SuperHans

McPherson leaving QP for St Mirren means there's yet another vacancy with which I'd imagine a few managers may find attractive. Especially the ones we're currently sniffing about. Wouldn't be a bad job for someone like Duffy to go for. Less pressure, plenty of finances/resources and lower expectations.

My worry is that he's in a pretty similar situation as Locke was when he came to us. A guy who's really messed up in recent years and found himself out of a job but would possibly be very happy to jump back into it to show his abilities. For me that's too much of a risk. Granted Dundee haven't kicked on drastically since he left but his recruitment when he took on the Falkirk job and then this summer with absolutely heehaw to show for it, shows he's messed up somewhere. The idea is nice and I hope the BoD have the ability to see past him as a 'big name' and look closely at where and why he failed in his last 2 posts. I wouldn't see this as too hard a job for anyone coming in, Cuthberts shown that making sweeping changes to selection and tactics doesn't work. Look at the team and set up from the games we've won (Forfar and Stenny) and play to the strengths. We just don't want anyone coming in immediately and trying to out their own stamp on the team e.g. what Stubbs tried to do with St Mirren.

Aye but you know what the guys on here are like! 'Should have been six up by now!! f**k sake!'

Are we not down from the list of 40 to 10 or 12? If they'd contacted the candidates to let them know that they were on the list or not then surly it would have been a wasted journey if he already knew he wasn't on the list of 10-12?

Does anyone know if he has any other job in football?

So I take it from his interview that Danny Lennons out of the running or pushing our BoD for a better deal to turn his head? That's assuming he's on the shortlist of course. Nachos appearance worryingly could confirm he's actually on the list along with Cuthbert. I wonder if there's going to be any news tonight or we'll have to wait for Thursday.

I'd take Barry Smith back...

I think the BoD are at least trying to get some confidence back into their abilities by taking their time and not jumping in. Ironically it seems that Kevin Cuthbert tried too hard yesterday and mixed it up which ended up with a formation that even the players looked a bit confused with. His interview is spot on when he says the players gave everything and I'd agree. Frustratingly I think if he stuck with the same team and shape as Forfar and had his pressing influence then we'd have won yesterday. But we had guys well out of position and struggling to get into the game. Fair play to Cuthbert though, he's doing everything himself so must be hard.

Im not saying that all 40 will be shite (hopefully not anyway) but what I am saying is I think we have some kind of delusion of grandeur when it comes to who we think we can attract to the club at this moment in time. It's fair to assume that locally based ex players and managers may well have thrown their hats in the ring but there always seems to be a clamour for these 'local hero's' whenever we're looking for a new manager. Sometimes the rose tinted glasses fail to highlight potentially stronger candidates. McKinnon was hardly a club hero although he was an ex-player but sometimes having someone coming along with no ties or connections give a more refreshing look on things. Managers talk to each other, people will obviously be asking questions like "why did Smith quit when he was joint top of the league with no defeats?" Rumours circulating about breaches of contract regarding budgets and not been given support when signing players etc. I said it before when we were relegated and looking for a new manager and I'll say it again, we really need to manage our expectations a bit better.

It's funny how there is an automatic assumption that regardless of their current situation, we always seem to believe that ex managers and players will be queuing at the door to be our next manager. Putting a realistic view on things wouldn't be adverse to to McGlynn coming back but there's been no signs to indicate that he's even contemplated the move back. He's in a great job, he's at an age where it might suit his lifestyle and we might not be able to afford him. As I eluded to in my post, there's been 40 'applicants' for the job and all we know is about 3 or 4 names. After what Bill Clark said about taking time in the decision, I'd be putting the w**k socks for the likes of McGlynn and Lennon away for a week or 2 until we get some more information. Matt Elder is just trying to keep news coverage of the story going which is why names like Donati, Robson and Clarke have been used over and over again. From the size of squad that we could afford to have, lack of loan signings and our owner trying to pinch pennies at every opportunity from the team side of things in order to enhance the stadium, I'm lowering expectations for who's going to be the next manager. There's always the hope that I'll be pleasantly surprised though.

Yup, certainly got the juices flowing with Frank tonight. Don't go to bed too upset tonight mate. If only Barry were still here...

Full of irony tonight Fwankey boy [emoji23]

Jesus! Chill out mate [emoji108]

Imagine John McGlynn with Laurie Ellis as his assistant though... Now that's going to get the juices flowing. Out of the 40 odd list all we've been told is Clark, Donati and Robson. Is that correct? So out of 37 other names we've had; Ellis, Easton, McGlynn, Lennon, Nicholl, Petrie, Goodwin, Hartley, Duffy, Cuthbert, Baird, Stubbs and Barry Smith in a spectacular U-turn all mentioned between here and the glorious Facebook posts. So what about the other 24?

