buster.

That actually passed through my head at the weekend It wasn't really serious but I'm sure he was well into football at one stage. Is fast becoming one of rugby's best young coaches.

I had a look at the bench for the game up at Dens Park last Friday and what was apparent was the dearth of any reliable outfield quality to call upon. Alnwick Hodson Bates Barjonas Pena Herrera Hardie Murty was forced into the first substitution, bringing on Herrera when Moreleos was injured. The Mexican got the whole second half and did very little. No further change was made until the 84th minute, in reaction to Dundee scoring their second goal. Hardie, coming on for Candeias. Not surprisingly, he did nothing. This while Dundee did have some quality to bring on and it won them the game. ------------------------- The week before against Hamilton, Nemane and Kranjcar were on the bench. Despite our inability to create much in the second half, Kranjcar didn't get on (and didn't make the bench against Dundee). Hamilton scored in the 66th minute and 81 mins. Hardie came on for Morelos (72 mins) Herrera for Miller (73 mins) Nemane for Windass (88 mins) As it stands (with current injury list) If the starting XI don't do a job, Murty is very limited as to positive personnel changes he can make. ----------------------- Despite our budget being notably larger than Aberdeen, they will have a much stronger bench than we do tonight and that is mainly down to two poor summer tansfer windows trying to take short-cuts to where we want to go.

Unless the financial circumstances are very different to what I can see (not to mention the board getting their act together) then 2nd place is as good as it will get for at least 2/3 years.........I don't think you should make an appointment looking further than 2/3 years down the track. It's not only the ability of a manager that's the issue, it's the money to support him and then you have a celtic who are currently flush and could simply up go out and bring in more quality, if needed. There needs to be a recognition that it'll take time to get back on track and getting to a level where we can overhaul celtic. IMO if we continually look to take short-cuts, looking to win the title 'now' then we'll take longer to win it than if we build towrads it. ------------ All that said, who is your choice ?

The linesman remind of when I played school football !!

I'd settle for actually winning it in 2020/21.

The expectation levels of many seem to be on a very different level to the harsh reality of our squad, financial situation and other issues. Ambition / Hope is fine but to expect water to turn into wine, is something else.

We aren't winning the league this or next season. Could McInnes win the league further down the road ?......We don't know Could he do a job now, rebuilding the squad and becoming a more consistent team?.....Yes In coming, would it be a big blow to main competitors for 2nd place?.....Yes

I don't think a viable 'silver bullet' exists, it'll be re-building and stages. For me, McInnes ticks more boxes than any other viable candidate I've heard mentioned.

McInnes would make so much sense at this particular juncture.

Regardless of who it is, we have to show some realism as to expectation levels or it'll be a continual change or two every year.

The statement seemed to indicate the club had taken the decision that until after the WC qualifiers were over and other potential candidates may emerge,...the process wrt 'applications deadline' would remain open. ie a short-list wouldn't be completed until then and it would be likely that (further) interviews would be required after that. But back when that statement was issued I did think it would be done and dusted prior to the AGM Personally, I would have preferred if we had gone straight for McInnes and managed to get it over the line asap but there was always going to be a process involving the DoF, given how the Pedro appt. went and what AJ said about it. Regardless, it'll all come down to the final judgement call and how it works out.

The vacum is ripe for what amounts to pish and wind, whether it be commercial (media) or essentially attention seeking. Estimate The statement of November 10th seemed to point towards applications being open until end of the weekof WC qualifiers (Nov 17/18) Probable completion of short list by Nov 20/21st. Interviews from approx. Nov 21st until around Nov 25-28th. Thereafter: Final decision and any subsequent negotiation. Once this selection process was embarked upon the board are right to see it through until it's conclusion. To have binned it half way through because of a couple of results would have been inexcusable.

Ongoing pre/match press conference Rangers Football Club‏Verified account @RangersFC 4m4 minutes ago GM: I have discussed with Mark Allen and Stewart Robertson that the process is ongoing. There has been movement but we are not quite there yet. https://twitter.com/RangersFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gersnetonline.co.uk%2Fvb%2Fforum.php

Unpleasent though it is, you only have to look at Celtic to see that an effective, hard-nosed CEO who undoubtedly has been given a powerful remit can work, but if you look at their model you also see that to become really successful,...you need to get it right at the various levels. An effective and powerful CEO implementing a joined-up longterm strategy with a relatively poor first team manager doesn't cut it...but if you appoint a good one (ie. Rodgers) then it comes together or at least it does within a local enviroment. ------------- The fact Celtic are so lauded after repeatedly getting tanked in Europe only illustrates the 'business orientation' of what used to be a sport, ie. CL money. -------------- Whilst on the other side of the city, it's relevant to this thread to point at how they manage the media.

Over the decades football has increasingly become more business orientated with the sport itself relegated to becoming 'a vehicle'. Some of Sir Duped's decisions from back in the day have led the club down a route where survival became an issue and we haven't yet fully recovered. Today the expectation levels and subsequent 'gambles' to quickly bridge large gaps mean that focus will remain off, as well as on-field for the forseeable.

You don't get 19 caps for Mexico if you have no ability.....but neither can you ignore the reasons why his last cap was 3 years ago. There currently seems to be a mutual lack of interest between club and player that either gets (partly) resolved by a new manager or we try to mitigate the financial loss in January/summer. It's getting to the stage where he might get a game because there is nobody else left.

