strachan was instead handed the key to the summer transfer kitty. The next time a football manager and the expros in the TV studio lament that the axe fell too soon, ask yourself the one question they won’t – was it in fact not soon enough?

 

It should also be noted, despite Chick Young's rantings that almost had me off the road the other night, that afc are not really a sacking club any more.  Nobody has had less managers than us in the SPL over the last 9 years since Ebbe joined us:

 

Aberdeen 4

Tims 5

United 7

Accies 4

Hearts 9

Hibs 8

Caley Thistle 6

Killie 4

Well 7

Huns 4

St J 5

Helen 4

 

So who made the decision, the board or McGhee? And regardless of what the headline says - he obviously did consider it, even planning a wee holiday in Las Vegas in his heid.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/9186150.stm

 

I counted 73 y'knows in that 5 minute, 50 second clip. Quite astounding.

You really have nothing better to do?

You really have nothing better to do?

 

Given that I am sitting in uni on a saturday points to that I don't!

Chris Crighton's opinions are no more or less relevant than those of the rest of us.  He confirms this with the final two lines of his article which are fundamentally divisive and false.  The "us" he refers to is not the universal "us" of everyone associated with Aberdeen FC, but is the "us" of the "us and them" mentality that is being perpetuated by the whole sorry situation that has been continually played out over the last year and a half - in the unrelenting optimism of those that blindly support Mark McGhee and those who see the signs that are there right in front of us.  If he is to be given a mouthpiece in this way, he needs to use it responsibly.  Blind faith does not improve football clubs, it only means your eyes are closed to what constitutes acceptable performance.  Our club is rotten, but not so rotten as to consider our current league position acceptable.  I will personally continue to support the club through thick and thin, as I, and many of you here have done over the years.  But to castigate those who choose not to support Mark McGhee, in the currrent circumstances, is shameful.

Chris Crighton's opinions are no more or less relevant than those of the rest of us.  He confirms this with the final two lines of his article which are fundamentally divisive and false.  The "us" he refers to is not the universal "us" of everyone associated with Aberdeen FC, but is the "us" of the "us and them" mentality that is being perpetuated by the whole sorry situation that has been continually played out over the last year and a half - in the unrelenting optimism of those that blindly support Mark McGhee and those who see the signs that are there right in front of us.  If he is to be given a mouthpiece in this way, he needs to use it responsibly.  Blind faith does not improve football clubs, it only means your eyes are closed to what constitutes acceptable performance.  Our club is rotten, but not so rotten as to consider our current league position acceptable.  I will personally continue to support the club through thick and thin, as I, and many of you here have done over the years.  But to castigate those who choose not to support Mark McGhee, in the currrent circumstances, is shameful.

 

+1

 

Agree entirely.

Well said btr. His article is a bit extreme again today.think he is getting at Rangers rough tactics on bebo.every manager will ask his players to "make sure he knows he is in a game" when referring to opponents playmaker. Dont think that makes the huns different 2any other team.cc seems to' be fueling the bile that already exists between the 2clubs.a bit irresponsible perhaps?

Still of the same mind, Chris?

Still of the same mind, Chris?

 

Fuck knows, it changes often enough.