Performance review - managers

[D.A.F.C]

Johnson, rubbish.

Crawford, even worse.

[Dundee Hibernian]

Since Dundee United fans haven't made an opinion apparent here, I'd give:

 

Csaba 1/10 and that is generous, and

 

Robbie Neilson 6/10 for improving a bad situation, yet continuing the frustrating one up top in a poor league. That rating may change.

 

And, as an aside, although Jim Goodwin has done a very good job at Alloa, John Robertson would be the manager who has impressed me with his work most, in this division.

[vikingTON]

9 hours ago, Dundee Hibernian said:

And, as an aside, although Jim Goodwin has done a very good job at Alloa, John Robertson would be the manager who has impressed me with his work most, in this division.

Would agree with that; was never impressed by Robertson's past record but he's put together the only team with an identifiable - as well as effective - style of play in a division stacked with flaky, nonsense outfits. Could be standing out only due to the horrendous standard of management elsewhere though. 

And now we must move on to the unforgettable and truly bizarre 'The Year of the Four Managers' at Greenock Morton Football Club:

i) Ray 'King Snake' McKinnon: 0/10

We put together a fairly strong squad over the summer but with the benefit of hindsight McKinnon can't be given much credit on that front: Millar, McAlister, as well as the ill-fated Denny Johnstone signing were club picks which he rubber stamped. McKinnon's actual input consisted of directly choosing Telfer over Murdoch - a net loss over the season - as well as signing our poorer first team players like Ryan Scully, Rory McKeown, Gregor Buchanan etc. League results were promising but he managed to bring about two ridiculous cup exits before slithering at the end of August. Which has worked out so well for him*. 

ii) Derek Anderson/John Sutton: 0/10

The world's most incompetent set of 'caretakers', they decided to push Denny Johnstone into the starting line-up when he clearly lacked fitness in order to boost their chances of getting a win and landing the job on a permanent basis. Not only did they lose said match but directly contributed to Johnstone's injuries recurring and not really kicking a ball in anger again for the club. The fact that they've yet to be emptied alongside everyone else in the past ten days is a regrettable oversight. 

iii) Jonatan Johansson: 1/10

Can't fault the club for taking  a gamble with the appointment but it quite simply didn't work out. It was already apparent within a few weeks that he was totally out of his depth yet we persisted in letting him tank the league campaign and bring about a third early cup exit with a shameful display against East Fife though. A special mention is also needed for Peter '(self-styled) better as an assistant manager' Houston, who proved to be a total fraud in that role. Their transfer record was thankfully more of a mixed bag, with turds like Dylan Dykes being made up for by the signings of McCrorie to upgrade in goal and Kiltie who proved his worth in the final weeks of the campaign. Absolutely delighted that the final day saw them flounce out of the club in a tantrum when it had seemed likely that they'd be relegating us next time round. 

iv) Jim McAlister/Chris Millar: 10/10

Oh look, this is what a caretaker management team should be doing in the role - takes over at very short notice, rejigs the side to suit the interests of the club rather than their own career advancement and secures both a good performance and a win. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* 

Spoiler

 

[VictorOnopko]

Alan Archibald - 0.5/10.  He did very well for us overall in his tenure; promotion with Ratnamara's team, who he got winning away (something his predecessor couldn't do), then 5 seasons in the top flight is an excellent achievement, and Top 6 even more so, with Liam Lindsay propelling us to dizzy heights before inevitably being sold on - but AA's  pisspoor recruitment overall should have been a massive red flag to prevent him being handed the summer rebuild.  He should have been immediately emptied after the playoff loss which (I think) followed a tally of 1 point from the last 8 games of the Premiership season.  Entirely predictably, he then assembled a squad of absolute diddies, wasters, and non-footballers, and having had the whole summer to at least fill the bench and every starting position on the park with someone vaguely competent, he failed to do either, so we had the shambles of playing with 3 subs and no recognised right back for a long while (Christie Elliott doesn't count; he's always been a utility player, i.e. jack of all trades, master of none).  How anyone could have looked at Ntambwe and thought "he's the guy for us" is just mind-boggling.  I can't be bothered listing all the other chancers and failures who stunk out the place for a few months, but that squad was eye-wateringly bad.  He was also completely out of ideas by the end.  Sad, as he seems a genuinely nice guy with the club at heart, who was desperate to get us back up. 

