capt_oats

I'm no fan of grasses but if we're after an experienced emergency left back who could presumably slot in to a team without needing their hand held I see Lee Wallace is still without a club after leaving QPR (I'm assuming he's not injured or whatever).

Depends how far back you want to go. From 17/18 when Robinson got the job: Fisher (ICT), Ferguson (Airdrie), Ciftci (Celtic - loan), Sammon (Hearts - loan), Polworth (ICT), Gallagher (Livi), MacIver (Ross County), Lamie (Livi), White (ICT), Fox (Thistle), O'Donnell (Killie), Hastie (Rangers - loan), Crawford (Livi - loan/made permanent), Foley (St Mirren), Roberts (loan x2/made permanent), Shields (QoTS), Shaw (Celtic - loan), Spittal (County), McGinn (Hibs). That's not including guys like Watt, Lawless, O'Hara, Kelly etc who were all known quantities in Scottish football but weren't signed from Scottish clubs.

I mean, if we're taking him literally on his word here, we're looking at 4 (at least, I guess). Quite enjoying reading between the lines here. The "attacking options" comment is self-evident but also suggests that tea's oot for Efford and Shields as starting options. I've no real wish to pile on big Toby but the way Hammell's spoken about Carroll makes me think that even if he was fit McGinley wouldn't be the type of left back Hammell is looking for. I'm curious to see if he takes any steps to clean house a bit. Give me starting quality players at left back, centre back, centre forward, wide player and if I'm being greedy another midfield option and I'll be happy. Again, it'll be interesting to see precisely what a Hammell signing looks like.

In fairness, that point is pretty much qualified here: It's just interesting that after years of varying degrees of pragmatism we seem to have reached a point where there's been an acceptance that actually, aye - style of football does matter and it is something worth addressing. It's quite a sea change to hear staff even talking about it as a *thing* tbh.

Worth a watch in terms of what Hammell's thinking.

It was exactly the same. Although he also had a dislocation of the kneecap. (If you've got the stomach for it the clinic who did his surgery have a video up on YouTube - it's age restricted so no point linking on here but it's the 2nd video if you search for 'Craig Tanner injury')

Quite a nice article from McGarry here. In other news, we definitely need a left back (that's absolutely shite news for Carroll btw).

Aye. It's kind of stating the obvious but it feels like the recruitment/signings will massively dictate the direction of travel here. I've mentioned before but I think the fact that the squad is so obviously unfinished at the moment (whether that's by design or not IDK) is in our favour. I'd be more concerned if there wasn't room to manoeuvre with the squad - which would have been the case if we were still adopting the Robinson approach of having everyone signed by the start of pre-season. Similarly the coaching side of things feels hugely relevant now. I'm sceptical about Brian "lazy leg is lazy" Kerr being there as assistant but if Hammell's able to surround himself with some experienced coaches it'd help balance out his relative inexperience.

so much schadenfreude rn lads.

It's a long running bit - the left back position has been cursed since he retired.

I wouldn't say I'm optimistic but for me it feels like any other option would have been as much of a risk whether it's not being familiar with the league, not knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the squad or even the time it might have taken to get them into the country. If there is optimism on my part it's largely down to the fact that so far he's said all the right things and looks like he's taking steps to implement some sort of change. Also it feels like there's actually a bit of momentum off the back of us seeming like we're clearing decks. I'm not exactly won over by Brian Kerr being named assistant but if there's a 2nd assistant/coach role that allows for an experienced guy to come in I'll feel a bit better about it. This whole summer feels like there's been a stasis around the club - like we've been waiting to see what happened with Alexander to the point that Sligo kind of almost felt inevitable. Whether it's the minimal transfer activity or just the slight off-ness around the lack of updates. Giving Hammell the gig (and not having to wait on a new guy get his feet under the desk) feels like that's actually lifted a bit. As I said earlier, the more I think about it the more it makes sense to just crack on with Hammell who picked us up enough to beat St Mirren with an unfinished squad and low morale while also missing one of our best midfielders and really should have got a point against St Johnstone. Being glib, I suppose if there's a difference between Lasley and Hammell - one was scudded 3-0 by Accies, the other won his first game in charge.

There he is (again).

Also LOLZ

Running through the names that had variously been linked (tenuously or otherwise): Simo Valakari - would need a visa/work permit, hasn't been involved with Scottish fitba' in 20 odd years David Healy - only management experience has been with Linfield Mark Fotheringham - zero management experience albeit assistant coach at a big German club Kevin Thomson - RangersTV shill and general shitehawk, professional job applicant Duncan Ferguson - 50, has managed 5 first team games in his career Paul Lambert - chased by Ipswich 2 years ago, last seen falling out with the press in Suffolk Neil Lennon - currently in Cyprus, fucked The 10, could start a fight in an empty room Malky Mackay - sexist, racist, anti-Semite Stephen Robinson - was on course to relegate us when he resigned currently on 26% win rate at St Mirren (who Hammell beat the other week) Stephen McManus - zero first team management experience Darren O'Dea - zero first team management experience, fucked off to Celtic after a month the last time he was here I mean, I'm being facetious with that list but the more I think about it the more it kind of makes sense to at least give Hammell a go given he's actually in the building and he seems motivated to fix the situation Alexander has left behind. In a weird way the only actual risk with Hammell whether or not he's a good coach.