I think in his heart of hearts, Pedro knew it was only a matter of time from before the SPFL kicked off. Some of his comments towards the end seemed as much designed to hasten the process as to deepen siege mentality. To have any chance of working, a siege mentality can't have a significant 'enemy within' and even back when PC took over, there seemed to be a number of players who weren't fully on board and/or knew their futures weren't at the club under Pedro. There was a metaphorical 'cull', which isn't at all unusual when a new manager comes in but in this case there seemed to be acrimony in it, or at least reaching the public view because of various leaks. The 'cull' eventually saw a good number leave but Miller got a new contract. In late April, PC eventually offered Miller an extension after a fairly robust media push on the back of some decent performances. (When Keith Jackson starts a 'campaign' of sorts you know it's in exchange for something). We can speculate that no Miller may have given Pedro a better chance to succeed but the real issue is that the club would almost certainly have had a better chance in 2017/18 if we'd had gone about the managerial appointment in a more 'professional manner' than what AJ seemed to term as "institutional failure".

You are right, the title isn't quite right for the content, ie. lesson is not to choose title before scribbling the content. The boardroom dynamic in relation to decisions surrounding the hiring and firing of first team managers has been more than questionable. Alastair Johnson made strong comments on this (apparently aimed at Pedro Caixinha appointment). For a football club these are the big decisions (including relative financal impact, eg. transfer fees/salaries) and despite a recognition of this regarding the player recruitment of MW.......what followed was to play the same high-risk game with more money and at longer odds, then a period of chasing your losses before the inevitable firing of PC. ------------- The mainstream media side of things is more complicated because we have made 'enemies' out of so much of it when it would have always been better to be more selective in this regard and box clever where possible. What 'box clever' actually means should be a question for an experienced PR professional, rather than an ex-journalist taking his first stab at it. Some of the time this has been reactionary/apparently vindictive to appease fan outcry and Traynors whims. It tends to give you a day or two of positivity and then becomes more problematic. Unless you have something constructive to say then you are better saying nothing. DK is a case in point and everytime he goes in front of them, he only seems to extend the rod he has made for his own back.....and all the positives he may have mentioned will be forgotten as the negative is jumped upon. I don't have the answers but it's definately an area that needs work on and may actually be being addressed (recent advert for Comms & marketing diretor). You finish by mentioning leadership. Just as a football team is often built upon a spine, we need it within an effective structure throughout the club. Effective Boardroom dynamic (Strategy) Implementation (CEO) Football Operation (DoF) First Team manager (Pick a good one)

Of course they want and should have a say. That's what they are there to do,....but IMO it's about making the right/consistent decisions within a plan/framework/strategy rather than simply reacting with a tendency to go from the rough on one side of the fairway to a bunker, on the other. If the boardroom dynamic is 'difficult' and not conducive to decisive leadership/feasibility at a time when it is desperately needed, then surely something would have to change. That isn't aimed at any particular person(s),... but surely the collective need to somehow address this. From the outside looking in, the core of leadership throughout the club seems to be lacking. From a joined-up strategy coming from the boardroom..........to a hard-nosed & competent CEO to implement it on a daily basis...........to the communications coming from the club............to a first team operation wrt managerial appt. (Pedro) and two summer transfer windows. As another poster pointed out, there are potentially positive things happening that could be regarded as part of a longterm strategy, eg. DoF, new scouting operation, recent advertisment looking for Comms & marketing director....but the current focus is on the first team and after a good start (15/16), we've been all over the place.

By the year Lawwell increasingly gets to play with the fixture list. They've also postponed a fixture this month so as to be able to play a friendly elsewhere. Now the latter is doable because of new rules that were brought in but fixing an away fixture against a particular team for a particular date is taking this to another level. It's a Dundee home match but this will be mainly about Celtic and their wish to make more money and market the brand. It reeks of a club who don't only not care about sporting integrity, but openly flaunt it.

We released him and according to wiki didn't even get a compensation fee (Motherwell would later get one). If true, it would be typical of our management of contracts at that time.

That bet was always going to be a 'how much loose change in coins of less value than a pound have I got in my pocket' type of stake...!

How random was that ? Well done to the punter !

Generally fitness won't be a problem. I've just got 'a downer' on Kranjcar and can see him being a luxury we can't afford, ie. teams will actively look to get on top of him quickly, win ball and counter an exposed backline. I'd add that this is more gut feel than a football expert talking (I thought McKay was heading for scrap heap last summer ). On the plus side you have Rossiter and the competition for defensive midfielder. Difficult to see anyone else but Barton start but he'll not be able to relax. Looking forward to Saturday to see how MW lines the team up and I'd imagine he'll get a good response from the team. The following weekend at Dens park will probably be a more interesting test.

Rather than reacting simply to a defeat, it was more the manner of the defeat that has had some reading slightly more into it than a meaningless friendly result. MW has said that the pre-season has been far from ideal and perhaps that is refelected in the team not being at the stage he would have wanted a week prior to the league starting, including probably not knowing what his best starting XI are yet. The other question is how long will it take Kranjcar to get up to speed because he was so far off the pace that you begin to wonder if he's going to become a luxury we can't afford to start against decent opposition.