Gary Caldwell - 5.001/10.  Barest of pass marks.  Kept us up on the last day of the season in a terrible standard of league, but for long spells of the year we were in deep trouble and would put in a stinker of a performance every time we had a chance to climb up the table.  He was obviously very, very limited at first by AA's duds, but he got the square root of f--- all out of them, started horribly, unable even to shitfest draws, and presided over some of the worst performances/results I can remember (e.g. the farcical thrashing at Cappielow).  January window was excellent, especially the impressive feat of finding rest homes for Bell and Keown and, obviously, bringing in McDonald, without whom we would probably have finished last.  However, we didn't exactly ease to safety once he had his own players in.  The way Doolan has been treated has been the icing on the cake and indicates that Heed is an egomaniac who puts himself before the club and has no  people-management skills whatsoever.  Probably sees himself as a ruthless visionary but he's not as clever as he thinks he is.  He won't last the season next year unless we are challenging for promotion throughout, and overall he seems like a total bellend.  That said, if we do well next year, he can be as much of a dick as he likes.

 

[SandyCromarty]

On 5/11/2019 at 21:53, Tarmo Kink said:

 

Just look at his signings that are still here:

Last season:
Mark Ridgers - St. Mirren & Partick Thistle reject
Joe Chalmers - considered a total haddy, failed at Falkirk and Motherwell
Coll Donaldson - considered a total laughing stock, hated by Dundee United fans
Nathan Austin - Falkirk reject
Charlie Trafford - cheap Canadian floating around Finland and Poland

This season:
Shaun Rooney - Dunfermline & Queens reject
Tom Walsh - was part-time at Dumbarton
Jordan White - signed from the Conference
Jamie McCart - youth from Celtic
Sean Welsh - a sicknote who had been freed from Partick and Falkirk, effectively given up on
Darren McCauley - was part-time in Northern Ireland
Kevin McHattie - considered a joke at Raith, signed from Derry
Anthony McDonald - 17 year old on loan from Hearts

Add that to other ‘rejects’ such as Brad McKay, a few more experienced players like Tremarco, Polworth and Doran and Robbo has taken that side to 3rd plus a Scottish Cup Semi. Teams with far more money are doing far worse.

 

I'll second that.

Robertson has done a decent job for us over the last seasons.

[QoS_Blue1919]

GN 3/10

With the position we find ourselves in, with a 43 goal striker, it’s quite inconceivable that it’s and not a 1 or a 2, but he isn’t fully to blame.

There’ve been countless games this season that he’s set the team up well, we’ve deserved at least a draw and still lost. See Morton at home (1-2), Alloa at home (1-2), Alloa away (1-0), Dundee United at home (0-1). If Lyndon Dykes could finish we’d be very close to the promotion play-offs. None of the players stood up when Dobbie was injured. Although, we only had 2 out and out strikers all season, and from January onwards had 5 players that played CB for us.

At times, (pre-February) he had them playing well. Ayr 5-0, County 4-0, Falkirk may have been utter pish but that 3-0 victory was one of the most dominant performances I’ve ever seen in this league, and I’m sure many Falkirk fans will agree.

It’s still unbelievable that we put in those kind of performances, and ended up on the same points as Falkirk who only signed actual football players in January.

AJ too early to be decided, but his style of play will suit Dobbie perfectly. If he can get a striker that can do the running for him (similar to Dykes) but that can actually score 9 or 10 league goals a season, we’ll do well.

[Rosscubed]

On 12/05/2019 at 21:44, Waspie said:

The County pair had a relative fortune to spend and no credible rival yet visibly wobbled in the closing weeks. Despite that spending they also look like they'll need a good bit of strengthening for the Premier. As such, job done but with plenty to prove. 

 

Without re-hashing the budget chat, I'm fairly sure that D Utd, Partick and Falkirk would have had comparable, and it's not as though we've spent big money on ex OF-pros.

Clearly we are in a much better position than Ayr, Caley, Alloa etc, but there's more to delivering league success than stable finances.

All that being said, you are correct - next season will be the real test - can they survive as the wee fish in the big pond?

[the_paulo]

12 hours ago, Rosscubed said:

Without re-hashing the budget chat, I'm fairly sure that D Utd, Partick and Falkirk would have had comparable, and it's not as though we've spent big money on ex OF-pros.

Clearly we are in a much better position than Ayr, Caley, Alloa etc, but there's more to delivering league success than stable finances.

All that being said, you are correct - next season will be the real test - can they survive as the wee fish in the big pond?

We know the script too well for you to pretend you're the 'wee fish' in the top division.  

[Savage Henry]

On 11/05/2019 at 23:37, roman_bairn said:

Is this a whoosh?

While the "unquestionably" adverb is somewhat of an exaggeration, it's not a completely unreasonable suggestion.  ICT looked the better coached club in every Highland derby bar one.

