Yoss

This thread's gone mental. I hope he does well this season then gives a big GIRUY to the South Stand. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new season even if no one else is.

I'm not contrary for the sake of it, y'know. But basically, I agree with da_no_1, and I'm utterly baffled (and a little bit entertained) by the level of seethe here, including from some I wouldn't have expected it. To be honest, I don't pay enough attention to the Premier League to have much of an opinion on Locke's previous record - but that'd be by-the-by anyway. As I've said through the week, there's a lot of luck involved in football management and I'm totally relaxed about someone having previous (relative) failure on his CV. I take analysis-by-result with a pinch of salt and I'm more interested by what the board thinks he has to offer than I am by Killie fans telling us he's awful because they've not had a good season. (East Fife fans were telling us just the same about Naysmith this time last year - I took that with a pinch of salt too.) What he has got here, for the first time in his managerial career, is a squad that's looking pretty decent for its level. Big chance for him. He might be shit, he might be good. Most likely somewhere in between. Life goes on.

Okay. I know Mc_L mentioned the publicity, but I didn't mean to imply any of that. *If* she were to apply, and *if* the board were to be sufficiently impressed by her then I'd be delighted. (In more general terms, I do want to see some club take the lead on this sooner rather than later, and would be quite happy if it's us.) It is that bit harder to judge people who haven't played the game at the level at which they'll be managing, it's true, but there are more than enough examples of managers who've been able to overcome that. John McGlynn being one.

("Gender should never be a factor in employment" is an obvious truism that's often used to disguise the fact that it still very much is an issue. (Unless someone us trying to claim that there isn't, and never has been, any woman who is capable of being a decent manager.))

Sure, all that is fair enough of course. She'd have to be interviewed and persuade us she was any good, just as any other candidate would. She's more experienced than a good few of the male candidates who've been mentioned, though.

Haven't read it - is it any good? If we're going to go totally leftfield then I'd be happy to go back to the Shelley Kerr suggestion. Someone is going to take the lead with the gender thing someday.

I'm totally relaxed about whoever the manager is having previous failure in their CV - particularly in short timescales football managers have less control over events than many people (including them) often like to imagine, and failure can happen. The best ones will have learned from it. In any case the only ones who don't have that are either not available because they've moved on to a level above us, or they have no or very little experience. And I'm perfectly open to having someone without experience as well, but not just for the sake of it.

(Cameron was, mostly, a success at Cowdenbeath - took them up in his first season, kept them up in his second; left after a bad spell quite early in his third. But no, it didn't go well at Berwick and I doubt he'd be a likely candidate, much as I love him.)

No, that's not how it works. No-one can be registered outwith a transfer window - so we've had no opportunity to register Barr yet. He's signed a contract which is thus binding in contract law, but not binding as a player registration. He could still, therefore, go somewhere else once the window opens and be registered by them instead - which is what Elliot did - and there'd be nothing to stop him playing for them. We'd then instead have to sue him for breach of contract, which is a rather murkier and rather more protracted proceeding. Livingston decided not to bother.

Can't remember where or when the quote came from - but as some footie person said, whenever a manager goes there'll be a couple of players particularly disappointed, a couple particularly pleased, and all the rest will just get on with the job. We move on. Be rayt.

You can never guarantee that. Any manager has a right to change jobs if they feel it's better for them and their career or family. Rather like any other employee in any other line of work.

(It doesn't actually say that he's going to Dundee United. We're assuming that to be the case, but he may have other options.)

It's nothing like that. Players have a player registration system with the SFA over and above an basic issues of employment and contract law. Managers don't.

Resigned is a technicality, the rules on compensation aren't as easy to bypass as that. Anyway, cheerio and thanks, Ray.

No idea if that's true or not either, but it wouldn't be particularly unusual for a manager to have a small percentage of any player sales built into their contract. Needn't make them sleekit, nor gold diggers, nor necessarily mean he even wanted the players sold.

Not impossible, no. Nonetheless, Hibs were better than us, over the season and over the two legs. Steady on. He's (probably) going to be offered the job at his hometown club, which he supports and is most affiliated. Might be a one-off opportunity, and the fact that he's interested doesn't for a moment imply that he's "not wanting" to be at Raith, or that he wouldn't be entirely professional and committed if, for any reason, this doesn't come off. Jimmy Nicholl went for a couple of other job interviews during his first spell at Raith, as I recall (Norwich and Northern Ireland) - there's really not an issue there.

We lost the play-off because Hibs are better than us, not because of anything that may or may not have been happening with Dundee United.

Yeah, people are overreacting a bit here. I'm pretty happy with the position / squad that McKinnon is leaving us in, assuming he is. Next guy in has a decent start and a decent set-up. He (or she, with a nod to the suggestion of Shelley Kerr) might do well. Or might not. McKinnon might have done well next season, or might not - his second season at Brechin wasn't as good as his first. Life goes on. We'll be okay.

It's a good strategy, though personally I'm sticking with my longstanding practice of posting any old shit that pops into my head.

Saddest moment today, Anderson was warming up as the third substitution was made. He took a rather frustrated swipe at the corner flag during his slightly forlorn walk back to the bench. Definitely had the air of a man who knew his Raith career was over. Sorry it's ended that way. I hope he knows how much his efforts have been appreciated over the last four years.

Someone did put some stats together on that a few years ago, though I don't seem to be able to find it on google just now. The conclusion was that the record of former players was (not very surprisingly) statistically pretty much identical to that of non-former players. Notwithstanding which, it's often an extra attraction for both parties, in the first instance.

Yup. And that's without considering all his United history and connections. And there's no guarantee he'll have another such good season with Raith or that he'd ever get another chance. Be happy to be wrong but it's very hard to see reasons why he wouldn't or shouldn't go.

Any chance you could piss on these for me please, Martin?

If it's been tacked onto the end of an article about the play-off games, it's presumably going to be something to do with that, not contract announcements.

McHattie is one tear into a three year deal at Killie, and we're not going to be able to match those wages. So unless Killie are so keen to offload him that they're giving him a pay-off, that seems unlikely.