So he's the first former/current player to be appointed manager since Davies taking over from Kampman (we finished 7th then 4th and 8th). I'm genuinely interested to see who he's got earmarked to come in and whether there's a divergence from our usual recruitment. As an aside, when does Faddy get announced as being on the coaching staff?

There he is...

Aye, for all I was saying I couldn't talk myself into Hammell earlier - this is a reverse ferret from me. Like, the other options all had/have risks so mitigating that by giving the job to a guy who's actually in the building, has a knowledge of what he has to work with and can literally start the second the news story is published seems sensible given the apparent lack of obvious candidates for the job. Tbh, I'd absolutely take Hammell over a RangersTV shill like Kevin Thomson. So there's that.

I think the appropriate phrasing is he's a continuity option.

Aye, I've mentioned this before but what I've been surprised by is the fact that we don't seem to have seen any names from the particular pool we usually recruit (or are often linked with). For example, last time out the names reported to have been interviewed were Tommy Wright, Alexander, Lasley and Simon Grayson. For me Alexander was the fairly obvious choice in terms of profile, experience etc. Tommy Wright never looked like a fit for "Motherwell manager" regardless of what Eric Nicolson thought but Grayson fits in that kind of English L1 manager who's had a couple of big jobs in the past that we've not heard a peep from this time round and I honestly don't think that the job is any materially less attractive right now than it was when we were joint bottom of the league having been scudded 3-0 by Accies. It kind of makes me wonder whether the Graham Alexander Experience has caused a board-level rethink about what we're actually looking for.

In fairness, the article from McGarry kind of just reads like he's taking a bit of a flier based on the timeline. Interviews finished yesterday = expected to announce today. I feel like I can talk myself round to pretty much anyone other than Hammell and that's nothing against him. This feels like a situation where we need a degree of management experience and handing it to Hammell is the equivalent of doing nothing and it doesn't seem like it'd end well for anyone - it's not even like a Robinson scenario where he'd been on our bench as an assistant for years. I've said it before but it feels like Hammell's role at the club until now has been strategic. Simo - never managed in the UK let alone Scotland and I'm not sure when the last time he set foot in a Scottish fitba' stadium was but he's got 300+ games as a manager, he has experience of managing in European competition (I imagine he'd have had us prepared for Sligo Rovers rather than a half arsed mess), he has experience of different dressing rooms, has a definite style of play he wants to coach (which now seems to be a *thing* for us), he'd get buy in from fans of a certain vintage and...he really, really, really seems to want the job given he's on his 3rd application or whatever. Healy (if he's one of the other 2) - His experience is managing one of the *big* teams in NI (*the world's most successful club*, no less) so it's up for debate whether he's actually a good manager or not and it's the only club he's managed so he's no experience of trying to change the culture of a club mid-season (which although it's still early is where we are). That said he's been in the post for 7 years and has been successful in what he's been asked to do - you can only beat what's in front of you etc, he's been involved in Scottish football more recently than Valakari and he's got a strong playing background, knowledge of UK football, has been linked with other UK jobs and wouldn't need a work permit/visa. Mystery box guy - I mean all 3 of the other options have pros and cons. There's no outstanding obvious option. To the point about there being no really obvious options this has 100% been one of the weirdest managerial processes I can remember.

So we were in for Callum Hendry.

I can't see an announcement tomorrow if it's either Healy or Valakari given both their teams have European fixtures tbh. Also, I'd be surprised if Hammell was an assistant given the decks are clear for the new guy to bring in whoever he wants and lest SH go back to running the Academy.

Speaking of Preston. Healy was also a teammate of Alexander, Lucketti and Robinson.

Not that I'm fully advocating him for the job but the upside of Healy is probably that he wouldn't need a work permit/visa (Linfield still have a European qualifier to play tomorrow though). He's also been involved in the Scottish game far more recently than Simo and has been actively recruiting from Scottish/British football as a manager. (OK those signings were Christy Manzinga, Jake Hastie, Ben Hall and Mich'el Parker but still...) The main question mark is whether appointing someone from the NI league is any more/less of a risk than a guy from the Finnish league. I mean, obviously everyone can use Wiki but here's his playing record.... And of course 2 of his 4 league goals for the **** were against us...