Coventry Saint

FFS.

I had no idea St Mirren had got under your skin that badly, but fair play.

This, a million times. Any advantage we have in terms of transfer strategy that will come with security relatively early safety will be completely shat out the window by an interim appointment.

About 1hr20 from where Ross stays, so yeah, doable. But I can't imagine the JR ego would allow him to take on a team kicking round the bottom edge of the football league.

There's a Saints hall of fame striker with his coaching badges currently working as assistant manager for the second tier's form team

I think it'd be reasonable to break it down like this: 1) Is there an outstanding candidate from the lower Scottish leagues or Ireland that we could look at? No in Scotland; I don't follow the Irish leagues closely enough but it's obviously a route we've gone down before. There's one guy on Twitter who keeps mentioning Healy. 2) Is there an out-of-work manager that we would actually want to employ, with a base in Scotland (ish), who would be a sensible choice? Ross was the obvious, but he's out. So... Wright? His Killie spell put me off. Lennon, Adams and Lambert I'm far from sold on. I'm struggling to think of any others. 2) Is there an out-of-work manager anywhere in Britain/Ireland who would realistically move to the central belt? Grant McCann leaps out at me, but I'm not sure if he'll move or if we could afford him. I'm not sure anyone would move in the current climate. 3) Is there anyone internally we could promote? I'd say probably not right now. 4) Are there ex-players with coaching badges who fancy the gig? Clearly: Naismith and Brown as discussed. 5) Are there external applicants that we're not aware of? Almost certainly. There was a throwaway line in a report at the weekend about us having been "inundated with CVs". Last time I heard that we employed Stubbs. The time before I heard that, we employed Craig. So I'll not hold my breath that there's a gleaming CV in the pile. When you break it down like that - and I don't think I've missed any profiles there - it's hard to envy those making the decision.

As much as that's a nice idea, the sort of guys who fit the 'experienced number two' profile usually don't make great managers and/or don't want to be. Gary McAllister, for example, or even Tommy Craig. As for the Aberdeen compo... Brown is out injured for most the rest of the season, and Goodwin have some quotes saying he wanted him involved, while actually making it fairly clear he didn't want him involved. I'll try to dig them out. Of course, that doesn't mean Aberdeen won't be looking for compo, but they might be happy to be shot of him.

Said several times I didn't think he'd want it. It just didn't make enough sense. He'll bide his time on his Hibs paycheque and eventually a League One side will take a punt on him. He didn't exactly fail at Sunderland or Hibs... He'll back himself to get another gig in England. Saints Twitter is a nightmare right now, mind. Bit of panic creeping in.

Google suggested searches kindly help fill in the blanks for those unfamiliar with Dundee's history of chronic financial mismanagement.

Last stab at beating Dundee for at least 18 months. Fingers crossed.

He's probably still on Sunderland's wage bill too...

Tbf that's a mental commute in any direction, once you rule out Newcastle and Sunderland.

There is the hope that Ross might have had his wings clipped slightly by his sackings. You'd also like to think he's got a better idea of the caliber of player required at this level than perhaps he did before. *Glances sideways at Kellermann*

I think including McShane in that list is a touch harsh, but your point stands.

Pal Fjelde was another. I have nearly posted something similar to @geo87a couple times... I have reservations about Ross' recruitment as well. I've not performed a thorough analysis of what he's done at Hibs and the Mackems, but something feels slightly off about it. Obviously he did sign some gems, but my doubts persist about the breadth of his network. That aside, he's still the best candidate from those linked, though as I've said Grant McCann would also be on my list. I'm also intrigued by Naismith, and would be fine with any of those three.

With Thomson and Naismith, that's now two of the opposition from the League Cup Final That Never Happened being linked. Wonder what Nacho Novo is up to?

I'd feel harsh using that, mate. I don't think it's your best side.

Yeah, need to get that sorted. Just need to find a suitable replacement.

I'm 99% sure McManus doesn't want to be a club manager. Can't provide a source, but I'm very sure he's said it very specifically in the past. Stewart Gilmour weighed in on that, too, saying the work McManus does at youth level is far more important to the club. Let's leave him be.

Fixed.

Looking for that nae manager bounce...

Wonder if Grant McCann would be interested. 40% win rate in and around league 1/the Championship.

I think your position is pertinent here Experienced guy absolutely ruining you and you have gambled (pun not intentional) on a rookie who has totally galvanized you. It might have backfired but you had to do something. It appears to have paid off and despite Morton being Morton and Imrie being a dick, I'm happy for you. We are under less pressure, for sure, and that has to be a factor. But the natives will become restless quickly, especially if we lose at Livi today. You're absolutely right, we could crawl over the line to safety this season, but that'd be devastating given the quality in our squad and the standard of the league. If Brown, for example, is going to take our job seriously (and let's face it, if he ever wants to take the Celtic job he's going to have to work his way up to it) then I'd be happy to take a punt on a rookie like him.

Has he? Not seen that; what's been the gist? It susprises me slightly but I guess you never really know what's going on.

I have to say, the lack of experience thing doesn't worry me too much. We typically go for up and coming managers and they rarely have more than a couple years under their belt anyway. And even then, it's been a hit and miss approach. Hendrie, Lennon, Murray, MacPherson, Rae, Ross, Goodwin, Teale were all on only their first or second jobs, with wildly mixed results. Stubbs and Craig had more experience, and they were both absolutely honking. Dundee have gone for experience - and we've seen how people feel about that. IMO, what makes him a good candidate (or not) is entirely down to attitude and potential connection with the fans. Is he going to give a shit about us as a club (or at least pretend he does?) or is he going to treat us with disdain from day one like Stubbs did? Hendrie, Ross, Goodwin and Kearney all had a great connection with the fans and really energised the club. Say what you want about their departures, but in each case they left us better off than they found us. (Arguably not Hendrie, but he did at least give us a title season and a year in the top flight). On the flip side, Craig, Stubbs and Rae in particular were absolutely tragic appointments and there was zero bond between us and them. And you can't say it was entirely down to a lack of success because Rae's rescue act in that first season was far from terrible. Gus is obviously the outlier because he delivered (relative) success without achieving that bond, so I do accept there are exceptions. But he rarely made watching St Mirren a fun experience. I'm not saying we need every manager to be a "pure St Mirren man", but I do want them to give a shit about the club and to represent us properly, and to be someone who the players will enjoy training with and be prepared to bust a gut for. I'm not saying that has to be Brown, but I'm not saying it can't be. Edit: LOL @ me and @GAD sitting typing out similar shite at 7am on. Saturday morning.