Jimmy Nicholl to be Murty’s No 2

[Tannochsidebear 2,420]

So if a great manager comes along over the next couple of months, we aren't going to offer him the job?

 

A good point BD, by taking JN out of a job at Falkirk and giving him the gig as number 2 here, it implies the board are now to stop looking for a proper manager and make do with the youth coach, no matter the results. So a 5-0 tanking today for example will make no difference.

 

Really strange timing as well, just before the OF game. Surely you keep this quiet until this game is done, then if we are not mauled, go ahead with this. Rest assured if we are thrashed today the calls for a proper manager will only intensify, and the negativity towards the board will hugely increase as fans get more and more frustrated with their perceived incompetence.

[alexscottislegend 2,330]

Sign we are looking at oneil?

 

I think it makes it less likely now that Scotland will get MON. I'd be happy with him for manager I must say.

[Crimson Dynamo 128]

If Nicholl had kept up his success in the 90's he'd have been our manager at some point by now.

 

But poor choice going to Millwall and never got his groove back. Good number 2 though.

[buster. 5,208]

A good, what I'd imagine to be intended as a provisionally short-term appointment,... alongside Murty to the end of the season.

 

Good because I think his strength his savvy man-management , something that I don't think Murty has.

[Germinal 27]

My first reaction was to be very happy!! In fact I am delighted. There’s a certain level of work ethic that I think he demands.

 

This gets to the heart of it for me.

 

As a club we still haven't recovered from the shock of admin and what-happened-afterward. The Long Tradition of success, passed down from player to player, creating the belief that the team was never beaten and instilling the winning mentality, was lost for the first time in many, many years. With the teams we've put out since you-know-what having no leaders worth the name, no-one to act as sheet anchor, we're still floundering around if, credit where it is due, going sluggishly in the right direction under Murty.

 

Nicholl is, tenuously but definitely, part of the Long Tradition. I only saw him play for about a season when Souness signed him but anyone who youtube's the Skol Cup final of 86-87 will see a player who understands what is required of someone in a Rangers shirt in a Cup Final. The work ethic. He was no Gary Stevens, but few players are. I guess what I mean is that if the only thing he does is drive into players who turn out for us the mental strength to deal with the shirt then he'll have more than paid his way.

 

Funnily enough, I was lying listening to the cricket the other night and there was a feature on the Australian tradition of new players being awarded their first cap by an ex-player. It popped into my mind that hauling in a former player to 'award' a debutant with their playing shirt on the day before they play might create something of the link that was broken and which, I believe, we desperately miss. Doesn't need to be public, in fact probably even better if kept to the privacy of the dressing room. But all these wee things, while they won't do the job on their own, can help toward achieving the outcome we all want. Nicholl's appointment seems to be in keeping with that sort of thing.

Edited December 30, 2017 by Germinal

[JohnMc 2,766]

I think we have to assume that the board mean it when they say Murty has the job for the rest of the season, no matter what happens. On that basis, as an inexperienced manager he needs an experienced no 2. Johanson has been fulfilling that job recently but he's even less experienced than Murty so bringing in a 60 something year old with bags of experience and a connection to the club actually makes a lot of sense to me.

Murty will need to distance himself from the players. The move from youth coach to 1st team changes the dynamic he has, particularly with experienced players. For the youths like Bates, MacCrorie and Barjonas they are used to him being a 'boss' but for the rest their relationship is different. Nichol is now the buffer between them, and that's a shrewd move I think. John Grieg failed as manager because his relationship with his players changed and this wasn't managed properly. Plus I like Jimmy Nichol, as Germinal observes above he's a connection to better times gone by. Plus it'll be good to have a Proddy in the dressing room again for a change...

[John_Eric_Bartholomew 11]

... if the only thing he does is drive into players who turn out for us the mental strength to deal with the shirt then he'll have more than paid his way...

 

Until reading that, I didn't really know what to think of this, as I know f-all about Jimmy Nicholl other than what we covered in his Seventy2 interview a few years ago.

 

All players are capable of developing their psychological skills in order to handle any amount of pressure, or responsibility. Some may need more work than others (Tavernier and Windass, I'm looking at you). The more people we can bring in with correct mental attributes and experience, the better, at least until we can properly invest in Sport Psychology.

 

If Jimmy Nicholl does as you suggest, he will be worth his wages for sure.

[BEARGER 1,830]

Don’t get this, how long is his contract going to be? Any incoming manager will want his own pick as assistant. Is he just here till end of season?