Poor old Frank eh

I get the impression the BoD are obviously not giving anything away about who they really want. Donati seems like a bit of regurgitated news to keep Matt Elder churning out articles. Our BoD surly wouldn't come out so quickly with a name unless they were either certain that he was the man or that he wasn't getting the job. Based on the randomness of his application, I'm going with the later.

[emoji106][emoji106] standard comeback from the greasy fingered "Chubby Head" who's been done again. [emoji23][emoji23] Top class Enigma [emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]

Finally seen the light my friend. Welcome to 'the other side'.

Didn't get a chance to go last week to the Forfar game but I've felt very sorry for Matthews recently. He's a player that's given a lot to the club and in the last few seasons he's been very up and down and mainly because he's been forced wider and wider. Through the middle has always been his strongest way of playing and when I heard he had a stormer against Forfar I was happy to hear it. Is Wedderburn a natural CB or was he just filling in? The fact that him and McKay managed to keep Baird out shows how good the 2 of them must have been.

I'd heard a story about Bene holding a record for the biggest weight increase over pre season when he was at Dundee. I think he enjoys a bit of the good life off the pitch. It seems that getting himself into shape last season and then his injury took its toll and now he seems to struggle to get it back. It comes back to the old debate about McKay v Davo. Can you risk leaving a player of his standard and experience out from with limited size and experience?

The other thing is that a new manager coming into this situation has to change virtually nothing. It's not like he's coming into a situation with a sacked manager and a team struggling or coming in with a budget and a transfer window. Our squad is so small that the starting team basically pics itself and Barry Smith had them playing good football before he left. Cuthbert set the team up differently and maybe he tried to be too clever. But it was also a cup that was last on the list of priorities, another trip that we could have done without and an opposition who are good enough to win the league above us. All of that on top of the shock of the manager leaving. I don't blame Cuthbert and nor will I be judging his managerial abilities on Saturdays result.

This argument is just going round in circles [emoji23]. Should we create a list of ex managers and categorise them into a successful group and an unsuccessful one and then categories those groups into 'no previous experience' and 'experienced' and then from there we won't need people to reply to every suggestion with an example of a manager with or without experience and how good or bad they did?

Grant Murray is probably a completely different person since his time with us. The fact that when we look at his appointment in hindsight, you do have to wonder what we were expecting to happen there. In the end he brought us a trophy and didn't relegate us. Wasn't a success story but wasn't a completely failure either. That probably shows that he's actually very good at his job and why he's been at Hibs under Stubbs and Lennon and will be part of the reason why Hibs have gone from strength to strength since he's been there. Would I have him back? I think it's always seen as a backwards step going back to an old manager. Especially one who has a very small imprint on the club. Would he come back on the other hand? I doubt it very much.

I'd agree with that completely. He'll not move away from Aberdeen unless it was for the right club. He has no attachments to us as a player either which I also prefer. It doesn't make too much of difference on the whole but I'd personally hate to see someone like Laurie Ellis fait the same way legends like Hetherston and Daziel did. I'm also not worried about someone like Duffy coming in. His record as a manager isn't one littered with success but getting Morton up, then getting them stable and then getting them top 4 and a league cup semi final with the squad of 26 players isn't something we should be turning our noses up at. As it's already been mentioned; the conundrum is that any manager with experience is out of work at the moment for a reason and unless it's Barry Smith, most of the reasons aren't good. Any new manager comes with no previous experience but the background is important. A player who's been involved in coaching for a few years and working with a club at a high level is ideal. Alloa took Jack Ross from Hearts and he's done ok for himself...

Clarke brought in a full squad of under 23 players from down south in England did he not? Don't know how he'd fair up with the players and squad size we have. If Robsons a serious contender then I'm more inclined for someone like him to give it a go. If he wants a job in management then he's not going to pick the first one that comes his direction. So if he is considering us then it must look attractive. He's a well connected and respected guy in the game. He's played under some great managers and is working with a man that's worked and continues to work wonders at Aberdeen. His lack of experience is something we would have to sacrifice but his playing career speaks for itself and he's a proven leader. That being said, is Barry wants to come back then I'd welcome him back and hope that Fife's Finest prepare a banner with an apology on it.