On that note, Ferguson and Kettlewell get a 7 for me.  The injury list, coupled with significant downsizing in the depth and quality of the squad makes a judgement pretty tough.  They did what they set out to achieve, and plenty of more experienced managers haven't.  Promising start, but no more.  There's a terrific spirit about the team, and that's definitely down to the managers.

 

 

[TheScarf]

And their bank balances too amirite lads?

[Granny Danger]

On 12/05/2019 at 23:46, Dundee Hibernian said:

Since Dundee United fans haven't made an opinion apparent here, I'd give:

 

Csaba 1/10 and that is generous, and

Robbie Neilson 6/10 for improving a bad situation, yet continuing the frustrating one up top in a poor league. That rating may change.

Spot on with both.  Well done sir.

 

[Cerberus]

Robbo will be a miracle worker if he can get Sean Welsh consistently playing.

 

ETA: I see Welsh is not playing tonight and I guess it's caused he's injured.
Robbo is not the messiah. He's a very fat ned.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Cerberus

[Oweny]

What Goodwin has achieved has been outstanding and he has had the best season in terms of the managers in the division. McCall has been excellent at Ayr also and so has Robertson at Inverness.  

[vikingTON]

Slithering past a historically woeful Falkirk side by a single point in the end isn’t ‘outstanding’ work IMHO. With their points already on the board by early April and opponents with little to play for over the final few weeks, Alloa should have actually finished comfortably 6th or 7th. Instead they very nearly succeeded in completely shiting the bed and ruining Scottish football for everyone.

[AyrTroopMajor]

Ian McCall - 8/10  Given the fact that we have been swiftly emptied from this division the last 3 times we have came up, Ian McCall deserves enormous credit for the job that he has done this season. The way we were playing in the first half of the season was incredible (aside from getting ragdolled at Palmerston) and it was a genuine joy to watch. 

Ultimately injuries took their toll as most knew they would, and our small squad struggled to cope. That isn't really an excuse for the mid-season collapse which saw us fall away from the title race and record our worst ever result at Auchinleck Talbot, however to make the Premiership Playoffs with a bit to spare having only just arrived from League One was beyond any Ayr fan's reasonable expectations. 

Elsewhere in the division, there were some absolutely laughable managerial appointments. Credit to Dunfermline and Partick Thistle for replacing dross with other dross, as well as Morton for sticking with an utterly clueless Jonatan Johansson for such a prolonged period of time. Falkirk poaching Ray McKinnon from Morton was tremendous entertainment at the time, however it turns out the joke is on them as he has also proved himself to be an absolute shambles of a manager.

Well done to Jim Goodwin and John Robertson both did extremely well given what they had to work with. The County pair did what they were expected to do. Good luck to Csaba Lazlo ever finding a job in football management again. 

 

[TheWeGibbyEnd81]

[SandyCromarty]

As I've already said on here, and elsewhere, John Robertson with a small budget and a good working team has done a good decent job for us, his dedication to stay with us and to keep on building towards promotion has been re-enforced this week by his refusal to enter into talks with Dundee FC, this decison of his has earned him more respect.

[Andre Bo]

On 11/05/2019 at 19:24, Rosscubed said:

End of season, so taking into consideration budget support /constraints, board interference, existing squad, and everything else that is out of their control, what marks would you give your manager (or management team) for their performance this season? 

I'll lead off with Ferguson and Kettlewell. 

Clearly good guys who love the club and are well liked and respected by players. Most squad additions have been good ones, and the results have been what they need to be. 

Some puzzling and formation choices, but eventually seemed to coalesce on a formation and team that the fans were crying out for weeks before. 

Given the number of game changing second halves that we've had, they clearly do a good half time session. 

Overall solid 8/10, happy to have them at the helm going into next season, will be a much bigger test though! 

Kettlewell is a moron.

[vikingTON]

3 hours ago, SandyCromarty said:

As I've already said on here, and elsewhere, John Robertson with a small budget and a good working team has done a good decent job for us, his dedication to stay with us and to keep on building towards promotion has been re-enforced this week by his refusal to enter into talks with Dundee FC, this decison of his has earned him more respect.

Robertson did a good job putting a team together with a credible gameplan but 'with a small budget'? Your club just burned through £800,000 of losses in the season before last. Some of your players would still be on 4-5 times the wage of a first team regular at midtable clubs. A reality check is needed here.

[Jamie_M]

What Goodwin has achieved has been outstanding and he has had the best season in terms of the managers in the division. McCall has been excellent at Ayr also and so has Robertson at Inverness.  

Incorrect.

Ray McKinnon did a WONDERFUL job.